JANUARY 5 



or the bird of paradise creatures which they never 

 would behold in their natural environment. Even after 

 Queen Alexandra caused it to be known that she would 

 not allow ' ospreys ' to form any part of her attire, only 

 a few ladies followed her example; the majority either 

 gave the matter no attention, or were cajoled by their 

 milliners into believing that ' ospreys ' were not what 

 in truth they are the nuptial plumes of several species 

 of white heron or egret (Ardea occidentalis, alba, 

 garzetta, etc.) but harmless imitations thereof. 



Well, Lord Avebury died without effecting his 

 beneficent purpose ; trade interest was too strongly 

 organised in opposing all interference with the traffic 

 in plumes. Hundreds of tons, literally, of feathers 

 the very emblem of lightness continued to be imported 

 into Great Britain, up to the time when the channels 

 of all kinds of trade were dislocated by the Great War. 

 For instance, in six months of 1913 there were sold in 

 London alone (not to mention Paris, Vienna, and other 

 focuses of fashion) 1411 packages of 'ospreys' i.e. the 

 nuptial dress of the white heron. To make up these 

 1411 packages no fewer than 115,000 adult herons had 

 been killed, or left to die after the coveted plumes had 

 been reft from them. Even that large number does 

 not represent the full tale of slaughter, forasmuch as 

 the so-called ' osprey ' plumes are displayed only during 

 the period of courtship and nesting. The parent birds, 

 therefore, have to be captured or killed outright before 

 their brood is fledged ; consequently, for every pair of 

 herons killed, four young ones have either not been 

 hatched, or, having been hatched, have been left to 



