[TO TILE EDITOR OF THE " SrscrAroa."1
Si,—it was with a feeling of sick disappointment which words cannot express that I learned that once more the Plumage Bill was shelved. Only them can realize the tragedy of it who, like myself, have seen the devastation. It is impossible to describe the sense of gloom and depression the absence of bird life throws over tropical scenery, or, on the other hand, to give the faintest idea of the intoxicating loveliness their presence pro- duces. I hare seen them in perfection in one or two remote places—I will not say where—and their brilliancy and grace filled me with wonder. As they flitted among the waving palms and played and circled in the warm sunny air they completed, . with their colour and life, a picture of almost heavenly beauty. Even now their poor little skins may be coming over here in bales to deck ladies' hats! Oh, the tragedy of it!
What can we women who really feel and understand do? I hale already done everything I could think of. Can you help me to further effort? The taste for these decorations seems to be too strong for us. If men did not admire them, women would not wear them. Mr. Massingham's splendid efforts must surely win in the end, but the fight is hard, and any day an echo may reach us from some far-away spot, "Too late, too late."—I am,
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