9 
killing of birds in order to adorn themselves with 
their stuffed skins. . . . This craze for 
wearing birds is an universal leveller—mistress and 
maid must both alike wear them. And note this— 
both alike may wear silk or velvet, but in the quality 
lies the difference; the longest purse procures the 
richest stuffs. But God’s stuffs are all of one quality. 
There are no shoddy birds to be shot for the poorer 
classes. On sea or shore there is no such thing to 
be found as an ill-made sea-gull.” 
I wonder if you know the extent to which they 
are shot ! The Commissioner of Sind says, “ I have 
known that in a few days’ time no less than 30,000 
black partridges have been killed in certain provinces 
to supply the European demand for their skins. Blue 
jays, golden orioles, hoopoes, and other beautifully- 
plumaged birds are bought up in any number.” 
A “lover of nature” writes thus to a Lahore 
paper: “ A couple of evenings ago I was strolling 
along the banks of a large lake here, when I came 
upon two men with peculiarly-shaped baskets. In 
answer to my inquiries, they told me that they were 
bird-catchers from Madras. They showed me 200 
kingfishers’ feathers. This, they said, was their yearly 
occupation, and all the year through there were 
bands of men catching birds that their plumage 
might be sent to England.” One dealer in London 
is said to have received, as a single consignment, 
“ 32,000 dead humming birds, 80,000 aquatic birds, 
and 800,000 pairs of wings.” A Parisian dealer had a 
contract for 40,000 birds, and an army of murderers 
were turned out to supply the order. No less than 
40,000 terns have been sent from Long Island in one 
season for millinery purposes. At one auction alone 
in London there were sold 404,389 West Indian and 
Brazilian bird skins, and 356,389 East Indian, 
besides thousands of pheasants and birds of para¬ 
dise. We need not further repeat numbers. The 
slaughter is simply beyond calculation. 
