i 

 944 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVll. , \ 



89. Eim/stomus orientaUs. — Tlie Broad-billed Holler. I saw this bird for 5 

 the first time yesterday. A pair of them were sitting on a dead tree in a joung i 

 coffee clearing. One or the other kept flying to another dead tree where they j 

 have their nest in a hole some 12 feet up. It contains young. While perched 

 they emitted a note curiously reminiscent of an eagle's scream. j 



90. Totanus glottis. — The Green Shank. I saw a sohtary bird beside the 

 A'lanalora stream the other day. 



Nelliampathy Hills, A. P. KINLOCH. " ' 



March 1921. \ 



iso. XTI.— OCCURRENCE OF THE PIED GROUND THRUSH((y^OC/Cfi-XJ 

 WARDI) ON THE NELLIAMPATHY HILLS. 



Some time ago I noticed a S Pied C4round Thrush up here. This is the first 

 time I have seen this bird on these hills and I do not think I would have passed 

 over such a conspicuous species had it been of regular occurrence. I therefore 

 beheve that this bird merely breaks its journey here on its migration from more 

 Southerly latitudes in the same manner as does the Wood Cock {Scolopax 

 rusticola). 



Nelt.tampathy Hills, 



22nd March 1921. A. P. KINLOCH. 



No. XTIL— EGRET FARmNG IN SIND. 



The following extract from the Daily Gazette, Karachi, has been sent to 

 us by Mr. G. Birch who contributed an article to the Journal on the above sub- 

 ject : — 



In 1913-14 an article was contributed by Mr. Birch of Karachi to the Journal 

 of Bombay Natural History Society on the subject of Egret farming in Sind. 



According to Mr. Birch, who had spent some considerable time in personal 

 investigations, the Lesser Egret (Herodias garzetta) had been domesticated and 

 was being bred and reared with marked success by Mirbhahars (the generic term 

 by which the fisher folk of the inland waters of t he province of Sind are known) 

 who had built up a lucrative trade in osprey feathers plucked from the dorsal 

 plumage of the egret in the same way as feathers are plucked from t^ie ostrich. 

 A series of photographs taken personally by the author accompanied the article, 

 and illustrated the " modus operandi" of the breeders and the construction and 

 condition of the farms. In particular it was stated — ■ 



(i) that the birds were bred under humane conditions, 



(ii) that the breeding system, so far as these particular birds were concerned 

 had superceded the barbarous system which formerly prevailed in Sind of slaught- 

 ering egrets for osprey plumes, 



(iii) that when thus domesticated in these farms the birds bred and assumed 

 their nuptial plumage, i.e., the dorsal plumes, three or four times a j^ear. 



In conclusion the author pointed out the necessity for the modification of 

 the drastic orders issued by Lord Curzon's Government in 1902 under the 

 Customs Act which " prohibits the taking by sea or land out of British India 

 of skins and feathers of all birds other than domestic birds except 



(a) feathers of ostriches, and 



(6) skins and feathers exported bona fide as specimens illustrative of natural 

 iiistory." 



The result of these orders has been to create a large industry in the smug- 

 gling out of the country, even where destruction of and cruelty to birds are 

 not involved, of feathers that have a distinct commercial value. The article at- 

 tracted much attention at the time. It was reproduced, with the permission 

 of the author in " Bird Notes " the Journal of the Foreign Bird Club, Surrey, 

 and in the Scientific American. Many enquiries were received from other 



