Batch of plumes, millinery use
notes: label: Description
content: This is a batch of off-white plumes from a bird, likely a heron or American egret. The plumes here are their natural color; they are long with quill ends of feather wire that are bound with silk. This bundle of plumes is prepare for millinery use, or their use in hat-making and adornment.
label: Description
content: This object was transferred as a part of a collection of material related to birds, such as plumage, beaks, and skins. The items in this collection were originally seized as contraband by the Bureau of Biological Survey under federal laws protecting birds. The capturing of birds for the plumes and other attributes was a practice dating back to the 18th century. However, over the course of the 19th century, birds began to be over-hunted for millinery work, or hat-making. Birds’ plumage, like the snow-white feathers of the egret, were highly sought after for women’s hats, leading to the extinction of bird species like the snowy egret. In 1900, the Lacey Act was passed, prohibiting the trade of fish, plants, and wildlife, including birds, that were illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold. In 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was established, protecting a certain list of migratory bird species from habitat loss and poaching.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.A.3552
label: accession number
content: 87418
label: catalog number
content: A.3552
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Mounted Bird Of Paradise Plumes
label: Object Name
content: plumes, batch of
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 1/2 in x 9 in x 19 in; 3.81 cm x 22.86 cm x 48.26 cm