At the time of founding , the trade in plumage for use in hats was very large : in the first quarter of 1884 , almost 7,000 bird-of-paradise skins were being imported to Britain , along with 0.4 million birds from West India and Brazil , and 0.36 million birds from East India .
To this end the Society had two simple rules : At the time of founding , the trade in plumage for use in hats was very large : in the first quarter of 1884 , almost 7,000 bird-of-paradise skins were being imported to Britain , along with 0.4 million birds from the West Indies and Brazil , and 0.36 million birds from British India .