Bird Notes and News 



49 



(Prohibited Goods) of the Customs 

 Tariff, 1907, has been amended by the 

 addition of the following clause (1212) : — 



" Aigrettes, egret plumes, or so-called 

 osprey plumes, and the feathers, quills, 

 heads, wings, tails, skins, or parts 

 of skins of wild birds either raw or 

 manufactured." 



The prohibition does not extend to 



(a) the feathers or plumes of Ostriches ; 



(b) the plumage of the English Pheasant 

 and the Indian Peacock ; (c) the plumage 

 of wild birds ordinarily used as articles 

 of diet ; (d) the plumage of birds im- 

 ported alive ; (e) specimens imported 

 under regulations of the Minister of 

 Customs for any natural history 

 or other museum or for educational 

 purposes. 



The clause comes into operation on 

 January 1st, 1915. 



EGRETS IN VENEZUELA. 

 The Consular Report for the year 

 1913 on the trade of Ciudad Bolivar 

 (Venezuela), furnished by Mr. C. H. de 

 Lemos, states that over-speculation in 

 feathers, coupled with lowered prices 

 for balata-gum, has caused a general 

 feeling of depression in commercial 

 circles in that country. The return 

 shows that the total export of Heron 

 and Egret feathers for the year was 

 2,426 kilos, value £126,596*; other 

 feathers and plumage, 2,001 kilos, value 

 £6,661. The paragraph dealing with 

 feathers is as follows : — 



" Exports of this article in 1913 were 

 more than twice as great as in the 

 previous year, and the highest hitherto 

 recorded. Prices ruled high on the 

 whole, and there was a good deal of 

 over-speculation, causing losses and 

 considerable monetary stringency to- 

 wards the end of the year. The closing 

 of the American market by the pro- 



hibition of the importation of Egret 

 feathers, and the possibility of the loss 

 of the British market by the passing 

 of the Plumage Bill, have caused un- 

 certainty with regard to the future 

 of this article. It is therefore quite 

 possible that the export in 1914 wall 

 be below that of 1913." 



The increased export was entirely 

 in " osprey," other feathers showing a 

 marked decrease. 



EGRETS IN EGYPT. 



" The success of protecting the Egrets, 

 Ardea bubulcus or Ardea ibis, has so 

 far exceeded the most sanguine expecta- 

 tions. Considerably over 1,000 birds 

 were hatched and reared during 1913, 

 and spread themselves about the country, 

 and are to be seen systematically work- 

 ing through the bersim and cotton- 

 fields, searching, plant by plant, for 

 their insect food. Reports received from 

 the provinces of Daqahlia, Sharqia, 

 Qaliubia, and Menufia, mention Cattle 

 Egrets appearing in the fields of villages 

 where no birds of this species had been 

 seen for ten, twelve, or more years, 

 and their reappearance, it seems, is 

 hailed with delight by the fellahin. 



" Only one case of Egrets being 

 illegally taken has been heard of, and 

 that proved to have had the well-meant 

 intention of founding a fresh colony 

 in a province in which these birds had 

 become extinct. 



" I regret to say, however, that plumes 

 of Ardea bubulcus and other species of 

 Egrets are still only too frequently 

 to be seen worn by European women, 

 either in their hats by day or in their 

 hair by night, at social functions in 

 Cairo." — (Report of the Zoological Service, 

 Ministry of Public Works, Egypt, for 

 1913, by Captain Flower). 



