The Plumage Bill and Bird Protection

Abstract

THE protection of beautiful and interesting birds is the object of Col. Yate's and Lord Aberdeen's Bill now before Parliament. The chief end is to close Great Britain (and presumably all parts of the British Empire controlled from London) as a market in which the plumage of wild birds (excepting eider down and ostrich feathers) may be bought and sold. The reasons for excepting the down of the eider duck and the plumes of the ostrich need scarcely be explained. The eider duck strips herself of the downy feathers she develops during the breeding season and lines her nest with them. This down can be obtained without injuring the bird, or even without depriving her nestlings, who leave the downy nest soon after birth. Such a large proportion of ostrich plumes is obtained from tame birds (and the wild ostrich chicks are so easily domesticated) that it is scarcely worth while pursuing, the wild bird for its feathers. Moreover, the plumes can be removed from the tame birds painlessly.