ORNAMENTAL PLUMES 169 



feather seeker. They too have grown scarce. 

 Will all birds thus fall victim to fashion? 



The Fall of Ornamental Plumes 



Once upon a time an ancient Mexican people 

 built great cities and lined them with gold. They 

 lived in the radiance of countless jewels, enam- 

 oured of splendor and display. Then came an 

 army of stronger fighters, whose greed had been 

 aroused by sight of all this magnificence, and the 

 ancient race was defeated, enslaved, and well-nigh 

 exterminated. As with the Aztecs, so it has been 

 with the birds. Their beauty has aroused the 

 greed of mankind, and they have suffered in con- 

 sequence. 



But their suffering is drawing to a close. Men, 

 before it was too late, suddenly realized the worth 

 of what was being destroyed. A change of heart 

 came over the civilized world. Protection in- 

 stead of destruction is now the popular slogan. 



Forty-odd years ago the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union and the United States Department 

 of Agriculture opened a campaign against the 

 feather trade. The struggle bade fair to* be a 

 bitter one. Scarcely a soul in this great popula- 

 tion of ours seemed to realize that a few more 

 years of promiscuous slaughter would see the 



