and the fruit raiser since the notice¬ 
able decrease in recent years in the 
number of insect eating birds. 
The custom of trimming hats with 
wings and feathers, which prevails so 
widely, is responsible in a great 
measure for the thinning of the bird 
ranks. The Audubon Society be¬ 
lieves that the wearing of bird plum¬ 
age as an ornament of dress by the 
women of the country has been due 
largely to thoughtlessness and ignor¬ 
ance of the true value which the 
living bird is to the community. It is 
thought also that ignorance prevails 
as to the cruelty which in some in¬ 
stances is practiced by the hunters 
who shoot plumage birds for the mar¬ 
ket. The securing of the aigrette 
plume of commerce is marked by par¬ 
ticular cruelty because the adult her¬ 
ons from which the aigrette is taken 
are killed at the nesting season, the 
young birds, unable to care for them¬ 
selves, being left to starve in the 
