The Game of Conservation: International Treaties to Protect the World's Migratory Animals

Chapter 2. The North American Bird War

Chapter 2 The฀North฀American฀Bird฀War When I hear of the destruction of a species I feel just as if all the works of some great writer had perished, as if we had lost all instead of only part of Polybius or Livy. —Theodore Roosevelt (1904) William฀ T.฀Hornaday’s฀widely฀acclaimed฀book,฀Our฀Vanishing฀Wild฀Life:฀ Its฀Extermination฀and฀Preservation฀(1913),฀reads฀like฀a฀war฀chronicle.฀a s฀he฀ wrote,฀Europe฀was฀poised฀for฀conflict฀over฀the฀Balkans,฀the฀United฀States฀ was฀flexing฀its฀muscles฀in฀the฀Caribbean฀and฀a sia,฀and฀mexico฀was฀in฀ the฀throes฀of฀revolution.฀Hornaday,฀however,฀was฀neither฀a฀general฀nor฀a฀ diplomat.฀He฀was฀the฀founding฀director฀of฀the฀New฀York฀Zoological฀Park฀ (the฀Bronx฀Zoo)฀and฀one฀of฀the฀most฀avid฀conservationists฀of฀the฀Progressive ฀Era.฀The฀war฀that฀prompted฀his฀book฀was฀the฀one฀being฀waged฀ against฀the฀bird฀species฀of฀North฀a merica.฀“Throughout฀the฀length฀and฀ breadth฀of฀a merica,”฀he฀wrote,฀“the฀ruling฀passion฀is฀to฀kill฀as฀long฀as฀ anything฀killable฀remains.”1 ฀ a s฀Hornaday฀saw฀it,฀this฀avian฀war฀was฀being฀fought฀by฀a฀vast฀“a rmy฀of฀ Destruction”฀made฀up฀of฀six฀heavily฀armed฀divisions:฀“gentlemen฀sportsmen ”฀(hunters฀who฀shot฀purely฀for฀pleasure),฀“game฀hogs”฀(trigger-happy฀ hunters฀who฀always฀bagged฀their฀legal฀limit฀or฀beyond),฀“meat-gunners”฀ (protein฀suppliers฀for฀big-city฀markets),฀“feather฀traders”฀(plume฀hunters฀ The฀North฀American฀Bird฀War฀฀฀|฀59 for฀the฀hat-making฀industry),฀immigrant฀“slaughterers”฀(italian฀a mericans฀ who฀used฀net฀traps,฀known฀as฀roccolos,฀to฀kill฀songbirds),฀and฀poor฀“southerners ”฀(whites฀and฀blacks฀who฀lived฀off฀robins,฀mockingbirds,฀meadowlarks ,฀and฀other฀“nongame”฀birds).2 ฀Based฀on฀the฀total฀number฀of฀hunting฀ licenses฀that฀state฀governments฀issued฀in฀1911,฀Hornaday฀reckoned฀the฀a rmy฀ of฀Destruction฀was฀2.6฀million฀strong,฀not฀counting฀the฀“guerrilla฀army”฀ (those฀who฀shot฀without฀licenses),฀whose฀numbers฀were฀unknown.฀“indeed ฀it฀is฀a฀motley฀array,”฀he฀noted:฀“We฀see฀true฀sportsmen฀beside฀ordinary฀ gunners,฀game-hogs฀and฀meat฀hunters฀.฀.฀.฀and฀well-gowned฀women฀and฀ ladies’฀maids฀are฀jostled฀by฀half฀naked฀‘poor-white’฀and฀black-negro฀‘plume฀ hunters.’”3 ฀a lthough฀Hornaday฀did฀not฀estimate฀the฀relative฀strength฀of฀ each฀army฀division,฀he฀clearly฀feared฀the฀meat-gunners฀and฀feather฀traders฀ most฀of฀all:฀they฀hunted฀for฀the฀market฀and฀not฀just฀for฀the฀pot. ฀ Standing฀on฀the฀other฀side฀of฀the฀battlefield฀was฀a฀small฀“a rmy฀of฀the฀ Defense,”฀“friends฀of฀wild฀life฀who฀themselves฀are฀not฀on฀the฀firing฀line.”฀ This฀army฀consisted฀of฀federal฀officials,฀state฀game฀commissioners,฀bird฀ conservationists,฀zoological฀societies,฀and฀recreational฀hunters.฀a ฀veteran฀ of฀earlier฀wildlife฀skirmishes฀(he฀was฀past฀president฀of฀the฀a merican฀Bison฀ Society),฀Hornaday฀was฀pessimistic฀about฀the฀war’s฀outcome:฀“Over฀the฀ world฀at฀large,฀i฀think฀the฀active฀Destroyers฀outnumber฀the฀active฀Defenders ฀of฀wild฀life฀at฀least฀in฀the฀ratio฀of฀500฀to฀1;฀and฀the฀money฀available฀to฀ the฀Destroyers฀is฀to฀the฀fund฀of฀the฀Defenders฀as฀500฀is฀to฀1.”4 ฀ One฀need฀not฀accept฀Hornaday’s฀manichean฀perspective฀or฀his฀racialized ฀categories฀to฀appreciate฀the฀power฀of฀his฀metaphor.฀During฀much฀of฀ the฀nineteenth฀century,฀a mericans฀waged฀what฀can฀aptly฀be฀described฀as฀ an฀unwitting—and฀ultimately฀self-defeating—war฀against฀their฀own฀wildlife .฀“There฀was฀a฀hazy฀kind฀of฀faith,”฀John฀C.฀Phillips฀(one฀of฀the฀leaders฀ of฀the฀a rmy฀of฀the฀Defense)฀later฀wrote,฀“in฀the฀existence฀far฀north฀of฀our฀ borders฀of฀a฀sort฀of฀mysterious฀duck฀and฀snipe฀factory฀which฀could฀turn฀ out฀the฀required฀supply฀practically฀forever.”5 ฀This฀faith฀was฀misplaced.฀a s฀ railroads฀began฀to฀crisscross฀North฀a merica,฀as฀the฀a merican฀and฀Canadian ฀populations฀moved฀westward,฀as฀farmers฀turned฀wetlands฀into฀fields,฀ and฀as฀more฀and฀more฀commercial฀hunters฀blasted฀the฀sky฀for฀meat฀and฀ feathers,฀the฀vast฀flocks฀of฀birds฀that฀once฀migrated฀across฀North฀a merica฀ were฀becoming฀noticeably฀scarcer. ฀ The฀front฀lines฀of฀the฀avian฀war฀ran฀north฀to฀south฀along฀the฀four฀great฀ migratory฀ routes฀ of฀ North฀ a merica—routes฀ Frederick฀ C.฀ l incoln฀ later฀ named฀the฀a tlantic,฀mississippi,฀Central,฀and฀Pacific flyways—that฀most฀ bird฀populations฀used฀on฀their฀annual฀travels฀up฀and฀down฀the฀Western฀ 60฀฀|฀The฀Game฀of฀Conservation Hemisphere.฀The฀main฀battlegrounds฀were฀the฀“staging฀posts”฀along฀these฀ routes—places฀where฀birds฀collected฀to฀rest฀and฀feed฀before฀undertaking฀ the...