4 
The Snowy Heron 
It is conceded that the sale of aigrettes from American birds is prohibited, but it is 
claimed that there are no laws that prevent the sale of imported goods. Granting that 
this may be the case, how is the buyer to tell whether the goods are from American or 
Old World Herons? The most expert ornithologists cannot separate the plumes after they 
are taken from the birds. 
The wearing of ‘aigrettes,’ or plumes from the white Herons, whether native or 
foreign, has now become a question of ethics which every woman must decide for herself. 
It matters not a whit where the plume comes from, the fact remains the same that the 
woman who wears one is party to a cruel wrong and the plume itself becomes a badge of 
inhumanity and is no longer a thing of beauty. 
HERON FROM WHICH PLUMES HAVE BEEN TORN 
"Mark how the Mother lulls to slumber 
Her new-born Babe with tend’rous love 
And guards her treasure from above!” 
The word Mother is the most sacred of all names, and motherhood is the closest of all 
human ties. Oh, Mother! when you nestle your little one to your loving breast and look 
into the eyes that reflect the mother-love shining from your own, do you not sometimes 
think with an involuntary shudder of the sorrow and grief it would be were the child to be 
taken from you? Or, still worse, if your tender care were to be removed from the helpless 
infant? While this thought is still with you, extend it to the bird-mother, for she surely 
has for her offspring the same tender love that you have for yours; she has the same 
affection, the same willingness to face danger to protect what is to all mothers dearer than 
life itself. Oh, human mother! will you again wear for personal adornment a plume taken 
from the dead body of a bird-mother, the plume that is the emblem of her married life as 
the golden circlet is of your own, the plume that was taken from her bleeding body because 
her motherhood was so strong that she was willing to give up life itself rather than abandon 
her helpless infants! Whenever you are tempted in the future to wear a Heron’s plume, 
think for a moment of your own motherhood, and spare the bird-mother and her little ones. 
Study Points for Teachers and Students 
Trace distribution of each species of white Heron on the map of the world. When are the plumes worn by the 
Herons ? Which species of Heron have recurved plumes ? W'hich have straight plumes ? How are Herons’ 
plumes procured for the millinery trade ? Do the habits of Herons change at any period in the year ? In what 
way ? 
For life history of the American White Herons, read "Audubon’s American Ornithological Biography”; for 
cause of probable extermination of white Herons in America read "The Present Condition of Some of the Bird 
Rookeries of the Gulf Coast of Florida,” by W. E. D. Scott, Auk,,Vol. IV, pp. 155-144, 215-222, 275-284; also 
"Stories of Bird Life,” by T. Gilbert Pearson. 
Reprinted from Bird-Lore, official organ of the Audubon Societies. 
