THE WHITE EGRETS 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON. Secretary 



^ge Jl^attonal Si^^ociation ot Audubon ^ocitim 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 54 



The most beautiful, and one of the most popular millinery decorations 

 with civilized women, is that dainty and exquisitely formed feather known as 

 the "aigrette" in America, and the "osprey" in Europe. 



It is a sad fact that this personal decoration, so much esteemed by our 

 modishly dressed women, is procurable only by inflicting unspeakable agonies 

 on some of the most beautiful creatures which inhabit the earth. 



In the early days of the Audubon movement, its leaders raised their hands 

 in protest against the traffic in these feathers. Their cry has been taken up by 

 many other organizations and societies interested in various phases of humane 

 work. Today it seems incredible that there should be any well-read person 

 in the United States who is not aware of the fact that the "aigrette" is the 

 nuptial plume worn by the white Egret at the nesting-time of the year, to 

 procure which it is necessary to shoot the birds, which means that the young, 

 in turn, are left to slowly die of starvation. 



In fighting the traffic in these feathers, the Audubon Societies have pub- 

 lished and distributed millions of pages of literature bearing on the subject; 

 have contributed thousands of columns of matter to the public press, and their 

 speakers have addressed audiences aggregating hundreds of thousands of 

 hearers, in all of which there have been set forth the unanswerable facts rela- 

 tive to the methods of procuring the material for this heartless trade. 



In their efforts to safeguard the interests of these birds, agents have been 

 sent to those regions still inhabited by the white Egrets, and their nesting- 

 colonies located. Wardens have been employed to remain in the fever-infested 

 swamps to guard the localities which the birds had chosen for their rookeries. 

 Frequently, these men have had to contend with unscrupulous feather-gath- 

 erers. Three Audubon wardens have been killed, and at least two others 

 probably saved their lives only by promptly returning the rifle fire of their 

 would-be assassins. 



Yet, despite all our efforts, the birds have continually become scarcer, 

 and, in fact, so depleted are their numbers today that we did not know of over 

 fifteen colonies in the United States in the summer of 191 1. 



In these ancestral nesting-places still gather a few thousand birds, the 

 pitiful remnant of the great flocks which inhabited our southern states a few 

 decades ago. These, this Association is exerting every possible efi"ort to protect. 



In the summer of 1906, the writer spent five weeks on the Gulf Coast of 

 Florida, covering the territory between Tampa and Key West. About twenty- 



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