Tragedies of Milady's Hat and Cape 187 



nest of little birds left to die, because the mother has been 

 sacrificed to satisfy the demands of fashion. 



The plume hunters invade the nesting places of the egrets, 

 herons, and flamingos, often leaving not a single bird in 

 what were once happy colonies, except the starving little 

 ones. Millions of these plumes have been obtained along 

 our seacoasts and about the interior lakes and marshes. Is 

 it any wonder that the egrets are nearly extinct as a result 

 of this merciless slaughter? 



Now, when it is almost too late, protection has been given 

 these beautiful birds. Bird refuges have been estabhshed 

 at different favorable points along the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts and in the Klamath and Malheur Lake regions 

 of Oregon. These refuges are watched over by wardens, 

 and we hope that the birds inhabiting them wiU thus be 

 enabled to increase and again fill the almost forsaken 

 marshes. 



In our plea for the protection of the birds of attractive 

 plumage, we must not forget those of the tropical jungles. 

 Remote as many of these jungles are, the plumage hunter 

 is devastating them already. The bird of paradise, found 

 in the East India islands, wiU soon be extinct unless pro- 

 tected. 



