Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/61

 It is conceded that the sale of aigrettes from American birds is prohibited, but it is claimed that there are no laws that prevent the sale of imported goods. Granting that this may be the case, how is the buyer to tell whether the goods are from American an or Old World Herons? The most expert ornithologists cannot separate the plumes after they are taken from the birds.

The wearing of ‘aigrettes,‘ or plumes from the white Herons. whether native or foreign, has now become a question at ethics which every woman must decide for herself. It matters not a whit where the plume comes from, the fact remains the same that the woman who wears one is party to a cruel wrong and the plume itself becomes a badge of inhumanity and is no longer a thing of beauty.

“Mark, how the Mother lulls to slumber Her new-born Babe with tend’rous love And guards her treasure from above!”

The word Mother is the most sacred of all names, and motherhood is the closest of all human ties. Oh, Mother! when you nestle your little one to your loving breast and look into the eyes that reﬂect the mother-love shining from your own, do you not sometimes think with an involuntary shudder of the sorrow and grief it would he were the child to be taken from you? Or, still worse if your tender care were to be removed from the helpless infant? While this thought is still with you, extend it to the bird-mother, for she surely has for her offspring the same tender love that you have for yours; she has the same affection, the same willingness to face danger to protect what is to all mothers dearer than life itself. 0h, human mother! will you again wear for personal adornment a plume taken from the dead body of a bird-mother, the plume that is the emblem of her married life as the golden circlet is of your own, the plume that was taken from her bleeding body because her motherhood was so strong that she was willing to give up life itself rather than abandon her helpless infants! Whenever you are tempted in the future to wear a Heron’s plume, think for a moment of your own motherhood, and spare the bird-mother and her little ones.

Trace distribution of each species of white Heron on the map of the world. When are the plumes worn by the Herons? Which species of Heron have recurved plumes? Which have straight plumes? How are Herons’ plumes procured for the millinery trade? Do the habits of Herons change at any period in the year? In what way?

For life history of the American White Herons, read “Audubon’s American Ornithological Biography”; for cause of probable extermination of white Herons in America read “The Present Condition of Some of the Bird Rockeries of the Gulf Coast of Florida,” by W. E. D. Scott, Auk Vol. IV, pp. 135-141, 213-222, 273-284; also “Stories of Bird Life,” by T. Gilbert Pearson.