49 



Birds of the Lower Amazon. 



In 1895 and 1896 Professor Emil Goeldi, author of " The Birds 

 of Brazil," and an honorary member of the British Ornithologists' 

 Union, presented memorials to the State Government of Para 

 against the destruction for their plumes of Herons and Ibises on 

 the Lower Amazon. As director of the Pard Museum of Natural 

 History, he protests " in the name of common sense against the 

 barbarous destruction of Herons that is being carried on in the 

 lower Amazon, and would rather resign his position than fail 

 to cry out most emphatically against one of the most scandalous 

 crimes that is perpetrated against Nature in this beautiful region." 

 As a naturalist he characterizes the slaughter as " a vile business," 

 which yet " brazen-facedly shows itself in open daylight, desiring 

 to assume in our market the appearance of a business as legiti- 

 mate as any other." 



Professor Goeldi repeated his protest in 1903 : 



"The flocks of Herons are being decimated There 



are men who, every year, order a wholesale slaughter of both 

 sexes, leaving the carcases to rot on the spot." 



In his earlier memorial, Dr. Goeldi, misled by the canard of 

 the Tunisian farm (p. 42), suggested an attempt to breed Herons 

 on the Tunisian plan. But his emphatic recommendations in 

 each petition are : 1st, the absolute prohibition of hunting Herons 

 and Ibises from June 1st to January 31st ; 2nd, the recommenda- 

 tion of nesting-places on private property to the especial pro- 

 tection of the owners, and the rendering of those on public land 

 inviolable ; 3rd, the laying of prohibitive duties on the feathers, 

 both on those exported from Para and on those in transit. 



A Campaign a ou trance. 



A further measure commended in the same memorial is this : 

 " A vigorous propagandism against the use of plumes in the 

 importing countries." And Professor Goeldi adds : 



" For a long time I have been preparing to wage a cam- 

 paign a outrance in this respect. I know that in regard to 

 the United States of America I can rely on the support of 

 scientific institutions and of the Press to combat a fashion 



D 



