58 



plumes. The slaughter was continued in 1887, 1888 and 

 1889." (Lake Malheur was made a State Reservation in 

 1908 on account of the extensive killing of Grebes, Egrets 

 and Terns for their plumage.) 



Mr. F. M. Chapman, Curator of the American Museum of Natural 

 History, New York, member of the A.O.U., in "Bird-Lore," 1908 : 



" My experiences have been with the larger Egret. Always 

 when a rookery of promising size was reported, the plume- 

 hunters arrived first, and word came that the ' long whites 

 have all been shot out.' 



" The State, learning the value of the treasure of which 

 she has been robbed, has passed stringent laws prohibiting 

 the killing of Egrets. So, too, she has passed laws against 

 pickpockets, but just so long as there are pockets worth 

 picking there will be some one to pick them, and just so long 

 as Egrets' plumes are worth their weight in gold there will 

 be someone to supply them until the last plume has found 

 its way from the bonnet to the ash-barrel." 



From " Bird- Lore," 1909: 



" During the summer of 1908 two small colonies of Snowy 

 Egrets were discovered on the South Carolina coast and 

 every effort was made to give them complete protection. 

 Notwithstanding all that was done, both of these rookeries 

 were ' shot out ' quite recently." 



Mr. J. A. Dimock, in " Bird- Lore," 1909: 



" Within my own recollection the trees on the banks of 

 the bays and rivers of the Florida peninsula were alive with 

 birds of many varieties. As night approached the air was 

 filled with birds on their way to their homes in the big 

 rookeries. Often the foliage of a key was hidden by the mass 

 of birds, and the island made to look like a huge snow-drift. 

 The small remnant has retreated to the fastnesses of the 

 Big Cypress Swamp and the unexplored Everglades ; but 

 even here the hunters are following. . . Every allegation 

 to the contrary notwithstanding, the aigrette of commerce 

 is obtained only by shooting parent- birds at the nesting 

 season." (See also pp. 8, 22.) 



