MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 163 



Not only has a trade in the plumes been built up but the birds them 

 selves now command a high market value ; young birds three to foui 

 months old are sold at 10 to 12 per Rs. 100, full grown birds command as 

 much as Rs. 100 per pair. 



The ease with which the egrets are bred and multiply, the fruitful crop 

 of plumes yielded by the bird and the high prices which the birds com- 

 mand are causing the industry to spread very rapidly in the neighbourhood 

 of the inland waters of the Province of Sind and it may be predicted with 

 safety that in a few years, if the demand for the plumes continues, every 

 fishing village in the interior of the country will have its egret farm. Of 

 course the trade in plumes of the birds of the egret and heron species has 

 always existed in Sind but the methods formerly followed were quite 

 different and the trade never attained such large dimensions. The practice 

 followed till about three decades ago, was to snare the birds and destroy 

 them for their plumage. On this being stopped, by executive orders of 

 the then Commissioner in Sind Mr. (now Sir) Evan James, the practice of 

 snaring the birds and keeping them in captivity was resorted to ; but 

 this led to the infamous custom of stitching up the birds' eyes with the 

 object of preventing them from escaping. The latter practice is now rigo- 

 rously suppressed by action under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 

 Act and these orders have proved an important factor in the inception of 

 the system of egret farming described in this note. 



Arrangements are being made to obtain a pair of the birds for the 

 Karachi Zoo. 



In this connection a question bound to arise sooner or later is the 

 necessity for the modification of the drastic Notification issued by the 

 Government of India in 1902 which '-'prohibits the taking by sea or by land 

 out of British India of skins and feathers of all birds other than domestic 

 birds, except (a) feathers of ostriches and (b) skins and feathers exported 

 bona fide as specimens illustrative of natural history." 



The result of the Notification has been to create a large industry in the 

 smuggling out of the country even in cases where destruction and cruelty 

 to the birds concerned are not involved, of feathers that have a distinct 

 commercial value : if bird-farming on humane lines for the sake of plumage 

 is to be encouraged in India, these orders must be modified. Only the 

 other day the Customs authorities at Karachi seized several boxes of 

 peacock feathers which were being surreptitiously exported under a false 

 declaration by a European Firm. These were confiscated and a fine 

 imposed. Now it is well known that the peacock moults its train. The 

 bird is regarded as sacred by a large majority of Indians and is seldom or 

 never killed by them and the occasions on which it is shot by inexperienced 

 European sportsmen have not infrequently led to collisions with the 

 country people. In many other directions the xiecessity for the amendment 

 of the orders in question could be indicated, so as to encourage instead of 

 deterring the farming of birds whose plumage has a distinct marketable 

 value. 



GEORGE BIRCH, 



Kakachi, March 237'd, 1914. Assistant Commissioner in Sind. 



[Mr. Birch has sent us some specimens of the plumes and also some photographs 

 of the Egrets in the 'farms', some of which are reproduced here. — Eds.] 



No. XXVII.— A CURIOUS HABIT OF KITES AND CROWS. 



Residents in Rangoon have a choice of two Golf Courses, one in Canton- 

 ments, the other situated at Mingaladon some twelve miles out. On the 



