Association asserted, and brought a cloud of witnesses to Albany to
prove, that the enforcement of the law would throw thousands of
operatives out of employment.


[Illustration: BEAUTIFUL AND CURIOUS BIRDS NOW BEING DESTROYED
FOR THE FEATHER TRADE--(I)
Belted Kingfisher
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
Superb Calliste
Greater Bird of Paradise
Common Tern
Cock of the Rock]

The law is in effect; and the aigrette business is dead in this state.
Have any operatives starved, or been thrown out of employment? We have
heard of none. They are now at work making very pretty hat ornaments of
silk and ribbons, and gauze and lace; and "_They_ are wearing them."

[Illustration: 1600 HUMMINGBIRD SKINS AT 2 CENTS EACH!
Part of Lot Purchased by the Zoological Society at the Regular Quarterly
London Millinery Feather Sale, August, 1912.]

But even while these words are being written, there is one large fly in
the ointment. The store-window of E. &. S. Meyers, 688 Broadway, New
York, contains about _six hundred plumes and skins of birds of paradise
for sale for millinery purposes_. No wonder the great bird of paradise
is now almost extinct! Their sale here is possible because the Dutcher
law protects from the feather dealers only the birds that belong to
avian families represented in the United States. With fiendish cunning