78 



Bird - Lore 



is most prized for beauty or utility, in 

 the wild-bird life of India, is, to this 

 hour, smuggled out of that country and 

 sold in the London feather mart. . . . 



"The injury done to domestic animals 

 and to man by biting and parasitic insects 

 is great beyond the imagination of those 

 who have no knowledge of tropical climes. 

 One of the first acts of Mr. Wilson, when 

 he became President of the United States, 

 was to issue an Executive Order pro- 

 hibiting, under heavy penalties for infrac- 

 tion, the destruction of any wild bird in 

 the Panama Canal Zone. A matter of 

 very grave concern for us all is the enor- 

 mous number of fly-catching and parasite- 

 eating birds that are being killed annually 

 for their plumage in Central Africa. For 

 instance, in warm countries Kingfishers 

 feed almost entirely on insects, and it is a 

 conservative estimate to say that in 

 these regions every Kingfisher eats daily 

 150 of these noxious pests. Wherefore the 

 sale of the skins of 216,660 Kingfishers at 

 the last six London feather sales is — if 

 you will pardon a somewhat free use of 

 the vernacular of the man in the street 

 — asking for trouble. 



"From every part of the world comes 

 the same story of wholesale slaughter of 

 wild-bird life. Here are the totals of just 

 a few species whose plumage has been 

 sold during the past twelve months at 

 the London feather sales: 216,603 King- 

 fishers; 21,318 Crowned Pigeons, 20,715 

 quills of the White Crane; 17,711 Birds-of- 

 Paradise; 5,794 pairs of Macaw wings; 

 4,112 Hummingbirds; and so on, through 

 the whole list of brilliantly plumaged 

 birds. I ask you to ponder on these 

 figures and — since plumages used in milli- 

 nery are of greatest value when taken from 

 the slain bird during the breeding-season — 

 to reflect what this annual hecatomb 

 darkly yet plainly indicates. . . . 



"The German explorer, Professor Neu- 

 hauss, who recently returned to Berlin 

 from New Guinea, has sent the following 

 communication to the Imperial Secretary 

 of State for the Colonies. Inter alia, he 



says: 'The ofl&cial figures as to the yearly 

 shooting of the Birds-of-Paradise in Ger- 

 man New Guinea do not give a correct 

 idea of the actual state of affairs, as at 

 least double the number is shot every 

 year. Considering the sparsely populated 

 coast, it is impossible to properly super- 

 vise the export of skins. There are nu- 

 merous secret paths which make it possible 

 to get a large quantity of plumage out of 

 the country unnoticed. By limitation of 

 the shooting, or by the introduction of a 

 close time, practically nothing is done. 

 The prospect of profit is far too attrac- 

 tive not to find ways and means for the 

 evasion of the law. I frequently hear it 

 remarked that the extermination of the 

 Birds-of-Paradise on the coast is not such a 

 serious matter after all, as the mainland 

 is of such vast extent that there is ample 

 room in the interior to ensure the preserva- 

 tion of the species. It is a remarkable fact 

 that in nearly all branches of the animal 

 and vegetable life in New Guinea a strict 

 localization presents itself hardly known 

 elsewhere. For this reason the various 

 species of Birds-of-Paradise are found in 

 comparatively circumscribed areas, so 

 that if all members of a certain species are 

 shot in their restricted habitat that species 

 is exterminated. On some stretches of the 

 coast the ranks of some species have been 

 so wasted that the hunters have great 

 trouble in collecting any skins at all. It 

 is impossible to insist strictly on the 

 observance of a uniform close time, for 

 the breeding season varies very much in 

 different localities. For instance, the 

 Augusta Victoria Bird-of-Paradise moults 

 from December to April, and during that 

 time the plumes are worthless. But in 

 May and June — the mating time — the 

 plumes are in perfect condition. Every 

 hunter knows this, and therefore, in these 

 two months, the most important for propa- 

 gation of the species, tries to procure as 

 many plumes as possible. Even if the 

 close time were extended from December 

 to the end of August, when the young are 

 reared, the hunters would shoot the birds 

 during the time of reproduction, that 

 being the only time when the feathers are 



