Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1903-06-13
THE PLUME HARVEST
Hunters In Southern States Furnish
Northern Markets.
lead Lonely Lives I'm the svamps'
where They Are Constantly on
the watch for Feathered
Creatures.

hunters are reaping their harvest. They
are the men who in all of the thousands
of bays, inlets and bayous of the South
Atlantic coast, on the marshy ponds
of the interior and in the great swampy
districts shoot shore birds for their
plumage only.
It is an industry widely spread, in
which good deal of capital is invest
ed and a good deal of work done, and
properly conducted it is highly re-
munerative, says a recent report in the
New York Sun.
The plume hunter must face all sorts
of weather, of course, except very cold
weather. He must know what birds
are most highly valued and where they
are to be found. how they are to be APP
preached and how their plumage is TO
be preserved after they are dead.
There is nothing difficult about the
work.
Probably there are more plume hunt
ers In Florida than in any other state,
though many of them operate along
the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts,
down the Atlantic edge of Georgia and
In Texas and Arkansas
They get all sorts of birds because
or late years plumes have become
scarcer and milliners now use feathers
they would have disdained formerly.
but in the main they devote themselves
TO well-plumed shore birds. some of
which are of extremely beautiful hues.
Among the birds of Florida most
steadily pursued are the herons. black,
white, blue and green. These are in
tens of thousands. and though they
are shy, they can be reached by man
who knows how.
Avoeats, black and white. are slain
In numbers, as is the whooping crane,
o great stately bird whose body fur
nishes so many handsome feathers
that IL is a rich haul. Flamingoes of
Hight pink, those of so dark pink
as 20 be almost crimson and the pink
and white and pink and blue varieties
are eagerly sought.
The curlews, sandpipers and other
trotters along the sands are gathered
in, and fishhawks and pelicans are
knocked down at every opportunity.
There is also relentless war against the
many kinds of southern gulls. In fact,
pretty nearly all feathers are regarded
as good things by the plume hunter
except the buzzard's feathers. or the
feathers of the yellow-tipped Mexican
vulture.
The skins are rudely but effectually
preserved. They are taken off whole,
with the wings left on, and after the
fat is scraped from them they are
rubbed with salt and powdered arsenic
No further attention is paid to them,
except to pack them securely, and they
reach New York in excellent condition.
With many of the smaller birds more
care is taken, and the plume hunter
In preserving them may even rise to
taHdermy. IT is often desired to save
these skins with the heads on, so that
the whole bird may adorn some wom-
ans bonnet. The plume hunters do
very well. some of them. and are pa
tient about learning, because the bet
ter work of this sort is done the more
money they will get for it when II
reaches the wholesale feather houses
In the north
AS a general thing plume hunters
lead lonely and exposed lives, camp
ing under ragged tents in swampy dis
trtcts, doing their own cooking, stand
ing or snealing for hours in the mud
and day and night unspeakably dirty.
Some of them have boats and drift up
and down the bayous. picking off a
crane or avocat here and there, or they
force their way through tangled
swamps, where the vines swing low to
the water, making for some hidden
lagoon far in The forest, known to no
man save them.
Some of them have breechloaders.
but not many of them, though the
pump gun is finding its way among
them rapidly. They use cheap. black
powder and unchilled shot, but they
kill all right, and as the cost of am
hamilton is much of an object with
them, one will sometimes put in hale
day trying to get little nearer.
Occasionally a small-caliber rifle is
found among them, and this is much
the best weapon for their business, but
commonly they stick to antique, muz-
zle-loading double-barrels, with water
proof caps. A plume hunter with or
binary luck will clear up several hun
dred dollars in winter, and through
the summer he fishes, half for profit.
half for amusement, or loafs through
the warm cna1I