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five years after the disappearance of its cousin the lesser koa finch, a bird so sublimely rare that only one has ever been seen
在此之前5年，因為羅特西爾德的一次射擊，寇阿相思樹雀科鳴鳥的表親，一種極其稀少、只見過一只的小寇阿相思樹雀科鳴鳥已經消失
the one shot for Rothschild's collection. Altogether during the decade or so of Rothschild's most intensive collecting,
它是被一槍打死的，成了羅特希爾德的收藏品。在10年左右時間里，由于羅特希爾德所從事的最為細致的收集，
at least nine species of Hawaiian birds vanished, but it may have been more.
至少有9種夏威夷鳥類消失，甚至可能更多。
Rothschild was by no means alone in his zeal to capture birds at more or less any cost.
幾乎不惜一切代價熱衷于捉鳥的人絕不僅僅是羅特希爾德一個人，
Others in fact were more ruthless.
別的人實際上更殘忍。
In 1907 when a well-known collector named Alanson Bryan realized that he had shot the last three specimens of black mamos,
1907年，當一位名叫阿朗森.布賴恩的有名的收藏家得知他打死了最后三只馬莫黑色蜜鳥，
a species of forest bird that had only been discovered the previous decade, he noted that the news filled him with "joy."
一種10年前剛剛在森林中發現的鳥類，他說這個消息令他“興奮不已”。
It was, in short, a difficult age to fathom
一句話，這是一個難以捉摸的時代
a time when almost any animal was persecuted if it was deemed the least bit intrusive.
在那個時代，幾乎每一種動物，只要它被認為稍徽具有一點點攻擊性，都要受到人類的殘酷對待。
In 1890, New York State paid out over one hundred bounties for eastern mountain lions
1890年，紐約州為獵殺東部山區的獅子支付了100多筆賞金，
even though it was clear that the much-harassed creatures were on the brink of extinction.
盡管這種飽受騷擾的獅子很明顯已處于滅絕的邊緣。
Right up until the 1940s many states continued to pay bounties for almost any kind of predatory creature.
一直到20世紀40年代，美國的許多州還在持續不斷地為獵殺幾乎所有種類的肉食動物支付賞金。
West Virginia gave out an annual college scholarship to whoever brought in the most dead pests
在西弗吉尼亞州，每年都要給那些捕殺有害生物最多的人授予大學獎學金
and "pests" was liberally interpreted to mean almost anything that wasn't grown on farms or kept as pets.
而“有害生物”實際上被理解為幾乎所有不是農場喂養或被視為寵物的生物。
Perhaps nothing speaks more vividly for the strangeness of the times than the fate of the lovely little Bachman's warbler.
也許再沒有比可愛的小黑胸蟲森鶯的命運更能形象地說明這個時代是難以理喻的了。
A native of the southern United States, the warbler was famous for its unusually thrilling song,
這種鳥原產于美國南部，以發出特別悅耳的叫聲著稱。
but its population numbers, never robust, gradually dwindled until by the 1930s the warbler vanished altogether and went unseen for many years.
但是它的數量一直很少，到了20世紀30年代就完全消失，很多年都沒有看到它了。
