The Snowy Heron 
3 
That Herons are rapidly becoming scarce and more difficult to obtain by the plume- 
hunters is shown by the difference in price in the raw material. Twenty years since, the 
cost per ounce was only a few dollars, now it is more than quadrupled. In circulars 
sent by New York feather dealers to plume-hunters in Florida during 1903, thirty-two 
dollars per ounce was offered for fine plumes. This not only indicates the rapidly increas¬ 
ing scarcity of the white Herons but also that some dealers are willing, in order to obtain 
the plumes, to offer special inducements to hunters to violate laws enacted for the pro¬ 
tection of these birds. 
The much-sought-after plumes are worn by the Herons only for a very limited period 
during the year, that is, in the breeding season. Unfortunately, during that time the 
Herons gather in colonies; whether this is for protection or is merely social is not known. 
During the remainder of the year they are wild and wander over large districts, when it is 
impossible for plume-hunters to kill them in quantities that would afford pecuniary returns. 
However, during the breeding season the habits of these unfortunate birds change entirely, 
SCALP,’ OR RAW PLUMES FROM EGRET; THE 
PLUMES AS ‘ STUB ’ PLUME OF 
TAKEN FROM BACK COMMERCE 
OF BIRD 
PLUMES FROM BACK OF SNOWY 
HERON; THE ‘AIGRETTE' 
OR ‘OSPREY’ OF 
COMMERCE 
and with the growth of the parental instinct they lose all sense of fear or wildness and the 
hunter has little trouble in securing his victims. The death of the parent birds entails the 
destruction of the helpless nestlings by the painful and lingering method of starvation. 
Mr. Chapman says, in his ‘Birds of Eastern North America,’ "The destruction of these 
birds is an unpleasant subject. It is a blot on Florida’s history.” The blood stain is not 
on Florida alone but may be found in every part of the world. A few years more of reck¬ 
less slaughter during the breeding season and the white Herons will be classed among the 
extinct birds, the number of which is far too rapidly increasing. 
Dealers often state that ‘ aigrettes ’ are manufactured, but this is not so; man has never 
yet been able to imitate successfully these beautiful plumes; all that are offered for sale 
have been torn from the backs of the smaller white Herons. Even the stiff plumes, or 
‘stubs,’ are not manufactured but are the plumes of the larger species of white Herons. 
Herons’ plumes are often sold as ‘ospreys’; this is simply another trade name used to 
disguise the fact that they are Herons’ plumes: the ‘Osprey’ of science is the Fish Hawk, 
which produces no plumes of any kind. 
Both ‘aigrettes’ and ‘stubs’ are dyed various colors, especially black; however, no 
matter what is the tint of the plume, its original color when on the back of the Heron was 
white ; the artificial color is merely in response to the dictates of fashion. 
