THE TRAFFIC IN FEATHERS 



At one place, beneath a small palmetto bush, we 

 found the body of an Egret which the hunters had 

 overlooked. Falling to the ground sorely wounded, 

 it had escaped its enemies by crawling to this hiding- 

 place. Its appearance showed the suffering which it 

 had endured. The ground was bare where in its 

 death agonies it had beaten the earth with its wings. 

 The feathers on the head and neck were raised and 

 the bill was buried among the blood-clotted feathers 

 of its breast. On the higher ground we discovered 

 some straw and the embers of a campfire, giving evi- 

 dence of the recent presence of the plume hunters. 

 Examination of the nests over the pond revealed 

 numerous young, many of which were now past 

 suffering; others, however, were still alive and were 

 faintly calling for food which the dead parents could 

 never bring. Later inquiry developed the fact that 

 the plumes taken from the backs of these parent 

 birds were shipped to one of the large millinery houses 

 in New York, where in due time they were placed on 

 the market as "aigrettes," and of course subse- 

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