Here is the story of the people who nearly wiped out Florida's abundant long-legged waders in a drive to profit from their plumes, and the people who gave their time and their lives to stop them. A game warden took a bullet to protect egrets, another one vanished with barely a trace, and two women in Boston became turn-of-the-twentieth-century influencers to save the birds. The result: the first official chapter of the National Audubon Society, and an end to the plumage trade.

Bestselling author Randi Minetor writes the Birdfinding and Best Easy Bird Guides series for Falcon Guides/Globe Pequot Press, and is the author of Backyard Birding and Butterfly Gardening for Lyons Press. Her most recent book, The Complete Language of Birds, is an encyclopedia that unites classic illustrations, science, folklore, and mythology about more than 400 bird species around the world. Her story about the plumage trade appears in her book Death in the Everglades: Accidents, Foolhardiness, and Mayhem in South Florida. She writes for Birding Magazine and North American Birds, and serves as president of the Rochester Birding Association in upstate New York.