Of solid wood, yet nothing loth
To waste upon the frolic breeze
Thy leaves, like flights of golden bees.
—Frederick William Faber.
CRUEL TREATMENT OF BIRDS DEMANDED BY DAME FASHION.
All of my readers probably know in a general way that Dame Fashion is responsible for the destruction of the lives of many birds, but they may not know to what extent this is true.
Why do we say that any cruel treatment of the birds is chargeable to fashion? It can hardly be necessary to remind ourselves that there is in almost every boy's nature a touch of the savage instincts which find expression in the desire to kill something. Traces of this instinct do not entirely disappear with the development into manhood, but show themselves there in the love of hunting and fishing. Let these remnants of savagery be appealed to by the promise of gain and they are immediately fanned into flame in the natures of those persons who are naturally more strongly drawn to this primitive occupation of men. In short, place before the professional hunter an easy means of profiting by his skill as a hunter, and in far too many instances he will smother any humane instincts which he may have for the sake of the gain. It is the demands of fashion for plumes and feathers for hat trimmings which place before these hunters the temptation to kill. Have we not a right, therefore, to place the blame at the door of Fashion?
But what are the practices which we call cruel? In the first place it is cruelty to cause the destruction of life without good and sufficient reason. Unnecessary sacrifice of life is cruelty. Certainly no one will say that it is necessary to trim hats with feathers. Fashion decrees that feathers must be worn, and presto! feathers are worn. In the second place, it is cruel to kill birds who are feeding young ones in the nest, leaving them to starvation. Yet this is just what has happened and does happen every year. Plume hunters are no respecters of times and seasons. With them there are no closed seasons. The birds which they are after gather in large rookeries during the nesting season and are therefore much easier to capture then than at other times.