Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1906-05-10
In the Interest of the Preservation
nf RtrdS

of Birds.
A meeting of some OF the most IN
fuential ladies of Great Britain recent
ly took place in the interest OF o'ro
preservation, not only so far as IL per
tains to the destruction of birds for the
adornment of ladies bats, but for their
protection and preservation from all
sources of harm. The Dutchess OF
Portland presided over the meeting,
and in course of her address that LADY
declared that their efforts were very
largely paraIyzed through the persis
tent and ignominious fashions of wear
ing the plumage of birds in the feminine
hat
Being deeply interested in bird life
have made tour of the different mii-
linery establishments of the town 10
learn to what extent our people were
responsible for the destruction Tor tne
adornment of women. After careful
observation and inquiry I find very
few of the feathers and wings and the
forms of birds but what have been kill
ed to supply the poultry markets. 10
whatever extent, therefore, that the
feathers and plumage ofbirds are used
to make ladies hats more capricious,
from material that would otherwise De
wasted. where it not in imitation that
prompts it, could readily be regarded
with respect and admiration. Know
ing, however, the awful slaughter of
birds of beautiful plumage that is con-
stantly taking place the world over, it
would seem that those who wear the
cheaper grades of hats are but merely
imitation of the richer classes, VINO
are RESPONSIBLE for the destruction and
threatened determination Of many
beautiful and rare species of birds
This being the case it is only proper
that a movement for the Suppression
of the vice we are considering should
emauate from the source from which it
originated.
Nature adorns all feathered creatures
in their neatest and handsomest colors
for the season in which they mate and
bring forth their young, ard it is dur
ing this happy period of bird existence
that countless thousands Of egrets and
other members of the crane family are
slaughtered for those lovely plums that
are known to some as ospreys. The
female birds are shot while in the act
of incubation, and, later, the parents
birds when in quest of food of their
young, leaving the young broods to
perish of starvation, thus increasing a
cruel crime at least hundred fold,
sacrificing countless numbers Of help
less young nestlings to secure the
plums of these handsome birds at a
time when their colors are most bril-
liant and perfect. The same is true,
too, of the Bird of Paradise, the most
wonderfully gorgeously plumaged bird
in existence; SO supremely magnificent
that one might fancy it to have been
the creation of angels for the adorn-
ment of heaven rather than of earth.
In the brilliancy of its costomes it ex-
GELS all bird creation just as the voice
of the nightingale transcends all others
in the sweet melody of it's song; yet
these exquisite birds and all their allied
species are doomed to extinction unless
this one thoughtless folly of fashion
can be arrested.
During the years of my early youth,
when engrossed in the study of birds
and their habits, thought that of all
the creatures between which love exists
none was so sweetly real and so truly
ardent as that between pair of mated
birds. And to destroy them while in
the honeymoon of all their heartsome
gladness, whether engaged in wooing
or nest-making, and still more SO when
busy in the cares ofraising their young,
for no other purpose than to crafty a
fancy of fashion, is sin that reflects
with equal shame upon those who
commit the destruction as well as up.
on those who encourage it.
ALFRED TRUMAN.