Rushdie, bird slaughter

[vaneramos]

Here is an incredible, alarming coincidence between literature and life.

I have been reading The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie, my favourite new novel in a long, long time. A mysterious European storyteller arrives at the palace of Akbar the Great with a strange tale about the Mughal Emperor's lost, beautiful aunt. Spanning continents and carried by the framework of this stranger's account, the novel is vivid, sexy and ravishing. The traveller's beguiling tale cleverly blurs boundaries between truth and fiction. Still unfinished, but highly recommended.

Now for the coincidence. In a passage I read last night, Rushdie has Italian diplomat Niccolo Machievelli and a friend catching songbirds using lime-sticks, twigs covered with glue. Apparently thrushes and their kin make a nice snack. "What a barbaric old custom," I thought. Rushdie says this novel required more years of research than any of his previous works, so I supposed this was an obscure Renaissance custom he had uncovered.

Don't follow the next link if you are tenderhearted where small, feathered creatures are concerned. Some alarming photos are attached, however I encourage you to read the post. Today 10,000 Birds blogs about Cyprus: killing Europe's songbirds for a snack? In fact, Cypriots killed an estimated 1.1 million birds in the past 12 months to pluck, peel and sell as ambelopoulia. They used nets, lime-sticks and other traps.

10,000 Birds points out that such non-selective hunting violates conservation directives that the European Community expects of member states, such as Cyprus. The island nation depends heavily on tourist revenue, so travellers are encouraged to consider boycotting, or at least write letters and support local conservation organizations such as Bird Life Cyprus.