162 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Fol. XXIII. 



Mirbahars (the generic term by which the fisher-folk of the inland waters of 

 the Province are known) are building up a lucrative trade in osprey feather 

 plucked from the plumage of these egrets and that the operation is con- 

 ducted without injuring the birds, in the same way as feathers are plucked 

 from the ostrich. 



During the course of residence on duty at the village of Ber in the 

 Kamber Taluka of the Larkana District the writer spent some considerable 

 time in investigating personally the modus operandi of the breeders and has 

 thought it worthwhile to record the results of his investigations as the 

 egret or white heron is regarded popularly as requiring most protection by 

 the State against the depredations of man in pursuit of the beautiful 

 osprey plumes, now so valuable a commodity in the world of fashion. 



The village of Ber is situated on the edge of the Change Lake or dhand 

 in the Larkana District. 



At a distance of about three hundred yards from the village and practi- 

 cally on the edge of the water, a colony of Mirbahars numbering some 200 

 men, women and children have their abode in reed huts. A feature which 

 attracted the writer's attention, since his last visit to the village, was the 

 recent erection in front of each abode of quadrangular structures of reed 

 mats some 20'. 8'. 8' resembling an ordinary poultry run. On obtaining 

 entrance into one of these structures he found it contained at least three 

 score pairs of full grown egrets in a state of freedom : there was a plentiful 

 supply of perches for the birds, and the cage was tolerably clean. The 

 birds appeared to associate in pairs, and met the intrusion with their usual 

 hoarse cries. A liberal supply of food, consisting of small fresh water fish 

 netted in the dhand, lay about in shallow earthern platters and the birds 

 helped themselves to this at pleasure. The birds were fairly tame and 

 allowed themselves to be seized by their owners without showing any fear. 

 There were about twenty such cages in the village each containing about 

 fifty birds on the average. 



■ There was ample evidence to indicate that the birds breed freely in these 

 conditions of modified captivity. Enquiries showed that under these con- 

 ditions birds assume their nuptial plumage four times a year : twice in 

 summer and twice in winter ; the summer plumage is comparatively poor, 

 nearly half that of the winter plumage. 



The breeding season commences early in March and continues up to the 

 end of September. As soon as the breeding season begins the birds break 

 up into couples : twigs are strewn about the cage and each pair of birds 

 build a nest. The birds hatch their own eggs which are jealously guarded, 

 the male bird invariably taking the place of the mother bird when she 

 leaves the nest for food or exercise. The young are permitted to remain 

 with the parent birds for about a week when they are removed and reared 

 by hand : the couple meanwhile commence to breed again. 



The number of times the birds breed during this period depends on the 

 degree of vitality of each pair ; eggs are laid never less than twice during 

 the season and sometimes as many as four or five times ; the number of 

 eggs each time varies from three to five. It takes about 12 months for a 

 bird to reach maturity. 



The plumes are made up into small brushes weighing about half a tola to 

 a tola, and are taken to Sukkur and Karachi for sale. The prices realized 

 range from 10 to Rs. 15 a tola : as each bird yields plumes seldom less than 

 a tola in weight and often more during the year, it will be understood how 

 lucrative a hobby egret-farming has become. The Sukkur merchants 

 export the feathers to Calcutta whence they are no doubt smuggled out of 

 the country to the European markets where prices ranging as high as £ 15 

 an ounce of feathers are realized. 



