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Bird Notes and News 



leader who " picked up the eyes " of his 

 followers as the impulse for flight gathered 

 strength within him. 



Soon, only here and there a pinioned 

 duck is left, making pitiful attempts to 

 follow the example of the wild birds. 



They are away safely in the darkness, 

 feeding in some pool or clover-field. 

 Before dawn and the enmity of man can 

 come upon them they will be back once 

 more in their trusted sanctuary. 



R. E. M. 



The many conspicuous advertisements 

 of Egret and Bird of Paradise plumage 

 which have continued to appear in 

 milliners' catalogues and in the Press 

 have brought many letters to the Society, 

 mainly from correspondents who were 

 under the impression that the Plumage 

 Act prohibits the sale of wild birds' 

 plumage, as earlier Bills proposed to do. 

 The Act prohibits only the importation 

 of such skins and feathers. Whether or 

 not the spirit as well as the letter of the 

 law is to be observed lies with the retail 

 trade and still more with women. Those 

 who continue to buy and wear Egrets, 

 Paradise plumes, and the like are 

 ostentatiously defying a law which 

 humanity no less than science demanded, 

 and are inciting the smuggling of contra- 

 band goods. But inasmuch as there are 

 many women who have no heed to any 

 of these things, and presumably insuffi- 

 cient brains to consider the question, 

 they will no doubt continue to buy so 

 long as advertisements and shop windows 

 invite them to do so. In consequence 

 of a recent advertisement of Birds of 

 Paradise by Messrs. John Barker & Co., 

 a letter was addressed to the firm by 

 the R.S.P.B., and the Society can only 

 hope that the attitude taken by this 

 firm in their reply will be imitated by 

 other large stores. The Secretary to 

 the Company replied, under date 

 November 20th, 1923 :— 



" I am directed to acknowledge the receipt 

 of your communication of the 16tli inst. and 

 to inform you that the advertising of the 

 goods in question and to which you rightly 

 take exception, has already been withdrawn. 



" In such a large business as this, it is, of 

 course, impossible for every advertisement to 

 be submitted to the Directorate for approval, 

 and to a great extent. Managers and Buyers, 



The Plumage Trade 



with the Advertising Manager, have a practically 

 free hand in the matter of publicity. 



" I have, however, been informed that the 

 goods in question were purchased before the 

 Prohibition of Plumage Act came into operation, 

 and although we are in entire sympathy with 

 your protest, we must ask you to allow us to 

 point out that apart from any advertising 

 the goods in question are frequently inquired 

 for by customers. 



" At the same time, we quite agree that this 

 demand should not be aggravated by advertis- 

 ing in the Press." 



ILLEGAL IMPORTATION FROM 

 INDIA 



At the Mansion House Police Court, 

 on October 3rd, 1923, Douglas Bremner, 

 of Messrs. Bremner and Laycock, New 

 Broad Street, London, E.G., was sum- 

 moned for dealing in plumage feathers 

 in contravention of the Plumage (Pro- 

 hibition of Importation) Act, 1921. 



Mr. Beattie, prosecuting, said in August 

 the firm received from a Calcutta merchant 

 a parcel containing Egret plumage and 

 sent it on to a firm of salesmen, who 

 valued the contents at £12 18s. The 

 parcel was seized by the Customs officers, 

 as the importation of this kind of plumage 

 was prohibited. 



Bremner said that since the passing 

 of the Act his firm had not had any 

 dealing with the sender, whom they 

 had warned that the importation of 

 this kind of plumage was prohibited. 

 The parcel was seized within a few hours 

 of its arrival, so that he had no time 

 to decide what he ought to do with 

 regard to it, although he admitted sending 

 it for the plumage to be valued. 



Alderman Sir C. Johnston said he felt 

 a certain amount of sympathy with 

 defendant, but the Customs law had been 

 broken and he could do nothing less 



