Happy Birthday: August 8, 1863 (1948): Pioneer naturalist, - TopicsExpress

Happy Birthday: August 8, 1863 (1948): Pioneer naturalist, scientist and writer Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey was born in Lewis County, NY. She was an American ornithologist and nature writer. By 1885, she began to focus on protecting birds. It was the custom to wear bird feathers on hats. Bailey was dedicated to telling and showing people about the value of bird life. Finally a bill was passed by Congress making the interstate shipping of birds illegal. Her first book, “Birds Through an Opera Glass,” was published in 1889. Bailey became the first woman associate member of the American Ornithologists Union in 1885, its first woman fellow in 1929, and the first woman recipient of its Brewster Medal in 1931, awarded for Birds of New Mexico.