Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1885-01-14
BIRDS THAT GO ON HATS.
How they are Supplied to the
MillinerS.
Explanation Of Some Mysterious Creations
that are Seen.

IN The window, with q simple DlacK
and-white sign above them which
reads, "Taxidermist," is the only street
display of downtown place of bust
ness where hundreds of thousands Of
birds have been tlayed and their skins
dressed for the ornamenting of hats
and bonnets, and hundreds Of hides OF
all sorts Of animals, from mouse to a
cinnamon bear or an African tiger,
have been mounted for the use OF
dealers in furs and the decoration OF
parlors and studios. The chief part
of the business is the preparation of
birds for milliners. A pretty black
eyed girl behind the counter in the
front room said that the business was
not very brisk in the winter, but with
the coming of the birds in spring it
would become very lively.
"What kind of birds do you use
most ?"
"The common soIts-red- winged
blackbirds, reed birds, snipes, turtle
doves, orioles, yellow birds, thrushes.
Any small bird can be used"
"How do you get them?"
"We buy them of men who make
business of supplying us. Most of the
birds we handle are from New Jersey,
but good many come from Long Is
land, and we receive some from the
West and South. A few are import
ed?"
"What do you pay for them?'
THAT depends on the fashion en-
tirely. Two years ago tho demand of
the milliners was for red wings and
yellow birds. We paid from twenty
five to thirty-flve cents apiece, and at
one time we had to pay as high as for
ty-seven cents apiece for a lot. Last
year we got all we wanted at from
seven to eight cents each. When the
hunters had to supply brisk demands
they can get more, of course, because
the supply of birds of each variety does
not vary greatly from year to year."
do the hunters shoot the birds?"
81 guess not. l do not find any shot
in naying those bought from the regu-
lar customers"
GLOW do they catch them then?'
II guess you could not get them to
tell you There is one man who brings
us from 1900 to 1000 week during
the warm months. He says he has a
partner and no other help. lie lives
in Red Bank, N. Y. One would think
the woods would be depopulated, or
else that he would get rich enough to
retire, but he has been working away
for years now"
"Where do all these fancy birds that
look like pictures of tropical rarities
come from?"
"All from Jersey. BY inserting a
snipe's bill in the place of the bill of
crow blackbird, and then combining
parts of the skins Of other common
birds, we produce monstrosity, but
if the colors are we'll matched the re-
suit is attractive to the common eye
however grotesque it may appear to
one who knows all about the appear
ance of birds, 1t is not uncommon to
see in the Grand street windows
hats that have half a dozen birds
heads projecting from one mass of
feathers that might be the breast Of
swan or the pickings from second
hand pillow. The wings that adorn
some hats are about as much like
wings as stovepipe is like lead pen
| Gil. But those queer tastes are the
making of our business. The portions
of the birds skin which are cut away
when mounting bird naturally for a
hat can all be used up in wings by
glueing them on a model. l read in
the Sun the other day about an Ohio
young woman whose nerves were
wholly shattered in millinery store
because, as the article said, of her SYM
pathy for the poor little birds she had
to handle. l guess there was some
error about that. think the shock
must have come from contemplation
of some of our combination birds. She
has my sympathy.