The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-05-14
BIRDS SACRIFICED
TO WOMANS VANITY
Hundreds of Thousands of
Feathered Aristocracy
Killed Each Year.

On the altar OF Fashion. despite the
grief Of the Shuddering Angel, is sacrf-
feed every kind Of bird possessing the
fatal gift Of beauty
At the Dock Warehouses, Hounds
ditch. England, visited among others by
Queen Alexandra, Lord Dudley. the
German Empress, and the Duchess Of
Albany. a sight is 20 be seen uupsraIleI-
ed in the world Brought together for
redistribution TO every important capt
tai are spells torn from ali the aristo-
Gratis Of the feathered world
In bales and bundles lie the plumage
Of natures most beautiful children
There IS among them the Tyre bird, pro
tected'' now IN Australia, whose extra
ordinary tail is developed ln the mating
time for the allurement Of plain Mrs.
Tyre. a name that might tTuthfully be
spelled otherwise, for she can effective
" deceive. by initiating the song and
calls Of other birds ano animals.
The dainty humm-7y bird. that once
flashed through the air OF poised above
a flower. with the tridescent hues OF
a prism, and with miraculous powers
of fight, Is here also That Of the flame
colored breast travels some 800 miles
in its migratory wsnderings twice a
year
ANON the slaughtered innocents are
also u be seen the queZaI or sacred
trogon. unsurpassed for its metallic
green ornamental piumes, adopted as
the national emblem OF Guatemala
Most precious OF all is the nuptiai
pI,smage Of the white heron or egret
It's wedding garb is Of dazzling and i'm
macuiate whiteness. It's speclal or IA
ment worn only, 50 20 speak dGElhs
the honeymoon is d snow white plane
borne on the back. spTinging from near
the roots OF the wings, and so precious
that in transport IL IS treated like bull
lion or precious stones, paying freight
OF the sixty sorts Of herons known,
only two kinds bear the white osprey
OF millinery-the large and little egTet-
The first has plume from eighteen 20
twenty inches long, worth from 80 20
So PEI ounce, six birds yielding Ina1
quantity. The other bears delicate.
short plume. seven TO nine inches in
length, worth SO 10 so per ounce To
make I'D an ounce 10 fewer than TWEEN
ty-tfve victims are required That
means that the LII osprey packages
offered for sale in London clone during
SIX months Of 1907 represented at the
lowest computation 1l5.oJ3 birds. and
this after thirty years % protest
To secure the osprey the egrets are
shot, and for the purpose FLORIDA,
Mexico, India, China Japan. South
Burma. Java. MOluccas, Australia,
Africa have been laid under toll
Where formerly the skiIlful plume
hunter mace Up 20 $500 and $500 a
day from his own victims shot in
Florida or along the Pacific coast.
today there IS scarcely bird 70 be
found.
Meanwhile the vast belts Of forest Of
South America. especially Venezuela,
are being -scoured-no easy task for
the breeding season corresponds with
the wet season. when the country Is
an swamp and lagoon The industry
saws the British minister at Nene-
zuefa 70 whom one owes many OF the
facts about the eEret trade, was start
ed there bv a French milliner. who is
said 10 have made a fortune By col
Iectinz feathers before their CONNER
oiaI value was generally known IN
mat fsT-Off country.