THE BIRD STUDY BOOK 



quently purchased and worn by fashionable women, 

 as well as by young and old women of moderate in- 

 comes, who sacrifice much for this millinery luxury. 



There were at that time to be found in Florida 

 many hundreds of colonies of these beautiful birds, 

 but their feathers commanded a large price and 

 offered a most tempting inducement for local hunters 

 to shoot them. Many of the men of the region were 

 poor, and the rich harvest which awaited them was 

 very inviting. At that time gunners received from 

 seventy-five cents to one dollar and a quarter for the 

 " scalp " of each bird, which ordinarily contained forty 

 or more plume feathers. These birds were not con- 

 fined to Florida, but in the breeding season were to be 

 found in swampy regions of the Atlantic Coast as far 

 north as New Jersey, some being discovered carry- 

 ing sticks for their nests on Long Island. 



Civilized nations to-day decry any method of war- 

 fare which results in the killing of women and chil- 

 dren, but the story of the aigrette trade deals with 

 the slaughter of innocents by the slow process of 

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