"OSPREYS" IN HIGH PLACES. 163 
Nor was this all ; the same paper contains the following 
letter : — 
At the opera last night, I was in the furthest point of the stalls from the royal 
box. I do not see very well, but I believe that seated next to the Princess of 
Wales was one of her daughters wearing in her hair a spray of the so-called 
“osprey” plumes. Unless my eyes deceived me, as I hope they did, this very 
conspicuous display of these feathers is a curious comment upon the decision of 
the Princess Maud which you published the other day. 
“ Hope springs eternal ” — and the Chronicle — a little shaky in 
its grammar, probably as a consequence of this practical illus- 
tration of the unwisdom of putting trust in princesses — 
cannot help but be confident that the most influential ladies in the land will 
make it clear that the butchery of the egrets will henceforth find no support from 
them. Nothing would induce us to believe that the Queen herself would hesitate 
for one moment in forbidding these plumes in her own household, if the above 
appeal were brought to her notice. 
Meanwhile, however, nothing has happened, except that 
Mrs. Hodgson Burnett has appeared at the Authors’ Dinner 
surmounted by a magnificent osprey. Whether Princess Maud 
goes away in a toque “ with full osprey plume ” or not, it would 
seem she has no intention of abandoning them at home ; and the 
English Court, following suit, will no doubt continue to outrage 
decency of feeling, in slavish subordination to the dictates of 
fashion, countenanced as these are by the leading ladies of the 
land. 
Meanwhile, we reprint the verses which “ Tompkins ” — in 
whom it is allowable to recognize Mr. Barry Pain — contributes 
to the Chronicle, in what he well calls the “ murder hats.” We 
have not reproduced the extraordinary spelling in which the 
Chronicle, following the example of other papers, attempts — and 
signally fails — to reproduce the London accent. 
MURDER HATS. 
Do not ask it ! Ask for money for a charitable cause. 
And the women plank it down as well as men ; 
Ask for time or ask for labour, and not one of them will pause 
But gladly sacrifice herself again. 
But there’s just one thing exactly as you mustn’t ask for — that’s 
The white plume as is fashionable for decorating hats. 
They loves mercy, yes, they do, 
They loves pity, it is true. 
But they mostly and especially loves their hats ; 
The passion of their lifetime is their hats. 
The young birds is a-starving at the breaking of the day. 
And the nest is dead and cold before the night. 
The young birds is a-starving, for the parent bird’s away — 
Shot down because the fashions say it’s right. 
The crest it wears in pairing-time’s the death of it, and that’s 
Because the Royal Family will have it in their hats. 
O they loves all living things 
’Cepting anything with wings 
As can handily be murdered for their hats. 
For their wedding or their garden-party hats. 
