 <unk> birds were a particular target . Their feathers were used in women 's hats from the late 19th century until the 1920s . In 1886 , five million birds were estimated to have been killed for their feathers . They were usually shot in the spring , when their feathers were colored for mating and nesting . <unk> , as the plumes were called in the <unk> business , sold in 1915 for $ 32 an <unk> , also the price of gold . <unk> was a $ 17 @-@ million @-@ a @-@ year industry that motivated plume <unk> to lie in wait at the nests of <unk> and other large birds during the nesting season , shoot the parents with small @-@ bore rifles , and leave the chicks to <unk> . Many hunters refused to participate after watching the gruesome results of a plume hunt . Still , plumes from Everglades wading birds could be found in Havana , New York City , London , and Paris . A dealer in New York paid at least 60 hunters to provide him with " almost anything that wore feathers , but particularly the Herons , <unk> , and <unk> birds " . Hunters could collect plumes from a hundred birds on a good day . 
