96 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



them." The Mayoress of Colchester (Mrs. 

 E. A. Blaxill) "lias not worn ' ospreys ' 

 nor any birds since quite a girl, and is in 

 entire sympathy with your efforts to stop 

 this cruel practice." The Mayoress of 

 Helston (Mrs. Hedley Thomas) " wishes to 

 say she never wears the aigret or ' osprey ' ; 

 and when fashion dictates the use of birds 

 for the adornment (?) of ladies' hats she will 

 do her best to influence others." The 

 Mayoress of Glastonbury (Mrs. Morland) 

 " never wears feathers of any sort and has 

 always had great sympathy with the work of 

 your Society in endeavouring to save beautiful 

 birds from cruel destruction and extermina- 

 tion." The Mayoress of Honiton (Mrs. C. N. 

 Tweed) promises her influence and help to 

 the work by personally refusing to wear 

 " ospreys," &c, as hitherto ; by discussing 

 the matter with ladies seen wearing them ; 

 and by showing and distributing copies of 

 " The Story of the Egret," " which seems to 

 me a very valuable addition to the cause." 

 The Mayoress of Tiverton (Mrs. Thorne) 

 also gives practical proof of her interest by 

 subscribing to the funds of the Society. 

 The Mayoress of Middleton (Mrs. Wolsten- 

 holme) "is in full sympathy with the 

 movement ; ever since Queen Alexandra set 

 the example about the wearing of ' osprey ' 

 she has not worn any and has done her best 

 to prevent others from doing so. " 



The reply of one Mayor, who is unsup- 

 ported by a Mayoress, may also be quoted. 

 " Unfortunately," he writes, " I am unmarried. 

 Were this not the case you might have relied 

 upon support, as I am much in favour of the 

 objects of your Society." 



The following ladies will not wear osprey 

 plumes during at least their year of office : — 



The Lady Mayoresses of London, Birmingham, 

 Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, 

 Newcastle-on-Tyne, Sheffield, and York. 



The Mayoresses of the following boroughs : 

 Aberystwyth, Accrington, Appleby, Ashton-under- 

 Lyne, Banbury, Barnstaple, Basingstoke, Batley, 

 Battersea, Beverley, Bewdley, Bexhill, Birkenhead, 

 Bodmin, Bolton, Boston, Brackley, Brecon, Bridg- 

 north, Brighouse, Bromley, Buckingham, Bury, 

 Calne, Cambridge, Carmarthen, Carnarvon, Chelten- 

 ham, Chester, Christchurch, Colchester, Colne, 

 Congleton, Darlington, Dartmouth, Darwen, Deal, 

 Doncaster, Dorchester, Droitwich, Dudley, Dukin- 

 field, Durham, Eastbourne, Exeter, Eye, Falmouth, 

 Faversham, Gillingham, Glastonbury, Gloucester, 

 Godalming, Great Yarmouth, Guildford, Halifax, 

 Hanley, Hastings, Haverfordwest, Hedon, Helston, 

 Henley-on-Thames, Hereford, Hertford, Heywood, 

 Honiton, Hornsey, Hove, Huddersfield, Hunting- 

 don, Hythe, Keighley, Kidderminster, Kensington, 

 King's Lynn, Leigh, Leominster, Lewes, Lincoln, 

 Llandovery, Louth, Lowestoft, Lymington, Maid- 

 stone, Maldon, Malmesbury, Middleton, Morley, 

 Monmouth, Neath, Newbury, Newport (I.W.), 

 Newport (Mon.), Norwich, Oxford, Pembroke, 

 Peterborough, Poole, Ramsgate, Reigate, Richmond, 

 (Surrey), Richmond (Yorks. ), Ripon, Rotherham, 

 Ryde, Salford, Salisbury, Scarborough, Shaftesbury, 

 Shrewsbury, Smethwick, Southampton, Southport, 

 South Shields, Stafford, Stratford-on-Avon, Sud- 

 bury, Sunderland, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton, 

 Tewkesbury, Thornaby-on-Tees, Tiverton, Totnes, 

 Truro, Tynemouth, Warwick, Warrington, Wednes- 

 bury, Wells (Somerset), Wenlock, West Ham, 

 Westminster, Weymouth, Wimbledon, Worthing, 

 Worcester, Wrexham, Denbigh, Newark, St. Albans. 



Plumes and Plume-hunting. — Mr. James Buck- 

 land gave a striking lecture on the Plume-hunter and 

 his work, before the Society of Arts, on December 8th, 

 showing from official reports the devastation that 

 is being committed in many parts of the world. 

 An attempt to contradict the lecturer's statements 

 was made by Mr. C. Downham (Sciama & Co.), but 

 was unsupported by evidence, and probably only 

 increased the effect made by Mr. Buckland's 

 eloquent use of his facts. 



The Plume Market. — Mr. Julius Dimock, the 

 well-known explorer, writes to Bird-Lore, the organ 

 of the Audubon Societies of the U.S.A. : " Better 

 than most men I know the devastating results of 

 plume-bird hunting in Florida, therefore I ask 

 your aid for a law which can be opposed only by 

 the selfish millinery interests. Every aigrette sold 

 in New York State means not only the taking of a 

 useful bird, but the starving to death of a little 

 brood ; for, every allegation to the contrary not- 

 withstanding, the aigrette of commerce is obtained 

 only by shooting the parent birds at the nesting 



season. Florida cannot stop this traffiic : geo- 

 graphical conditions forbid ; but you can close the 

 chief market to her plume hunters." England can 

 close a yet larger market. 



DESTRUCTION OF AFRICAN BIRDS. 



A correspondent of The Times (November 23rd, 

 1909), writes : " There seems to be urgent need for 

 the protection of plumage birds in German East 

 Africa. Herr Hermann Grote, who has spent some 

 time in the Protectorate, has published an account 

 of the slaughter of vast numbers of birds by a 

 French planter at Lindi, who sends the wings and 

 tails to a millinery firm at Paris. The specimens 

 enumerated are Touracoes, or Plantain-eaters, 

 bronzy -green Trogons, Kingfishers, Glossy Starlings, 

 golden-backed Weaver-birds, and Whydah birds. 

 Herr Grote points out that the Government might 

 put a stop to the traffic by forbidding the export 

 of the feathers, but he also pleads for a measure of 

 protection in the breeding season, which is the 

 plume-hunters' harvest time. 



