Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-12-10
THE BIRD TRIBUTE
TO VANITY.
Startling Figures and Statements
to Show Cruelty in Our Women.

B. p. Hampton, in Hampton's Maga-
zine. tells very strongly and forcibly of
the destruction Of song and other birds
to crafty the vanity and love of adorn-
ment ef the women Of our day. He
thinks thst II women really appreciated
the enermity of ths crime they commit
by encouraging the murder of birds for
the sake Of adding to their love of dis,
play they would cease to demand feath,
ers for their hats that cost 80 much of
life to the feathered creation.
Speaking Of the white heron, from
which are obtained the beautiful plumes
forming the aigrette that adorns the
hats Of the fashionable ladies. and
which cost sS2 an ounce, Mr.. Hampton
says that these plumes are only In their
full growth and splendor when the
mother bird is In the breeding season,
and that to destroy the bird Of course is
to break up the breed, frequently leay-
ing the young and helpless offspring to
perish Of starvation, Although these
plumes are SO costly, thedesire for them
has nearly exterminated the heron.
Speaking of other birds, common to
us, Hampton says:
''It is an admitted fact that. II our
birds were properly protected against
indiscriminate slaughter, the loss to our
crops through insect pests would be re-
duced TO an almost imperceptible figure:
there is scarcely n word uttered in pro-
test against the permission Of that
slaughter and the consequent annual
loss Of almost $500. 600, 900, an amount
nearly equal to the total capitalization
OF oil the national banks In the United
States. Amazing as such q statement
at frst appears. it is. believe me. read
lily demonstrable. The Insects kill the
the crops. birds kill the insects, and we
kill the birds. =
Birds are the instructive enemies of
the destroying insects which are, indeed,
their ordained food. and their policing
OF the crops cannot be replaced-can,
at most, be but supplementcd-bys such
human devices as the arsenic spray.
One pair Of rose-breasted grosbeak can.
in q week, destroy all of the potato
bugs on an acre Of potato vines and then
keep the vines clean for the entire
season. whereas two boys with a bucket
OF Paris green, at the traditional salary
Of one cent for every hundred slain bugs.
cannot even approximate that record.
Many varieties of birds have been
nearly or quite exterminated by this
kind Of slaughter. No less than SO. 600
Chinese pheasants were killed by reck-
less shooters in Oregon in single day.
The hunter has pronounced the doom
Of the wood duck and the milliner has
sentenced the bluebird. The passenger
pigeon. once plentiful, Ia now absolutely
extinct-and email wonder. They used
to be butchered in their breedinss places
by the wagon load; the trees in which
they rested were felled; the SQUADS were
bagged and slain; sulphur was burned
under the branches and the stupefed
victims, falling to earth. were dubbed
or shot to death.
And yet women go on wearing the
plumage Of birds. The barn owl which
destroys the gophers Of the West, the
cotton rats Of the SouthaAd the mice of
the North: the flicker, which preys upon
destructive ants; the bluebird which
Professor Beal, Of the National Depart
ment Of Agriculture, has pronounced
invaluable to the farmer-all these and
far beyond score more continue, cley-
eriy disguised. to adorn the headgear Of
of the sex which we men have always
been taught to regard as our superior
in gentleness. Is it useless to say with
Charles Dudley Warner that "a dead
bird does not help the appearance of an
ugly woman" and that "a pretty woman
needs no such adornment''? Will not
fatuous femininity permit even the song