144 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



Slauehter ^^ ^*^^^' i'^^^'^ting the necessity of this further pro- 



of Birds for tection, occurred to me only the other day. As you 

 Plumage know, the importation into Canada of plumage, other 



than ostrich feathers and those of domestic fowls, that is, the plumage 

 which ladies are accustomed to use in their hats, particularly the 

 ospreys or aigrettes, has been prohibited since last January. Unless 

 we take stringent action, this embargo on foreign plumage will un- 

 doubtedly lead in this country to the killing of valuable native birds. 

 Only the other day, in an electric car, I happened to look down at the 

 hat of a lady in front of me and imagine my disgust to see the skins 

 of two chickadees, one of our most beautiful, most useful and most 

 widely distributed birds, 70 per cent of whose food consists of injurious 

 insects; those beautiful and useful native birds had been sacrificed 

 simply to satisfy the thoughtless and wanton craze of fashion. There- 

 fore, it will be necessary for us to take further steps to assist the 

 provinces in carrying out their legislation. 



The Commission has also been dealing with the sub- 

 Bird Sane- jgj.j of ^jjf J sanctuaries. At the last meeting the 

 tuaries •" " 



question was brought up and very forcibly set fortii 



by Dr. Clarke,* and something has been done since then in the matter, 

 particularly on the St. Lawrence and in the Gulf. We hope that 

 this campaign will proceed further and that the Commission will not 

 stop until they have secured satisfactory and concrete results from 

 their efforts. When we think that in this country we have hardly a 

 single good bird sanctuary or reservation, and when we remember 

 that our neighbours to the south of the line have sixty-five sanctuaries 

 entirely devoted to the protection of birds, I think it is time we should 

 take effective action, if we are going to wear the halo of righteousness 

 that we are so fond of bestowing on ourselves. I will only say this, 

 that if there should be any tendency on the part of any of the 

 authorities to devote less attention at the present time to such subjects 

 as this or any other conservation question, on account of the war, we 

 must do all we can to prevent such neglect. The conservation of 

 birds, especially insectivorous birds, is more pressing than ever before. 

 If we are going in for increased production — and that is one of the 

 slogans of the various Departments of Agriculture — we cannot accom- 

 plish that purpose to the best advantage without increased protection 

 of birds, because, as everyone knows, they are one of the most im- 

 portant factors in controlling insect pests and therefore in securing 

 increased production. In the matter of education, very satisfactory 



♦See Sixth Annual Report, Commission of Conservation, p. 108. 



