Storks, Herons, and Pelican Tribe 



445 



amongst the most unfortunate of birds, and this because of the gracefulness and beauty 

 of certain parts of the plumage worn during the breeding-season, which are coveted alike 

 by Eastern magnates and Western women. The feathers in question are those known as 

 "egrets," or, more commonly, "ospreys"; and their collection, as Professor Newton points 

 oat, causes some of "the most abominable cruelty practised in the animal world." The 

 wearing of these feathers can no longer be excused; for Sir William Flower in England, 

 and Professor W. E. D. Scott in America, have given the greatest publicity to the horrible 

 barbarities and sickening scenes which are perpetrated by the men sent to gather in this 

 harvest. The egrets, however, are not the only victims, as a glance at the milliners' windows 

 will show, the distorted and mangled bodies of almost every known species of the smaller 



Photo by Dr. R. W. Slmfeldf] 



[ Washington. 



GREEN HERON. 

 This is a North American bird of skulking and nocturnal habits. 



birds being therein displayed ! Many of those who wear these " ornaments " offend unwittingly ; 

 it is certain that if they realised the suffering and waste of life that this method of decoration 

 entails they would eschew any but ostrich feathers for ever. 



The CATTLE-EGRET, better known as the BUFF-BACKED HERON, breeds in the southern 

 portion of the Spanish Peninsula, where from March to autumn it is very common in the 

 marshes of Andalusia, thousands congregating there, herding with the cattle, from the backs of 

 which they may be often seen picking off the ticks ; hence the Spaniards give them a name 

 meaning "cattle-cleaners." 



The NIGHT-HERONS are comparatively small birds, and derive their name from their habn 

 of turning night into day, waking up only as the shades of evening fall to hunt for food ; 

 only during the breeding-season is this habit broken through, when they are obliged to hunt 



