The Audubon Societies 



407 



this platform, I see a surging mass of 

 feathers, which your hat-makers insist 

 upon placing — some straight in front, 

 others over one ear, then again a plume 

 trails over the back of the head, in a weep- 

 ing-willow style, giving the impression of 

 unrest, I will end my digression by tell- 

 ing you something profoundly sad. Among 

 the plumes on your hats I distinguish 

 innumerable aigrettes, quantities of Birds- 

 of-Paradise, and, as I turn my eyes away, 

 I think of the ruthless massacres which 

 bird-hunters are carrying on for your 

 pleasure and vanity. Poor little winged 

 world, inoffensive and charming, which in 

 half a century, thanks to you, will be found 

 nowhere! I recall some specimens, the 

 most wonderful, which have already dis- 

 appeared, with no possible return. What 

 a sacrilege! What a crime! To have sent 

 into oblivion a species of bird-life which 

 no mortal can re-create in this world! 



Ladies, I ask mercy for the birds of fair 

 plumage. Believe me, all of you will be 

 just as lovely, and appear less cruel, when 

 you have discarded the covering of these 

 little bodies, which you now wear on your 

 hats." 



On Guard in Central Texas 



A report from H. TuUsen, President of 

 the Central Texas Audubon Society, at 

 Taylor, Texas, shows that the friends of 

 birds are active there, not only in educa- 

 tional and other worthy directions, but 

 in enforcing the law against the wanton 

 destruction of bird-life. The especial 

 villany in that region is the shooting of 

 Nighthawks, one of the most innocent 

 and useful of all our migratory birds. 



A FLICKER AT ITS BATH 

 Scene in the garden of F. E. Barker, at Hamilton, Ohio 



