﻿NOTES 
  AND 
  QUERIES. 
  351 
  

  

  form 
  of 
  hat-trimming. 
  I 
  believe 
  that, 
  if 
  such 
  ideas 
  were 
  more 
  thoroughly 
  

   ventilated, 
  both 
  in 
  private 
  conversation 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  public 
  platform, 
  

   that 
  the 
  "plume 
  trade" 
  might 
  dwindle 
  until 
  it 
  eventually 
  became 
  a 
  

   drug 
  in 
  the 
  market. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  straining 
  every 
  nerve 
  to 
  influence 
  

   the 
  buyers 
  not 
  to 
  buy, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  little 
  doubt 
  that 
  a 
  strong 
  united 
  

   effort 
  in 
  this 
  direction 
  would 
  not 
  meet 
  with 
  disappointing 
  results. 
  In 
  

   conclusion, 
  may 
  I 
  add 
  that 
  whenever 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  the 
  pleasure 
  of 
  

   lecturing 
  in 
  public 
  on 
  birds, 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  allowed 
  the 
  opportunity 
  to 
  

   pass 
  of 
  expressing 
  in 
  the 
  strongest 
  terms 
  possible 
  how 
  much 
  I 
  de- 
  

   precate 
  the 
  scandalous 
  habit 
  which 
  is 
  practised 
  by 
  heartless 
  men, 
  even 
  

   still 
  in 
  this 
  great 
  age 
  of 
  education, 
  of 
  destroying 
  for 
  utterly 
  useless 
  — 
  

   aye, 
  even 
  for 
  grim 
  — 
  purposes, 
  the 
  lives 
  of 
  our 
  beautiful 
  and 
  interesting 
  

   feathered 
  friends. 
  — 
  C. 
  J. 
  Patten 
  (University 
  College, 
  Sheffield). 
  

  

  P.S. 
  — 
  The 
  above 
  remarks 
  refer 
  chiefly 
  to 
  entire 
  birds 
  used 
  as 
  hat- 
  

   trimmings. 
  These 
  are 
  by 
  far 
  in 
  a 
  way 
  the 
  most 
  objectionable, 
  owing 
  

   to 
  the 
  ghastly 
  expression 
  which 
  the 
  glaring 
  and 
  generally 
  wrong 
  

   coloured 
  glass 
  eyes 
  give 
  to 
  the 
  head, 
  and 
  the 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   body, 
  wings, 
  and 
  tail 
  are 
  skewered 
  out 
  of 
  shape. 
  Single 
  hat-feathers 
  

   may 
  appeal 
  to 
  the 
  admiring 
  eye 
  of 
  some 
  people, 
  though 
  I 
  must 
  confess 
  

   that 
  to 
  my 
  mind 
  all 
  such 
  decorations 
  seem 
  but 
  a 
  relic 
  of 
  barbarity, 
  

   especially 
  when 
  we 
  recall 
  to 
  our 
  minds 
  the 
  elaborate 
  and 
  warlike 
  

   feathered 
  head-gear 
  worn 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  savage 
  tribes 
  of 
  mankind. 
  

   Nor 
  are 
  we 
  at 
  all 
  justified 
  in 
  taking 
  life 
  for 
  even 
  the 
  most 
  beautiful 
  of 
  

   plumes, 
  such 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  well-known 
  Egret. 
  

  

  Rare 
  " 
  British 
  " 
  Specimens. 
  — 
  Mr. 
  Elms's 
  allusion 
  to 
  the 
  Kentish 
  

   Plover 
  [ante, 
  p. 
  251), 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  what 
  he 
  happily 
  describes 
  as 
  

   " 
  the 
  appalling 
  traffic 
  in 
  British-found 
  eggs," 
  interested 
  me, 
  as 
  I 
  had 
  

   just 
  received 
  a 
  beautiful 
  fresh 
  foreign 
  clutch 
  of 
  that 
  species, 
  for 
  which 
  

   1 
  gave 
  in 
  exchange 
  a 
  set 
  of 
  four 
  Yellow 
  Wagtail. 
  There 
  can 
  be 
  no 
  

   doubt 
  that 
  the 
  demand 
  for 
  " 
  British-killed 
  birds 
  " 
  and 
  " 
  British-taken 
  

   clutches 
  of 
  eggs 
  " 
  not 
  only 
  threatens 
  the 
  extermination 
  of 
  several 
  local 
  

   species, 
  as 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  Honey-Buzzard, 
  but 
  

   opens 
  the 
  door 
  to 
  many 
  and 
  various 
  malpractices, 
  especially 
  with 
  the 
  

   facilities 
  now 
  afforded 
  for 
  safe 
  and 
  speedy 
  transit 
  by 
  post 
  from 
  the 
  

   Continent, 
  and 
  the 
  quick 
  journeys 
  there 
  and 
  back 
  which 
  can 
  now 
  be 
  

   made 
  without 
  a 
  large 
  outlay 
  of 
  money. 
  I 
  hardly 
  realized 
  this 
  till 
  a 
  

   friend 
  came 
  to 
  visit 
  me 
  here 
  about 
  a 
  year 
  ago, 
  just 
  after 
  landing 
  at 
  

   Harwich 
  with 
  some 
  unblown 
  clutches 
  in 
  his 
  possession, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  

   belonged 
  to 
  a 
  bird 
  whose 
  breeding-places 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  Kingdom 
  could 
  

   probably 
  be 
  counted 
  on 
  the 
  fingers 
  of 
  one 
  hand. 
  At 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  

   an 
  unscrupulous 
  person 
  could 
  probably 
  almost 
  pay 
  the 
  expenses 
  of 
  a 
  

  

  