Bird Notes and News 



101 



destroyersin summer being the Orioles. "But," 

 adds the Bulletin of the Bureau, " Orioles, 

 because of their bright plumage, have until 

 recently been extensively used for millinery 

 purposes and shot by the thousand. In 

 view of their great value every effort should 

 be made to prevent their destruction for any 

 purpose whatever." In the London feather- 

 market these useful and beautiful birds 

 fetched l£d. each for the decoration of hats. 



Further and more stringent measures have 



been taken for the protection of birds in 



Dutch New Guinea, which has been the 



main source of supply for Birds-of-Paradise 



and Crowned Pigeons. Mr. Burdet furnishes 



the R.S.P.B. with particulars of the new 



regulations enacted by the Resident, as 



follows : — 



1. For this year (and most probably 

 for the future also) shooting is limited to 

 three species, namely : Paradisea minor, 

 Seleucides nigricans, and Ptilornia magnificus. 



The exportation of all other bird skins 

 is prohibited. 



2. Shooting is entirely forbidden on 

 the islands of the Radja-Ampat Group 

 (Misole, Batante, Waigiu, etc.), on the 

 islands of the Geelvink Bay (Jappen, 

 Schouten Island, etc.), and on two parts 

 of New Guinea constituting large triangles 

 situate on both sides of Geelvink Bay. 



The island of Waigiu is the only home of 

 the Red Bird-of-Paradise, threatened with 

 extermination by the plume-hunters ; and 

 the shores of Geelvink Bay have of late 

 been one of the principal hunting-grounds 

 of the trade. 



This notable step is a first result of the 

 commission formed by the Royal Zoological 

 Society of Amsterdam. 



The killing of Paradise Birds and Crowned 

 Pigeons, and exportation of their plumage, 

 has been prohibited in British New Guinea 

 since 1908, but smuggling has gone on 

 to some extent. 



Notes. 



Belgian officer in the trenches writes to 

 an English friend a touching account of 

 the return last spring of the Swallows to 

 devastated Belgium. It is published in 

 the Spectator. He describes the emotion of 

 the birds, arriving in the village where they 

 thought to find 



" The nest beneath the sheltering eaves 

 Of yon grey cottage framed in leaves 

 Await them as of yore " 



and how they flew distractedly round the 

 heap of ruins that represented the old home. 

 Clinging to the crumbling walls, they surveyed 

 the horizon, as if trying to make out where 

 they were ; then, uncertain, departed to 

 search and reconnoitre about the orchard, 



the trees, hedges, ponds, and a hundred other 

 familiar details of the landscape. Then, 

 sure that they were not deceived, they 

 returned again to the ruins and presently 

 discovered the small hut constructed for 

 military use against one wall. This they 

 studied for several days, passing and re- 

 passing a hundred times before the opening, 

 and at last entered and inspected it. A 

 second and third visit reassured them as to 

 the locality, and they set to work to build 

 their nest, which in a fortnight was com- 

 pleted and the bird installed. Needless, 

 says the writer, to speak of the soldiers' 

 satisfaction, for Belgium retains the old 

 belief that Swallows bring happiness to the 



