The Audubon Society won recognition a century ago as a spirited protector of birds and a critic of those American women who wore bird skins and feathers on their hats, the milliners who made the hats, and the men who killed the birds for the milliners.

The birds supplying the skins and feathers, claws and beaks, were mostly wild birds and included birds whose specific existence was threatened. They included some of the prettiest birds -- white herons, snowy egrets, ruffed grouse, spoo...