26 SEPTEMBER 1908, Page 15

EGRET FEATHERS.

[To Tile EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR:I SIR,—With reference to the statement of your correspondent from India (Spectator, July 11th) as to egrets discarding their feathers during the breeding season, you may be interested to hear that an identical state of things prevails in Nigeria. The feathers shed from the egret's breast are collected from the ground by the natives, tied into small bundles, and sold to the various Europeans stationed in the Colony. There are in this manner far more feathers exported from living egrets than those actually shot for their plumage.