Occasional Notes. 51 



skins of the Birds of Paradise, 1411 packages of the nesting- 

 plumes of the White Heron (representing the feathers of 

 nearly 115,000 birds), besides immense numbers of the 

 feathers and skins of almost every known species of orna- 

 mental-plumaged bird. At the June sale, held at the Com- 

 mercial Sale Rooms, 1386 Crowned Pigeons' heads were 

 sold, while among miscellaneous bird-skins one firm of 

 auctioneers alone catalogued 20,000 Kingfishers. A de- 

 plorable feature of the recent sales is the offer of large 

 numbers of Lyre-birds' tails and of Albatross quills. The 

 constant repetition of such figures as those given above — 

 and these plume-sales take place at least every two months — 

 shows that the Legislature must choose between the exter- 

 mination or the protection of the birds in question." 

 The protective clauses of the Bill are : — 



" 1. Any person who, after January first, one thousand 

 nine hundred and nine, shall import or bring into 

 the United Kingdom for the purpose of sale or 

 exchange the plumage, skin, or body, or an}^ part 

 of the plumage, skin, or body, of any dead wild 

 bird which is not included in the schedule of 

 exemption to this Act, shall be guilty of an 

 offence, and shall on summary conviction be liable 

 to a penalty of not exceeding five pounds, and for 

 every subsequent offence to a penalty of not ex- 

 ceeding twenty-five pounds, and in every case the 

 Court shall order the forfeiture and destruction of 

 the articles in respect of which the offence has 

 been committed. 

 " Provided that this section shall not apply — 



'"' (a) to anything done by virtue of a licence issued 

 from time to time by the Board of Trade under 

 such conditions and regulations as they may 

 prescribe for the purpose of supplying specimens 

 of any birds not included in the schedule to any 

 particular natural history or other museum or 

 for the purpose of definite scientific research ; or 



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