Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-04
CRUEL LADIES.
Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Robins, and
Kingfishers for Bonnets.
From the Leeds Mercury.

From the Leeds Mercury.
''Sir," said DIR. johnson. 'slet us take a walk
down Fleet street," and have been taking
walk, If not down Fleet street, at all events
down some Of our Leeds streets. / am not al
together devoid of that feminine weakness
which develops itself in looking in shop-win-
dows-especially miliners' windows-and am
sorry to say that have returned from my pc
regrinations feeling thoroughly Mortified and
disguised. Crammed in all the windows, dis
played on nine out of every ten hats and bon
nets one sees, are the deformed and disguised
bodies of poor little birds of every available
kind. In one window I saw hundreds
of bullfnches, goldfnches robins chat
fnches, owls plovers. kingfshers and
know not what other English birds. twisted
out of all semblance to anything human or di-
vine. their heads fattened. their wings dis
torted. their whole bodies tort ct a udrers. so
as to convert them into suitably shaped trim
mingS" for hats and bonnets. In another
window were numberless humming birds. paro-
quets and mysterious birds compounded of
the fragments of other tropical creatures.
never saw such a display. | never felt such
genuine and unmitigated disgust for the IRA
tional monster called Fashion as when saw
these innocent winged creatures slaughtered
by thousands for the temporary caprice of a
season and the mode of a moment. / am be-
birds women are apparently not to be deferred
by any scruples of humanity from decking
themselves with poor little corpses, many of
them those of mother birds caught at a season
when the plumage is brighter and the owner
tanner. No thought of the nestlings. left to die
in the agony of slow starvation. disturbs the
complacency of the woman who wears birds in
her bonnet and thinks them becoming.
But it may be that what others think of
her is scarcely consistent with her thoughts
nf ha-yn hat fhara ia
some idea of forming q bird protecting
association. and that some of the highest
names in the land are expected to appear
in its list of members. But any such move
ment ought to appeal to the feelings of all
women, of whatever rank or station. step
would be gained If sort of social oStracism
could be decreed against all those who continue
to wear birds. notwithstanding all they have
been told of the cruelties perpetrated in pro-
curing them. Let the members of such an as
ISOLATION bind themselves never to wear birds,
or permit their children to do So with the ex-
ception say, of such birds as are killed for the
table. or the feathers of the ostrich. which are
obtained without cruelty. Many bonnets and
hats are trimmed with the white or softly
tinted feathers of the pigeon. and will admit
their use can be defended; but cannot believe
that any one can seriously excuse the killing
of rare and beautiful birds simply to
use their plumagc for our personal adornment.
/ am told by an ornithologist of my acquaint-
ance that many of the most beautiful of
our English and foreign birds are rapidly be-
coming extinct, and that this will soon be COM
pletely the one can doubt who observes
that an Englishman. if he sees a rare bird. kills
it if he can. and an Englishwoman if Madame
QueiquechOse DEGREES that she is to "a
bonnet covered with the heads and wings of
jeweled humming birds, adorns herself with
them at once. and contributes as far as she can
to their ultimate extinction. In Paris hear,
the decoration OF walls and mantelpieces has
quite gone out of fashion" Valuable pottery
is banished in favor of stuffed birds with
brilliant plumage, which are hung on the walls
or perched among groups of rare plants as if
still alive. This fancy will entail almost as
much destruction of bird life as their indis-
criminate slaughter for the purposes of the
milliners.