Monthly Bulletin 7 



become a law, there was a great rush to import these feathers, as there is 

 no law forbidding their possession or use once they are in the country. 

 Since that time these feathers have been offered for sale by most millinery 

 stores, the explanation being that they were imported before the passing 

 of the tariff act. It is a question in the minds of those interested in prevent- 

 ing the illegal use of feathers whether any of these legal importations 

 remain in the hands of the storekeepers. Certainly if they could not sell 

 them in seven years it would seem as if they never could, yet today these 

 feathers are offered for sale, indeed are advertised by reputable stores in 

 Boston. It is well known that extensive smuggling of feathers goes on. 

 A year or more ago thousands of dollars worth were seized at the port of 

 New York. Many other thousands must leak through unseen. That reput- 

 able stores should continue to sell these and openly offer them for sale is 

 cause for general unfavorable comment. As the law stands, it is a question 

 whether it would be possible to proceed legally against such transgressors. 

 Proof that the feathers are smuggled would be difficult if not impossible. 

 At the same time there is a very large and rapidly growing sentiment 

 throughout the State against the use or sale of such contraband for the 

 adornment of hats. The Audubon Society frequently receives clippings of 

 such advertisements with an indignant letter from the sender saying that 

 she would scorn to trade at stores that do that sort of thing and it may 

 readily be believed that an advertisement of that sort, in the long run, loses 

 trade for a millinery department rather than gains it. 



Wearers of aigrettes or other feathers of our native birds will do well 

 to bear in mind the following from our Revised Laws from the State of 

 Massachusetts as amended by the Acts of 1903, Chapter 329. This may 

 be read on page 138 of the Fish and Game Laws of Massachusetts, pub- 

 lished by the Commissioners on Fisheries and Game. 



"Section 1. Whoever has in possession the bodies or feathers of a 

 bird, the taking or killing of which is prohibited by the provisions of the 

 preceding section, or of section 5 of this Chapter, whether taken in this 

 Commonwealth or elsewhere, or wears such feathers for the purpose of dress 

 or ornament, shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars." 



MORE UPLAND PLOVER 

 Dear Sir: Longmeadow, Mass. 



In your April Bulletin, in the article copied from the Salem News 

 by Dr. John C. Phillips, he writes of the upland plover as being very 

 rare and its breeding places confined to only one or two localities in this 

 State and in numbers to perhaps a dozen pair. I think he is in error as I 

 hear them passing over every year from breeding grounds on Granby 

 Plains north of Springfield. I am familiar with their peculiar call as I 

 have shot them in North Eastham on Cape Cod forty-five year ago. I 

 have heard them every year up to 1920 and probably shall this year in 

 August when they begin their migration. I think they are now protected 

 and it is illegal to shoot them. 



To people who are interested in nesting places for birds I would 

 recom.mend a large brush-heap where it is possible to pile one. For several 

 years now I have had one on the place and have had song sparrows and 

 brown thrashers nesting in it. I have previously been troubled with cats 

 which roam over this place and destroy many young birds. They also catch 

 many field mice, which are a pest here, so I do not wish to kill the cats. 



