Egret Farming in f^ind. 
99 
Arrantiompnts arc bein/; iiiailc lo obtain a pair of the birds 
for th" Karachi Zoo. 
In this oonnoct ion a quest ion bound to arisp soonor or later is 
the necessity for the, modification of the drastic Notification issued by 
the Government of India in 1002 which " prohibits the taking by sea 
or land out of British India of skins and feathers of nil birds other 
than doni(\stic birds except (a) feathers of Ostriches, and (h) skins and 
feathers exported Jioiin fide as specimens illustrative of natural history." 
Tlic nsult (if the Notification has been to create a large in- 
dustry in the smuggling out of the countrj' even in cases where destruc- 
tion and cruelty of birds are not involved, of feathers 'that have a distinct' 
commercial value. If bird-farming on humane lines for the sake of plum- 
age is to be encouraged in India, these orders must be modified. Only 
the other day the caistoms aiithorities at Karachi seized several boxes of 
Peacock feathers, which were b^dng surreptitiously exported under a false 
declaration by a European firm. These were confiscated, and a fine 
imposed. Now it is well known that the Peacock moults its train. 
The bird is regarded as sacred by a large majority of Indians, and is' 
seldom or never killed by them, and the occasions on which it is shot by 
inexpericncr'd European sportsmen have not infrequently led to collisions 
with the country people. In many other directions the necessity for the 
amendment of the orders in question could be indicated, so as to en- 
courage, instead of deterring, the farming of birds whose plumage has a 
distinct marketable value. 
GEORGE BIRCH. 
Assistant Commissioner in Sind. 
Karachi, March 2.3rd, 1914. 
[Mr. Birch has sent us some specimens of the plumes and also 
some photographs of the Egrets in the " farms," some of which are re- 
produced here. — Eds. J.B.N.H.S.] : 
[It would be of interest if Mr. Birch or one of our Anglo - 
Indian mcmbcr.s wotild supply a further note, giving the position of the 
industry at the present time — also fuller details of the hand-rearing of 
the 3'oung, and whether there is any known instance of the young having, 
been brought to the stage of fending for themselves entirely by their 
parents . — Ed . B.N.]. 
♦ 
A Journey Across the Sierras, S. California 
By Wm. Shore Baily. 
Cnncl lulfd from page 58. 
After our tliree clays' rest we set ofT for Santa Monica 
in Southern California and decided to follow the coast where 
po ;sible, and the sands where the;-:e were sufficiently hard for 
wheeled traffic. By lunch time we had covered twenty miles, 
