252 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



inland into Brazil and Venezuela, along the eastern upper waters of 

 the Amazon and the Orinoco, I have never known nor heard of any such 

 method of collection as that described by Mr. Laglaize. Until the 

 Government in Demerara put into force the stringent provisions of 

 the Wild Birds Ordinance, a brisk trade was carried on by many 

 people in the export of birds' skins, and largely of Osprey plumes. 

 These feathers were obtained by hilling the Egrets in the breeding 

 season and cutting off the skin of the back on which the plumes were 

 borne." 



Mr. H. E. Dresser, author of ' The Birds of Europe,' writes 

 (Nov. 16th, 1908) : — " x\ll I can say is that I do not believe the state- 

 ments in it. Out of hundreds of Egrets' nests which I have examined 

 I have never found one in which were feathers of the birds themselves 

 amongst the lining, certainly never a single one of the so-called 

 ' Osprey ' plumes. I never heard of any trade being done in moulted 

 plumes, and do not believe the tale about the Egret colonies being 

 farmed out for cast plumes." 



Mr. Frank M. Chapman, Curator of the American Museum of 

 Natural History at New York, writes (Nov. 30th, 1908) : — " So far as 

 my own somewhat extended experience in our Southern States is con- 

 cerned, I may say without fear of contradiction by those in a position 

 to know that moulted Egret plumes are never gathered for com- 

 mercial purposes." 



Mr. Gilbert T. Pearson, Secretary of the National Association of 

 Audubon Societies, writes (Dec. 1st, 1908) : — " In the most populous 

 Egret colonies that I have ever visited, cast-off plume feathers are so 

 scarce that an entire day's search would not reward the hunter with 

 enough to decorate one lady's hat. The feathers are never used for 

 lining the nest, as the latter is composed entirely of dead sticks and 

 twigs." 



Mr. H. E. Mattingley, in the 'Emu,' the organ of the Australasian 

 Ornithologists' Union, writes : — " The only method by which the 

 hunters are able to obtain Egrets' plumes in quantities is to shoot 

 the birds on their nests." 



