March 29, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
419 
ties has shown that herons of several species 
during the breeding season are not only import¬ 
ant scavengers, but destroy immense numbers of 
crayfish, cutworms and grasshoppers. Without 
going into detail, the following table shows at 
a glance the character of the food of four species 
of young herons in Florida. The results are 
based on examination of the components of fifty 
meals of each species. The table shows that 
fifty snowy egrets consumed no less than 762 
grasshoppers and ninety-one cutworms; that fifty 
little blue herons destroyed 1,900 grasshoppers, 
149 cutworms and 142 crayfish, and fifty Louis¬ 
iana herons consumed no less than 2,876 grass¬ 
hoppers. One stomach of a Louisiana heron was 
found to contain 200 grasshoppers. 
FOOD OF YOUNG HERONS. 
(Based on the examination by O. E. Bay- 
nard. Orange Lake, Florida, of fifty meals of 
each of the following species.) 
Grass- Cut- Cray- Suck- Miscel- 
hoppers. worms. fish. ers. laneous. 
Snowy egret . 762 91 29 .. 9 
Little blue heron..1900 149 142 .. 45 
Louisiana heron ...2876 17 67 .. 14 
Egrets . .. 176 61 297 
Under the head of miscellaneous are in¬ 
cluded large numbers of water moccasins and 
other snakes which are well known to be great 
destroyers of fish. 
Both the egret and the snowy egret are de¬ 
structive to field mice, and are, therefore, of 
pronounced economic value to the agricultural 
interests of the country, as shown in Bulletin 
No. 33, of the Biological Survey of the United 
States Department of Agriculture. 
3. Illegal Traffic.—The trade in plumage of 
native birds is now illegal in a number of the 
States, including Massachusetts, New York, New 
Jersey, Ohio, Louisiana, Missouri, Colorado, 
California, Oregon, Washington and other 
States. The trade in plumage of native birds 
is thus prohibited in such important millinery 
centers as Boston, New York, New Orleans, 
Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Kansas City, 
Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland 
and Seattle. The Federal law (35 Stat. 1137) 
already prohibits interstate commerce in plum¬ 
age shipped in violation of local laws. The 
United States should not permit the importation 
of goods which are contraband in some States. 
Their importation should be prohibited as has 
already been done in the case of lottery tickets, 
opium, seal skins illegally captured, etc. 
4. The death knell of any species of wild 
life is sounded when mankind begins to com¬ 
mercialize it. A number of species of North 
American birds are to-day on the verge of ex¬ 
tinction because of the activities of the collec¬ 
tors working in the interests of the world’s 
great millinery establishments. In collecting 
heron aigrettes the most barbarous cruelties are 
practiced. These long airy feathers are the nup¬ 
tial adornments of the birds and are found only 
in the breeding season. To procure these 
feathers it is absolutely necessary to take the 
life of the birds which produce them. This 
means that the young are left in the nests to 
die of starvation. Egrets once bred as far north 
as New Jersey and perhaps Long Island, but to¬ 
day they do not occur during the nesting season 
north of North Carolina. The agents of the 
National Association of Audubon Societies have 
been able to locate in recent years about thirty 
colonies of these birds in our Southern swamps. 
In the summer of 1912 these few remaining 
rookeries contained in the aggregate a popula¬ 
tion of about 5,000 egrets. Thirty years ago 
there were millions of these birds in the United 
States. Because of the disappearance of egrets 
over large sections of the country in which they 
formerly occurred, it is now necessary for the 
trade to secure these feathers from abroad, and 
the same heartless war of e.xtermination is to¬ 
day being carried on in South America and 
Southern Asia. As long as we permit the im¬ 
portation of aigrettes, we have but little assur¬ 
ance for saving the remnant of the egrets still 
found in this country, as it is impossible to dis¬ 
tinguish in the manufactured product the feathers 
of these birds taken in different countries. 
5. Revenue.—The actual revenue derived 
from the importation from plumage (including 
aigrettes for millinery purposes) is unknown, 
for the reason that no separate record is kept 
of the importation of plumage for millinery pur¬ 
poses and feathers and downs used for pillows, 
quilts and other purposes. In the case of aig¬ 
rettes, probably 90 per cent, of the goods are 
imported in the crude state at the low rate of 
duty based on appraisal at port of shipment. If 
figures were available, it is doul)tful whether 
the appraised value of most aigrettes would ex¬ 
ceed $15 or $20 an ounce, allowing a revenue of 
$3 or $4 per ounce. Assuming that the impor¬ 
tations for any one year amounted to half a 
ton or a thousand pounds, the duty at $3 an 
ounce would be $48,000 and at $4 per ounce 
$64,000. If this revenue is regarded as indis¬ 
pensable or so important as to necessitate the 
continuance of a traffic at once barbarous, use¬ 
less and destructive to the interests of our 
farmers, an equal source of revenue may be 
found in paragraph 289 in Schedule G, by im¬ 
posing the same duty on game birds as on poultry. 
To accomplish this, amend Paragraph 289 to 
read : 
Poultry, live, three cents per pound; poultry 
and game birds, dead, five cents per pound. 
If this amendment be adopted. Paragraph 
510 of the Free List should be amended to read: 
Birds, and land and water fowls alive for 
exhibition or propagation. 
The present provision which imposes a duty 
of five cents a pound on poultry and allows 
game birds to be imported free is class legisla¬ 
tion. It is the height of injustice in these days 
of high prices to require the poor man to pay 
a duty of five cents a pound on his poultry while 
the wealthy patron of the high class restaurant 
and hotel can obtain his game birds free of 
duty. Under the present tariff exemptions the 
importation of game birds from Europe has in¬ 
creased enormously. As many as 25,000 birds 
are known to have been imported on a single 
vessel at New York. The records of the Con¬ 
servation Commission of New York show that 
since the new law went into effect in 1911, pro¬ 
hibiting the sale of native game and requiring 
foreign game to be tagged, game birds to the 
number of 492,400 have been tagged. Most of 
these birds are pheasants, grouse and ptarmigan, 
weighing from a pound to a pound and a half 
or two pounds. If the average is taken at a 
pound and a half, the importations of New York 
alone would net about $37,000. As these figures 
represent the importations at New York alone 
for a period of two years, it would be safe to 
say that the importations for all ports in the 
United States may be safely placed at not less 
than $50,000. 
For Sale. 
GAME BIRDS 
Hungarian Partridges, Quail, Ring-neck Pheasants, Wild 
Turkeys, Capercailzie, Black Game, Wild Ducks, Decoys, 
Beautilul Swans, Fancy Pheasants, Peafowl, Cranes, 
Storks, Ornamental Ducks and Geese. 
"Everything in the bird line 
from a Canary to an Ostrich. ” 
I am the oldest established and largest exclusive dealer 
in land and water birds in America, and have on hand 
the most extensive .stock in the United States. 
G. D. TILLEY, Naturalist 
“F” Darien, Conn. 
RAINBOW TROUT 
are weil adapted to Eastern waters. Try stocking with 
some of the nice yearlings or fry from our hatchery, and 
you will be pleased with the results. 
PLYMOUTH ROCK TROUT COMPANY, 
Colburn C. Wood, Supt., Plymouth, Mass. 
Small'Mouth Black Bass 
\\'e have the only establishment dealing in young small- 
mouth black bass commercially in the United States. Vig¬ 
orous young bass in various sizes, ranging from advanced 
fry to 3 and 4 inch fingerlings for stocking purposes. 
Waramaug Small-Mouth Black Bass Hatchery. 
Correspondence invited. Send for Circulars. .Address 
HENRY W. BEEMAN - - New Preston, Conn. 
BROOK TROUT 
of all ages for stocking brooks 
and lakes. Brook trout eggs 
in any quantity. Warranted delivered anywhere in fine 
condition. Correspondence solicited. 
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK TROUT CO., 
Plymouth, Mass. 
FOR S.ALE.—Live Buffalo, male and female, any num¬ 
ber. Mounted buffalo heads, chemically prepared to pre¬ 
serve against moths; also hides similarly prepared. 
.-Address 714 Osborn Building, Cleveland, O. 
Mastering Rifles and Shotguns 
The ne-iv text¬ 
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RIFLES AND RIFLE 
S H O O T IN G—Charles 
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of different guns. Tar¬ 
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SPORTING FIREARMS 
—Horace Kephart. Shotguns and rifles. 
Range, trajectory, killing power, mechanism, 
various loads, boring, testing. 
WING AND TRAP SHOOTING—Charles 
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dealing with shotgun shooting. 
Purchase from bookstores or direct at 70 
cents a copy. Postage extra, 5 cents. 
Send for free Outing Handbook catalogue. 
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OUTING MAGAZINE Vochtinj 0-U-T-hN-6 HANDBOOKS 
141145 WEST 3(>th ST NEW YORK l22 S.MICHICAN AVB.CHICAGO 
Blackfoot Lodge Tales 
By George Bird Grinnell. The story of a prairie peo¬ 
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lived among them. Cloth, illustrated, 300 pages. Post¬ 
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FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
127 Franklin St., New York. 
