50 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



declined, have since been gratefully accepted to 

 meet the growing expenses of the Society, for 

 report, postage of letters, and leaflets. 



" At first the Society was composed of women 

 only, but several gentlemen have shown their 

 approval of the object of the Society by joining it 

 as members, or by authorizing the mention of their 

 names as earnest sympathizers. ... In evidence 

 that the leading ornithologists and bird-lovers in 

 England strongly condemn the pernicious fashion 

 which is causing the wholesale destruction of several 

 species of useful and beautiful birds, it must suffice 

 to quote, with their full sanction, the names of Lord 

 Lilford, the President of the British Ornithologists' 

 Union ; Professor Newton, of Magdelene College, 

 Cambridge; Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., Secretary 

 to the Zoological Society ; the Rev. Canon H, B. 

 Tristram (Durham); Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, of the 

 British Museum; Stacy Marks, R.A., the Hon. 

 Auberon Herbert, and the Rev. F. O. Morris, of 

 Nunburnholme. 



To these names were soon added those of 

 the Hon. Mrs. Boyle, Mrs. Brightwen, Sir 

 EdAvard Grey, Sir Herbert Maxwell, the 

 Bishop of Durham (Dr. Lightfoot), the Head- 

 master of Harrow (now Bishop Welldon), and 

 Mr. W. H. Hudson. Professor Newton gave 

 the Society its first guinea, the Rev. A. L. 

 Hussey the second ; and in 1892 a donation 

 of £10 from Mr. Harvie-Brown enabled a 

 banking account to be opened. By the end 

 of 1892 there were over 5,000 " members," 

 two pamphlets and three leaflets had been 

 issued, and Punch had come out on the side 

 of the persecuted Herons with its cartoon of 

 the " osprey "- decked " Harpy " of fashion. 

 Towards the close of this year Miss Poland 



resigned the Hon. Secretaryship to Mrs. 

 Frank E. Lemon, and shortly afterwards 

 the Society was first organized by the forma- 

 tion of a Committee, whose meetings were 

 held by invitation at the offices of the 

 R.S.P.C.A., in Jermyn Street, for the next 

 five years. 



The Society was now fairly established, 

 and able to turn its attention to improved 

 legislation for the Protection of Birds. 



While dealing, however, with the inner 

 history of the Society, it may be added that 

 the quahfying subscription of an " Associate " 

 was placed at one shilling by the constitution 

 of 1893, in order that all classes might be 

 asked to join the ranks of subscribers ; in 

 1896 an appeal for guinea subscriptions from 

 " Fellows " was issued ; and the present 

 constitution of Fellows, Members and 

 Associates was fixed by the Royal Charter 

 granted to the Society by King Edward VII. 

 in 1904. By this Charter a Council of 

 twenty-four members was authorized. The 

 present Chairman, Mr. Montagu Sharpe, first 

 took office in 1895 ; Sir George Meason 

 succeeded Miss Hall as Hon. Treasurer in 

 the same year, and was followed by Mr. 

 Sydney Buxton, M.P., in 1901 ; Mr. Frank 

 E. Lemon took over the duties of Hon. 

 Secretary in 1904, 



(To be continued.) 



usr 



The PIume-'TrAcle. 



UcT 



*' Feathers and Facts," the new pamphlet 

 issued by the Royal Society for the Protection 

 oE Birds, is intended not only as a reply to 

 statements contained in " The Feather Trade : 

 the Case for the Defence," issued by the plume- 

 trade, but as a summarised history of the 

 movement for the protection of birds killed 

 for the millinery market. It will, therefore. 



prove a useful handbook for members of the 

 Socitey and for the many writers and speakers 

 who apply for facts concerning the various 

 phases of the question. The trade defence 

 that the plumes are " artificial," and the 

 trade defence that the plumes are " picked 

 up," are dealt with ; and Mr. Walter Good- 

 felloAv, the well-known ornithologist and 



