Vol. XXI"j DuxcuER, Report of Committee on Bird Protectiojt. 103 



This agreement, it is believed, is being lived up to by the 

 miUiners with very few exceptions, a notable one being tlie refusal 

 of three firms in New York who are not members of the Associa- 

 tion, and who refuse to be governed by the agreement in respect 

 to the use of aigrettes. 



The further use of the aigrette in the United States, therefore, 

 becomes a matter of ethics. The women wiio will not wear the 

 aigrette are upholding every good impulse and are living up to 

 the sentiment expressed by Coleridge : 



He prayeth well, who loveth well 

 Both man and bird and beast. 

 He prayeth best, who loveth best 

 All things both great and small ; 

 For the dear God who loveth us, 

 He made and loveth all. 



On the other hand the women who still persist in wearing the 

 aigrette, no matter whether it was secured in this country or any 

 other, does so at the cost of a life taken in the cruellest possible 

 manner. The plume when worn is not an emblem of grace and 

 beauty, but is a badge of cruelty and inhumanity. 



The National Committee offers the following suggestions for the 

 work of the coming year : 



A decided and energetic effort must be made to prevent the use 

 of automatic guns. Birds and game are disappearing quite rapidly 

 enough by the use of the ordinary shot gun, but if the magazine 

 gun comes into general use, it simply multiplies enormously the 

 present means of destruction. 



Every State should be urged to follow the example set by 

 Pennsylvania and Delaware in appointing an Honorary Consulting 

 Ornithologist ; he may be connected with the Board of Agriculture 

 or with the Fish and Game Commission, and all matters relating 

 to the bird life of the State, or the laws governing the same, should 

 be referred to him for expert opinion. In every State may be 

 found ornithologists of note who would be willing to contribute 

 their services without compensation. 



The Audubon societies should affiliate closely with the Humane 

 societies ; many of these throughout the United States are now 



