1 62 
NATURE NOTES. 
thinking real colours would be of more use than painted sham feathers, but she 
said it was not her work. So the ‘ coat of many colours,’ lies in a box upstairs, as 
I know not how to use it, and am unwilling to toss it into the dust-hole. I tried 
to dispose of them in The Bazaar but got no answer, yet fan-makers and others 
use feathers ! ” 
“A Lady Milliner (member of the Selborne Society)” leads us to suppose 
that the methods suggested by the last two writers are already in use among 
bonnet-makers. She writes as follows ; — “ Miss Susan P. Hawes has apparently 
forgotten that one of the chief objects of the Selborne Society is to promote the 
study of Natural History amongst the very people whose ignorance she deplores. 
It takes much time and money to educate ‘smart ’ people, their friends and their 
milliners up to the pitch of being able to distinguish between the wing of an 
albatross and that of an Aylesbury duck, but we are confident from our know- 
ledge of past successes that this may be done. Most of the small birds now ex- 
hibited in the milliners’ shops are built up out of the plumage of birds used for 
food in this country, and much credit is due to those persons who have introduced 
this industry, and the thanks of the Selborne Society are certainly owing to the 
ladies conducting the ‘ Ladies’ Columns’ in our illustrated and other journals, as well 
as to the editors and proprietors of such monthlies as the Queen, Lady, Ladies' Pic- 
torial, Le Follet, Lrc. — all of whom have expressed strong opinions against the 
wearing of plumage obtained by wasteful or cruel means. Many ladies of ac- 
knowledged beauty and of great mental power in the little world of London 
manage to dress in the most perfect taste without running up bills for ‘ osprey,’ 
robins, kingfishers, terns and humming birds. Will not they tell their puzzled 
sisters ‘ How its done ’ ? ” 
Miss L. Hinchclitf says “ Considering the high attainments of science and 
art combined, as exhibited in all the lovely colourings and varieties of shades in 
ribbons and velvets, surely a substitute for birds or their plumage is hardly a 
necessity ! I am very fond of pretty things, and by no means an advocate for 
‘ sombre tints ’ alone, still I do not think our hats and bonnets need suffer one 
iota, or be any the less charming for the absence of either birds or feathers. 
Flowers certainly have had a good run during the spring and summer months, but 
though many of these would hardly be considered suitable for the coming season, 
I do not think for that reason we need banish them all. Only the other day I 
saw on a milliner’s table a lovely spray of barberries ; their rich purple bloom in 
contrast to the rather stiff, autumnal green leaves, struck me as charming, and 
looking at them from a practical standpoint, I certainly thought they had a much 
more ‘weather-proof’ air about them than many of the feathers and birds with 
which they were surrounded.” 
The most practical suggestions on this subject come from Miss Agnes Fry-, 
Treasurer of the Bayswater Branch : “ As this is a question which requires some 
discernment and knowledge of the hat trimming trade, and milliners are, if not 
the most discerning, certainly the best informed people on this subject, would it 
not be well to refer this question to them ? And would it not be possible for the 
Selborne Society to offer a money prize for the most satisfactory and novel solution 
of this difficulty ? London milliners might not be unwilling to send specimens of 
their skill to a small exhibition, as it would be a sort of advertisement of their 
wares, and the prize might be awarded either by some of the ladies on the 
Committee of the Selborne Society, or by some experienced milliners, or a com- 
mittee of both. Though the competition would have to be made known by 
sending circulars to as many shops as possible, I do not see that the necessary 
expenses would be great, and I think that many members of the Society would, if 
necessary, be willing to contribute to such an object. It may, however, be of more 
immediate utility to state that I believe that Hamilton & Co., in Regent Street, 
have resolved to use no bird trimmings in the hats they sell, and as this shop is 
well known for taste and elegance, ladies who wish to keep to the principles of 
the Selborne Society, and at the same time to have pretty hats, might safely be 
recommended to go there.” 
Mrs. Brightwen sends us the following extract from a letter to her by Mrs. 
Knight, of All Saints’ Vicarage, Derby, who very rightly wishes that the in- 
formation should be verified. We can hardly believe that such revolting 
barbarity is actually practised. If the account can be corroborated, we cannot 
