English: Ornithologist and national park founder Perrine Moncrieff was a shining star in the conservation field.

English aristocrat Perrine and her husband Malcolm migrated to New Zealand after the First World War and settled in Nelson. They loved the natural beauty and the fauna and flora and Perrine enjoyed tramping and observing native birds.

A passionate bird-lover who wrote a valuable field guide on the subject in 1925, Perrine had a particular horror of the practice of birds being killed so their feathers could adorn women's hats. When she was elected vice-president of the New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society in 1927 her speech "Birds in Relation to Women" condemned this practice. She had a hat made of white hens' feathers dyed sapphire blue to demonstrate that feathers could be obtained without killing native birds.

This studio photograph of Perrine in a hat could be the very one in question. Her conservation achievements were huge, her most notable success was the creation of Abel Tasman National Park in 1942 but she was involved in many other successful campaigns including the establishment of Lake Rotoroa scenic reserve and Farewell Spit bird sanctuary. But, she is perhaps best remembered as the "bird woman" a familiar figure around Nelson together with her pet macaw, Miss Micawber.

Newspaper Clipping About Bush and Bird Notes - [Photo of Perrine Moncrieff] Archives reference: ABWN 8879 W5280 Box 8/ 017.07 www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=1602581

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Material from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga