LAW PROHIBITING WILD PLUMAGE 155 



where there are now twenty colonies of White Egrets, con- 

 taining about 10,000 birds, all under the protection of the 

 National Association of Audubon Societies. At Avery Island, 

 Louisiana, Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny has a colony of about 5,000 

 birds (in 1914) which he began to protect in 1894. 



From 1900 to 1913 the Audubon Societies of America 

 waged constant warfare against the killing of Egrets and the 

 sale of Egret plumes, or "aigrettes." Through hard cam- 

 paigning, thirteen state legislatures had been educated into 

 passing state laws forbidding the sale of Egret plumes, and 

 the plumage of all the protected birds of those states. These 

 laws exerted a great influence for good, but the free importa- 

 tion of wild birds' plumage from abroad kept the plume- 

 wearing women of America well supplied. In all parts of 

 the world outside the United States where Egrets are found, 

 the slaughter of those birds continued at a terrible rate, to 

 supply the feather market of Europe and America. 



Six years ago the bird-lovers of England started a move- 

 ment in London for the curbing of the feather trade, but up 

 to the end of 1913 no law had actually been passed. 



In January, 1913, the framing of a new tariff law by our 

 Congress afforded an opportunity to ask for the insertion of 

 a clause to prohibit all importations of the plumage of wild 

 birds for commercial purposes of any kind, but from this 

 proposal ostrich feathers and the feathers of all domestic 

 fowls were excluded. 



A great campaign was made for "the plumage clause," in 

 which the women of America who are opposed to the slaughter 

 of wild birds for "the feather trade" took active part. The 



