Environmental change resulting from human actions
Henry William Herbert: Species Change and Human Actions
Henry William Herbert, who often wrote as “Frank Forester”, was an English immigrant and a famous writer of hunting stories in the 1830’s through the 1850’s.  He came to Warwick regularly and wrote a book, Warwick Woodlands, about his adventures here. Although a reckless and avid hunter, he lamented the loss of species and habitat in Warwick, and ended his life as an advocate for conservation.
See:  The Evolution of the Conservation Movement
The hunting ethic of the early 19th century was that nature was something to be conquered, but by the end of the century, so much had been destroyed that the idea of conservation began to take hold.
Warwick was on the migratory flight path of the passenger pigeon, now extinct:
“Pigeons were very plentiful in the early days of the town. Sometimes the air seemed almost darkened with the immense flocks of these birds. A farmer living near the village one morning bagged ninety-six in a short time in the woods.”– Under Old Rooftrees, 1908
“Uncle Lewis said when the thousands of passenger pigeons passed over on their migration, the ground was darkened over like a huge cloud. He was of the opinion they got a disease which wiped them out. Barrels of them were sent to the city and they sold for 25c each. There were so many thousands of them their weight from lighting in the trees would break the limbs off. – Roy Vail, 1976
Passenger Pigeon
Henry William Herbert (pen name Frank Forester) (April 3, 1807 - May 17, 1858), was an English novelist and writer on sport.
The son of the Hon. and Rev. William Herbert, Dean of Manchester (himself the son of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon), Herbert was born in London.
He was educated at Eton College and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1830. To escape his debts, he emigrated to the United States, and from 1831 to 1839 taught Greek in a private school in New York City. In 1833 he started the American Monthly Magazine, which he edited, in conjunction with A. D. Patterson, till 1835.
In 1834 he published his first novel, The Brothers: a Tale of the Fronde, which was followed by a number of others that achieved popularity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_William_Herbert


“It was here (at Glenmere Lake)  that I saw the great flights of wild pigeons. I have watched them for hours, flying overhead - all going in one direction. Their flights were usually in the spring”. –George W. Parkinson, Warwick Dispatch 5/13/1914

“Pigeons were very plentiful in the early days of the town. Sometimes the air seemed almost darkened with the immense flocks of these birds. A farmer living near the village one morning bagged ninety-six in a short time in the woods. They had settled so thickly on the trees and bushes that he clubbed many down, wrung the necks of some, and every shot brought down numbers. Savory potpies, stews, broils and genuine pigeon-pies, in which the birds predominated over the crust, were plentiful in the humblest homes.” – Under Old Roof trees
“The feathers of pigeons (very plentiful in their season in early days)[14] were commonly cured and put in beds and pillows, and a superstition reigned that no poor soul could take easy flight from its lifelong house of clay if a single pigeon's feather were in the dying-bed.:-- Under Old Rooftrees