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，因为罗特西尔德的一次射击，寇阿相思树雀科鸣鸟的表亲，一种极其稀少、只见过一只的小寇阿相思树雀科鸣鸟已经消失
the one shot for Rothschild's collection. Altogether during the decade or so of Rothschild's most intensive collecting,
它是被一枪打死的，成了罗特希尔德的收藏品。在10年左右时间里，由于罗特希尔德所从事的最为细致的收集，
at least nine species of Hawaiian birds vanished, but it may have been more.
至少有9种夏威夷鸟类消失，甚至可能更多。
Rothschild was by no means alone in his zeal to capture birds at more or less any cost.
几乎不惜一切代价热衷于捉鸟的人绝不仅仅是罗特希尔德一个人，
Others in fact were more ruthless.
别的人实际上更残忍。
In 1907 when a well-known collector named Alanson Bryan realized that he had shot the last three specimens of black mamos,
1907年，当一位名叫阿朗森.布赖恩的有名的收藏家得知他打死了最后三只马莫黑色蜜鸟，
a species of forest bird that had only been discovered the previous decade, he noted that the news filled him with "joy."
一种10年前刚刚在森林中发现的鸟类，他说这个消息令他“兴奋不已”。
It was, in short, a difficult age to fathom
一句话，这是一个难以捉摸的时代
a time when almost any animal was persecuted if it was deemed the least bit intrusive.
在那个时代，几乎每一种动物，只要它被认为稍徽具有一点点攻击性，都要受到人类的残酷对待。
In 1890, New York State paid out over one hundred bounties for eastern mountain lions
1890年，纽约州为猎杀东部山区的狮子支付了100多笔赏金，
even though it was clear that the much-harassed creatures were on the brink of extinction.
尽管这种饱受骚扰的狮子很明显已处于灭绝的边缘。
Right up until the 1940s many states continued to pay bounties for almost any kind of predatory creature.
一直到20世纪40年代，美国的许多州还在持续不断地为猎杀几乎所有种类的肉食动物支付赏金。

West Virginia gave out an annual college scholarship to whoever brought in the most dead pests
在西弗吉尼亚州，每年都要给那些捕杀有害生物最多的人授予大学奖学金
and "pests" was liberally interpreted to mean almost anything that wasn't grown on farms or kept as pets.
而“有害生物”实际上被理解为几乎所有不是农场喂养或被视为宠物的生物。
Perhaps nothing speaks more vividly for the strangeness of the times than the fate of the lovely little Bachman's warbler.
也许再没有比可爱的小黑胸虫森莺的命运更能形象地说明这个时代是难以理喻的了。
A native of the southern United States, the warbler was famous for its unusually thrilling song,
这种鸟原产于美国南部，以发出特别悦耳的叫声著称。
but its population numbers, never robust, gradually dwindled until by the 1930s the warbler vanished altogether and went unseen for many years.
但是它的数量一直很少，到了20世纪30年代就完全消失，很多年都没有看到它了。