Vol 



lof ^^ 1 Stephens, Need for Bird Protection. 6l 



of the Condor, 3,000 skins of Golden and other Pheasants, 3,000 

 skins of Terns (White Sea-Swallows), 1,300 skins of Birds-of- 

 Paradise, 2,000 skins of Cockatoos and Parrots, about 2,000 wing 

 and tail feathers of the Eagle, and, among many others, including 

 skins of PeHcan, Marabou Stork, Scarlet Ibis, Gulls, Owls, and 

 Macaws, were 761 skins of the Emu. Multiply these 90,000 odd 

 by three, and it is said the result would be a fair approximation 

 of the product of the world-wide slaughter offered for sale in 

 London on one day. During one month, before the American 

 market was closed, 4,500 skins of those lovely Greater and Lesser 

 Birds-of-Paradise were imported into New York. Nothing more 

 striking can show the necessity for immediate Federal action, 

 following the bold and humane precedent established by our 

 American cousins, for not only is the slaughter world-wide, but 

 Australia will probably be among the countries deluged with 

 this plumage obtained for the adornment of Nature's already 

 '' fair sex." But let us hope, as Lord Lilford said, that the day 

 will soon dawn when no women in civilized and law-abiding 

 countries will be allowed to disfigure their heads with the 

 plumage of wild birds, and when that day does come this horrible 

 traffic will cease. 



Give women the right to vote, by all means. The world would 

 be no worse — probably better — if they had it everjrwhere ; but 

 it is not too much to ask that they, in turn, will help to give 

 God's beautiful winged creatures the right simply to live and 

 continue to charm us by their form and plumage and delight us 

 with their grace and freedom. It is largely a woman's question, 

 and could be quickly decided if only women would decline to wear 

 pieces of dead birds in their hats. The comparatively few men 

 who get their living by the vile massacre are not worth considering. 

 It would be an insult to women even to suggest that their remark- 

 able ingenuity in personal adornment cannot devise something to 

 take the place of wild birds, which, alive, appeal to us all, if only 

 by their mere helplessness. But, as in America, where reform 

 was possible only by the growth of public opinion voiced by no 

 fewer than 130 newspapers and magazines, so in Australia the 

 subject, I am sure, has only to be ceaselessly ventilated and 

 similarly supported to bring the matter to a successful issue. I 

 know that these remarks appeal to wilhng ears, for the press has 

 already used its strong influence in support of the movement, 

 and, I hope, will continue to do so on every possible occasion. 



Various State Governments have done something towards 

 preserving bird-Hfe in Australia. South Australia, for instance, 

 under the Birds Protection Act igoo, protects wholly all the year 

 round, on public or private property, 41 species, and some others 

 during the breeding season. But the wider question of importa- 

 tion is a Federal matter. The Customs Act provides that no 

 prohibited goods may be imported, and that goods specified in 

 a Governor-General's proclamation are prohibited imports. 

 Acting under this, a revised proclamation was issued in May, 



