MISCJELLANEOUS NOTES. 583 



sent to a " Sahib " on the Sntlej. Before, however, I could find out any 

 more, his "better-half" turned up and slanged him roundly for giving the 

 show away. Now my ideas on the subject are that the feather traders, 

 knowing it to be illegal to destroy Egrets for their feathers, keep these 

 decoy birds in more or less humane surroundings during the cold weather 

 when they are likely to be visited by European officials and have invented 

 the story regarding their breeding in captivity, and all the evidence I have 

 obtained on the subject goes to prove my theory. 



Mr. Birch states in his article that there was " ample evidence to indicate 

 that the birds breed freely " but he does not state the nature of his 

 evidence. Did he himself see the old birds sitting on eggs or young and 

 were the photographs reproduced taken by himself? It seems extraordi- 

 nary that the birds should assume breeding plumage four times a year, 

 when I believe many birds do not assume breeding plumage at all in 

 unnatural surroundings. In a natural state Egrets commence breeding at 

 the very earliest in June, and the majority not till July, did Mr. Birch 

 himself see them breeding in March or was he only told so ? 



Again Mr. Birch does not state at what time of the year he visited the 

 farms, it would be most interesting to know this. As if he himself saw the 

 birds breeding in March and took the photos himself his statements require 

 no further confirmation, but if he did not see the bird sitting himself and 

 did not -himself take the photographs I am afraid without further confirma- 

 tion his article is of little use from a scientific point of view. 



It would be a dangerous undertaking to legitimize the feather trade at 

 present, as even though Egret farming could be carried out on the 

 lines stated by Mr. Birch in Sind, there are still a large number 

 of birds slaughtered for their plumes all along the Indus, Chenab 

 and Sutlej rivers and should the trade be legalized those who 

 collect the feathers by slaughtering the birds would take full advantage 

 of the law, and it would be next to impossible to convict them of 

 obtaining their feathers in an illegal manner. Other species of birds also 

 would sufi'er by the removal of the restriction, as it would be quite im- 

 possible to breed several of the species whose plumes are sought after 

 profitably in confinement ; and even should it be possible to breed all birds 

 in captivity for the sake of their plumage, why should the vanities of the 

 female sex be pandered to at the expense of the wretched bird whose lot 

 in confinement, even under the most favourable circumstances, is wretched 

 as compared with that of his kind at large. 



The above remarks are not intended to cast any reflections on Mr. 

 Birch's article, but I do consider that, in order to remove all doubt on 

 the subject Mr. Birch should state whether he actually saw the birds 

 incubating eggs himself and whether he himself took the photographs, as 

 it would be a very simple matter to place young wild birds in the aviaries 

 during his visit there. 



J. LINDSAY SMITH, Major, m.b.o.u., i.a. 



QuETTA, ?rd August 1 914. 



[On showing' the above note to Mr, Birch he replied as follows : — " The photo- 

 graphs printed in the Journal were all taken on surprise visits to dijfferent farms. 

 Plate A. at a place 7 miles from Rohri on the bank of the Western Nara ; Plate B 

 at a village 6 miles from the town of Larkana ; Plate C at Eahuja on the Sukkur 

 Canal, a place 3 miles from Sukkur. The first two photos were snapshots taken 

 by myself. I had to secure the help of a professional photographer to take Plate 

 C, as my Kodak was not large enough to get an interior view ; but I visited this 

 farm myself also. The other photos sent to you which were not published were 

 taken by me personally." — Eds.1 



