Cbe ^ufiubon ^ocietie^ 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 



Edited by WILLIAM DUTCHER 



Address all correspondence, and send all remittances for dues and contributions to 

 the National Association of Audubon Societies, 141 Broadway, New York City 



A Reason Why the Trade in Aigrettes 

 Should Be Suppressed 



During the summer of 1908 two small 

 colonies of Snowy Egrets were discovered 

 on the South Carolina coast and every 

 effort was made to give them complete 

 protection. Notwithstanding all that was 

 done, both of these rookeries were "shot 

 out" quite recently. The perpetrators 

 of the outrage were discovered and war- 

 rants were issued by a magistrate, at the 

 instance of the South Carolina Audubon 

 Society's warden, for the arrest of Arthur 

 Lambert (white) and Robert Green 

 (colored) charged with trespass and with 

 shooting Egrets. The warden and con- 

 stable of the Trial Justice found these 

 two men on a steamboat and when they 

 attempted to arrest them, the captain of 

 the boat refused to allow the arrest to be 

 made upon his vessel. The constable 

 thereupon took passage on the boat with 

 the idea of arresting both men when they 

 landed. Just before the boat reached the 

 landing where the men were to get off, 

 Lambert took a life preserver and jumped 

 overboard and swam to shore in a swamp. 

 On arriving at the landing where the 

 negro got off, the constable was unable 

 to serve his warrant without its being 

 countersigned by the nearest Trial Justice; 

 it being in a different district. By the time 

 this had been done the negro also got away. 



The warrants have now been placed 

 in the hands of the sheriff of the county 

 for service. One of the colonies raided 

 consisted of about fifty birds, of which 

 only twelve escaped. 



The Aigrette dealers of New York City 

 claim that no North American stock is 

 used. The above incident, however, 

 shows that, whenever and wherever White 



Egrets are found in this country, they are 

 at once killed for the millinery market, 

 and until the sale of Aigrettes is absolutely 

 prohibited, the few remaining Egrets 

 are in danger and the two North American 

 species cannot escape extermination. — ■ 

 W. D. 



The Brown-tail Moth 



At the hearing in March on the Francis 

 Bill, the Forest Fish and Game Committee 

 of the Assembly were told by Mr. Forbush, 

 Ornithologist of the state of Massachu- 

 setts, and by the President of the National 

 Association, that in a short time it was 

 probable that both the Brown-tail and 

 Gypsy Moths would be found in the state 

 of New York, and this Committee was 

 warned in the most positive language that 

 should these pests become established in 

 this state, that future Legislatures would, 

 within five years, be called upon to appro- 

 priate hundreds of thousands of dollars 

 each year to fight these pests. 



When this warning was given to the 

 Committee, it was little thought that 

 within a few weeks that one of these pests 

 would be found in the state. In the 'New 

 York Times' of July i, there appeared 

 an editorial entitled "Fight the Brown-tail 

 Moth, " in which it stated that this moth 

 has now appeared in the state, and it 

 urges the Agricultural Department to be 

 lavish in spending money to exterminate 

 it. 



This incident shows very forcibly how 

 great a wrong was committed by the last 

 Legislature of the state in defeating the 

 Francis Bill. Larger numbers of wild 

 birds will be a more effective means of 

 stamping out these pests than any other 

 method. ^W. D. 



(187) 



