160 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



modern savage tribes. Therefore, they too must 

 have loved feather ornaments. 



Feathers are a too important item in the every- 

 day life of a savage to be thought lightly of by 

 him. They are, above all, necessary to guide 

 arrows straight. They may be incorporated into 

 head-dresses, totems, ju-ju, tokens, medicine, 

 darts, necklaces, charms, trinkets, toys, and 

 feather robes. They are his jewelry, his hand- 

 wrought lace, and his tapestry all in one. As his 

 culture broadens he becomes more skilled in their 

 working. Thus the art of weaving feathers into 

 brilliant tinted robes had reached a high level in 

 Central and South America during the time of the 

 Aztecs and Incas, while the robes of Hawaii and 

 the Far East have never been equalled in beauty 

 anywhere. 



But in Europe, with the coming of civilization, 

 the esthetic value of feathers seems to have been 

 forgotten until about the thirteenth century. In 

 England they were first seen on the queer conical 

 hats worn during the reigns of Edward III and 

 Richard II. Later, about the time of Henry 

 V, they were initiated as a part of the military 

 costume in the form of hat plumes. The custom 

 of wearing plumes then rapidly spread to the 

 populace, and by the end of the fifteenth century 

 so great was the demand for plumes that the milli- 

 ners had difficulty in maintaining the supply. 

 At that date enormous prices were demanded for 



