Reviezvs.



219



Lastly, a list is given at the end of the book of the known

Hybrids that have been obtained. Although this list does not

claim to be complete (and we notice several omissions) yet it

forms a good basis on which a list may be formed, and being one

of the first attempts to make a complete list is most valuable for

reference.


Practical books, written by practical men, always contain

useful information, and we heartily recommend it to all our

readers, whether they breed hybrids or not, as it abounds in

information valuable to all aviculturists.


FEATHERS AND FACTS. *


I11 spite of the diminution of many of the most beautiful

birds in the world, the demand for the feathers still continues

with unabated force. We do not for one moment believe that

ladies wilfully aid in this destruction, but rather that from the

dictates of fashion and from ignorance of the real state of affairs

they continue to adorn themselves with some of the most beauti¬

ful of Nature’s creations. In so doing they are exterminating

Nature’s works of art, and once destroyed these are gone beyond

a possible hope of ever again existing. Were these facts more

widely realized we feel sure that the trade in these plumes would

cease to exist, and the little pamphlet before us, which has just

been published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

not only puts the case and the results very clearly, but at the same

time gives an answer to the feather traders, who are opposing

tooth and nail an anti-plumage Bill now before Parliament.


The destruction done by collectors for the plume trade

becomes especially dangerous to the existence of the species

they hunt, because they are usually slaughtered during the nest¬

ing season, when the plumes of all birds are at their best, and also

because at such times birds are tamer and many species collect

in large breeding colonies, thus reducing the labour of gettin g the

plumes to a minimum. The enormous destruction that is thus

brought about is almost inconceivable, but the fact remains that

in many parts of its range the Egret has ceased to exist, that on

some of the islands of New Guinea no full-plumaged Paradise


* Feathers and Facts. .Statement by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds,

74 pp., 8vo. I.ondon : Roy. Soc. Prot. Birds, 23, Queen Anne’s Gate, S.W. Price 6d.



