222 SEPTEMBER 



The Society for the Protection of Birds appeal to 

 similar sympathies to those which the Company 

 above referred to rely on to bring them shareholders. 

 In a recent leaflet this excellent Society deals with 

 that fashion in ladies' bonnets which makes the 

 wearing of bird-of-Paradise plumes indispensable. 

 These are commonly mixed with so-called c ospreys,' 

 which are really the bridal dress of two species of 

 white heron. The iniquity of the traffic in * ospreys' 

 has been shown to rest on the fact that these coveted 

 plumes are only displayed at the breeding season ; 

 indeed, they are not fully developed on the parent 

 birds till the young ones are hatched. Hence the 

 nesting colonies have to be attacked at the very 

 season when humanity should decree protection to 

 beautiful and harmless birds. Grievous is the de- 

 scription by eye-witnesses of the collection of these 

 plumes ; rough fellows make a raid on the heronry, 

 shooting down the old birds, tearing out the plumes, 

 and flinging aside their victims, often still alive, to 

 perish miserably in sight of their starving broods. 

 The heartlessness of fashion arises from its ignor- 

 ance ; few ladies trouble themselves to inquire about 

 the source where these favourite ornaments are 

 obtained, being content to be told that it is in the 



