42 



Bird Notes and News 



G. F. Watts, R.A., lent from the Compton 

 Gallery through the kindness of Mrs. Watts, 

 and by special permission of the Trustees of 

 the National Gallery. This picture was painted 

 by Mr. Watts, an early supporter of the Society, 

 to express his loathing of the feather-fashion 

 and to help in the anti-plumage campaign. It 

 represents an angel with bowed head, bending 

 over a marble tomb, on which are the bright 

 feathers of birds, while the spirit of evil looks 

 out, grinning, below. When completed, the 

 painting was exhibited at the New Gallery in 

 1899, inscribed : — 



" A dedication to all who love the beautiful 

 and mourn over the senseless and cruel 

 destruction of bird life and beauty." 



The picture was first reproduced by the 

 Society as a frontispiece to Mr. Hudson's letter 

 to the Times, and the Times leader, which 

 made up the pamphlet " The Trade in Birds ' 

 Feathers " (1898), but a fresh reproduction was 



made for an Exhibition leaflet. Other pictures 

 included the original drawing, " Gannets and 

 Guillemots," from Mr. Hudson's " British 

 Birds," kindly lent by Messrs. Longmans, 

 Green & Co. ; the original picture of Light- 

 house Bird-rests (erected by the Society), by 

 permission of the Sphere, where the reproduc- 

 tion appeared ; and a humorous drawing, " A 

 New Seaside Terror," calling attention to the 

 oil-waste peril, by permission of London 

 Opinion. 



A show of green and brown food-tables, 

 shelters and trays for birds, and of " Treehole " 

 nesting-boxes, supplied for the Society by 

 Messrs. A. H. Moorton, was another out- 

 standing feature of the exhibit. 



Mrs. Frank E. Lemon, assisted by members 

 of the Council and others, had charge of the 

 stand, which attracted much attention and 

 made the work known to many visitors who 

 were evidently unaware before of the extent 

 and interest of the Society's operations. 



The Plumage Trade 



The Millinery Chamber of Commerce of the 

 United States, representing the most reputable 

 millinery houses in the country, continues to 

 support the Plumage law of the States and the 

 efforts of the Audubon Association (which it 

 fought prior to the passing of the Act). In view 

 of attempts that are being made to legalise the 

 importation of "moulted" feathers, the Chair- 

 man of the Plumage Committee of the 

 Chamber has addressed the following letter 

 to the Textile Branch of the Government 

 Department of Commerce, at Washington : — 



" I refer to the reports from the American 

 Consul of Trinidad, B.W.I. , to the Department 

 of Commerce regarding the method of collecting 

 Aigrette feathers in Venezuela, and which you 

 were good enough to forward to the Millinery 

 Chamber of Commerce, in view of pending 

 alterations to the Tariff Act of 1913. 



" This Act was for the protection of wild 

 birds, both native to the United States and 

 foreign countries, and with this object in view 

 was made very drastic. Consul Baker states 

 that the large majority of Aigrette feathers 

 exported from Venezuela are ' moulted ' 

 feathers, and therefore the gathering of them 

 occasions neither cruelty nor the possibility of 

 the extermination of the birds. This may be 

 true as far as Venezuela itself is concerned, 

 provided some method could be found of so 



branding all moulted feathers from that country 

 that there could be no possibility of any feathers 

 from killed birds being included, but there 

 would be the danger of the shipping of 

 Aigrettes from other countries into Venezuela 

 and re-shipping from there as native to that 

 country, and it would take very little to so 

 change their appearance as to make it practi- 

 cally impossible for the Venezuelan authorities 

 or the American Custom Officers to detect the 

 difference. Furthermore, I question whether 

 the distinguishing features of feathers taken 

 from dead birds could not be so obliterated as 

 to deceive even the most experienced, which 

 would be an inducement for unprincipled 

 handlers of the article to break the law and 

 defeat its object. 



" Paradise Plumes have for the past few 

 years been smuggled into the United States 

 (being prohibited of importation) in such 

 enormous quantities as to become a scandal, 

 and in order to protect legitimate dealers in 

 permitted feathers and to assist the Govern- 

 ment Authorities in enforcing the existing law, 

 the Millinery Chamber of Commerce acting in 

 conjunction with Dr. W. T. Hornaday, of N.Y. 

 Zoological Society and the Permanent Wild 

 Life Protection Fund, and Mr. T. Gilbert 

 Pearson, President of the National Association 

 of Audubon Societies, introduced an amend- 

 ment to the law of 1913 and which is incor- 



