ll. Take the great bird of
paradise (_Paradisea apoda_) as an illustration. On Oct. 2, 1912, at
Indianapolis, Indiana, a city near the center of the United States, in
three show-windows within 100 feet of the headquarters of the Fourth
National Conservation Congress, I counted 11 stuffed heads and 11
complete sets of plumes of this bird, displayed for sale. The prices
ranged from $30 to $47.50 each! And while I looked, a large lady
approached, pointed her finger at the remains of a greater bird of
paradise, and with grim determination, said to her shopping companion:
"There! I want one o' them, an' I'm agoin' to _have_ it, too!"

Says Mr. James Buckland in "Pros and Cons of the Plumage Bill":

"Mr. Goodfellow has returned within the last few weeks from a second
expedition to new Guinea.... One can now walk, he states, miles and
miles through the former haunts of these birds [of paradise] without
seeing or hearing even the commonest species. When I reflect on this
sacrilege, I am lost in wonder at the apathy of the British public."

Mr. Carl Hagenbeck wrote me only three months ago that "the condors of
the Andes are all being exterminated for their feathers, and these birds
are now very difficult to obtain."

The egret and heron plumes, known under the trade name of "osprey, etc.,
feathers," form by far the most important item in each feather sale.
There are _fifteen_ grades! They are sold by the ounce, and the prices
range all the way from twenty-eight cents per ounce for "mixed heron" to
_two hundred and twenty-five shillings_ ($45.60) per ounce for the best
Brazilian "short selected," on February 7, 1912! Is it any wonder that
in Philadelphia the prices of finished aigrettes, ready to be worn, runs
from $20 to $125!

The plumes that run up into the big figures are the "short selected"
coming from the following localities, and quoted at the prices set down
here in shillings and pence. Count the shilling at twenty-four cents,
United States money.

PRICES OF "SHORT SELECTED" EGRET AND HERON PLUMES, IN LONDON ON FEBRUARY
7, 1912

(Lewis & Peat's List)

East Indies per ounce, 117/6 to 207/6 = $49.80 max.
Rangoon " " 150/0 " 192/6 = 46.20 "
China " " 130/0 " 245/0 = 58.80 "
Brazil " " 200/0 " 225/0 = 54.00 "
Venezuela " " 165/0 " 222/6 = 53.40 "

The total offering of these "short selected" plumes in December 1911,
was 689 ounces, and in February, 1912, it