40 



Bird - Lore 



It is conceded that the sale of aigrettes from American birds is prohibited, but it is 

 claimed that there are no laws that prevent the sale of imported goods. Granting that 

 this may be the case, how is the buyer to tell whether the goods are from American or 

 Old World Herons? The most expert ornithologists cannot separate the plumes after they 

 are taken from the birds. 



The wearing of 'aigrettes,' or plumes from the white Herons, whether native or 

 foreign, has now become a question of ethics which every woman must decide for herself. 

 It matters not a whit where the plume comes from, the fact remains the same that the 

 woman who wears one is party to a cruel wrong and the plume itself becomes a badge of 

 iniiiimanity and is no longer a thing of beauty. 



HERON FROM WHICH PLUMES HAVE BEEN TORN 



"Mark how the Mother lulls to slumber 

 Her new-born Babe with tend'rous love 

 And guards her treasure from above!" 



The word Mother is the most sacred of all names, and motherhood is the closest of all 

 human ties. Oh, Mother! when you nestle your little one to your loving breast and look 

 into the eyes that reflect the mother-love shining from your own, do you not sometimes 

 think with an involuntary shudder of the sorrow and grief it would be were the child to be 

 taken from you? Or, still worse, if your tender care were to be removed from the helpless 

 infant? While this thought is still with you, extend it to the bird-mother, for she surely 

 has for her offspring the same tender love that you have for yours; she has the same 

 affection, the same willingness to face danger to protect what is to all mothers dearer than 

 life itself. Oh, human mother! will you again wear for personal adornment a plume taken 

 from the dead body of a bird-mother, the plume that is the emblem of her married life as 

 the golden circlet is of your own, the plume that was taken from her bleeding body because 

 her motherhood was so strong that she was willing to give up life itself rather than abandon 

 her helpless infants! Whenever you are tempted in the future to wear a Heron's plume, 

 think for a moment of your own motherhood, and spare the bird -mother and her little ones. 



Study Points for Teachers and Students 



Trace distribution of each species of white Heron on the map of the world. When are the plumes worn by the 

 Herons? Which species of Heron have recurved plumes? Which have straight plumes? How are Herons' 

 plumes procured for the millinery trade? Do the habits of Herons change at any period in the year? In what 

 way ? 



For life history of the American White Herons, read "Audubon's American Ornithological Biography"; for 

 cause of probable extermination of while Herons in America read "The Present Condition of Some of the Bird 

 Rockeries of the Gulf Coast of Florida." by W. E. D. Scott, Auk, Vol. IV. pp. 1)5-141, 21 {-222, 27?-i84: also 

 "Stories of Bird Life," by T. Gilbert Pearson. 



