HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
Newsome was a competitor of Hengler's in 
some towns, but he never appeared to command 
the patronage that Hengler did. In those days, 
Wallett, as "Queen's Jester," was the talking 
clown, and afterwards had a circus of his own. 
THE BREEDING OF PLUME BIRDS. 
By Frank Finn, B.A., F..Z.S. 
The behaviour of humanity in respect of the 
birds whose plumage is used for millinery purposes 
has generally been very unreasonable; either the 
birds are "worked for more than they are worth," 
and killed off until some have been locally exter- 
minated, though I cannot find that any kind of bird 
has been altogether extirpated and caused to van- 
ish from the list of the living on this account; 
and, on the other hand, those who seek to pre- 
serve the birds have been equally unreasonable, 
and sought altogether to abolish the trade in 
their skins, instead of regulating it in a reason- 
able manner. Such people seem usually to be pos- 
sessors of independent means or offic'lals, and 
these, having a fixed income, are remarkably 
anxious to interfere with the livelihood of those 
who are not so well off. 
Now, in the case of birds which are killed 
for food and sport, it has proved possible, e\ en in 
the old countries of Europe, to preserve and even 
increase the numbers of such species, while at the 
same time taking a heavy toll of them each year; 
this is, as everyone knows, done by furnishing' 
and protecting suitable breeding-areas, and by 
killing off the natural enemies of such birds. In 
addition to this, such birds are often transported 
to countries where they are not naturally found. 
There is no reason why this system of game- 
preserving should not be carried out everywhere 
with respect to birds which are used for millinery, 
in the cases where the bird's whole skin is used, 
or where its plumage could not be humanely ob- 
tained without killing it; but so far, so far as I 
know, nothing has been done in this way. 
In the case of birds, how ever, where only cer- 
tain parts of the plumage are desired, and the end 
of the feather-dealer can be obtained without kill- 
ing the bird, a beginning has already been made 
in the simpler and more satisfactory process of 
farming- such birds and depriving them of their 
produce. The oldest and best-known case of this 
is that of the Eider Duck, which in Norway and 
Iceland is carefully protected for the down which 
the female bird pulls off to line her nest; here onlv 
protection is needed, for the birds feed themselves 
at sea, and all that is needed is to remove the 
down from the nests and clean it. This profitable 
industry might well be taken up here, since the 
Eider breeds on our northern coasts right down 
to Northumberland. It could be easily introduced 
elsewhere, for it is one of the most tameable of 
ducks, and has been reared from the egg, and 
even used to breed in the Zoo many years ago, 
while Mr. St. Quintin has bred it recently. Young 
Eiders need more animal food than ordinary duck- 
lings, but some people have found the old birds 
do Hvell on ordinary duck-food. The Sheldrake 
also is protected as a down-producer on some 
coasts on the Continent, artificial burrows being 
provided for it; and this beautiful duck is more 
widely-spread as a British bird, and more easily 
kept and reared than the Eider. 
Except as down-producers, ducks do not 
come much into the feather-trade, though the 
wing feathers o<f some kinds, such as the common 
Wild Duck and the long "sickles" of the Falcated 
Duck (Eunetta falcata), are frequently seen in 
hats. Ducks, however, like game birds, ought to 
be looked after by sportsmen, as they can easily 
be preserved in localities unsuitable for anything 
else, when all that is wanted of their plumage can 
be obtained without damage to the species from 
those killed in the ordinary way in the shooting 
season. It might be thought that the Mandarin, 
as the gayest of the ducks, would be much used 
in the feather trade, and indeed I wa.s rather horri- 
fied some years ago at finding its plumage adver- 
tised by the pound ! It does not seem to have 
"caught" on, however, for I have onlv twice seen 
Mandarin plumage in a hat — once the head, and 
once a score of fans from the wing — which need 
not, however, mean that ten birds had been 
killed, since John Chinaman in such a case is 
more likely to catch the bird and pull the feathers 
out, as he does in the case of the Kingfisher, which 
is reeased after being despoiled of the blue plum- 
age on the back. At any rate, as far as Man- 
darins go, they will soon be British birds, as 
several land-owners now have them flying free on 
their estates. 
Of course, plucking live birds in this way 
ought not to be allowed, and in the case of the 
Ostrich, which is the best known of birds kept for 
their plumes, though only domesticated during the 
past generation, the plumes are now-a-days cut 
and not plucked, though it is customary to pull 
the stumps just before the bird is due to moult, 
as otherwise it might have a difficulty in shedding 
them; the Ostrich feathers of the trade, as many 
people must know, being the great quills of the 
wings and tail, which feathers are always liable 
to give trouble in moulting to birds if clipped too 
close. The establishment of the Ostrich industry 
has been a great triumph for the cause which I 
am now advocating — the domestication or culti- 
vation of plume-birds. It has relieved the wild 
Ostrich of much relentless and often cruel and 
wasteful persecution, and has exhibited the 
triumph of perseverance over difficulties, since the 
Ostrich takes up a lot of room, and is both nervous 
