•I

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY;

OR

THE NATURAL HISTORY

OP THE

BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES

ENGRAVED AND COLOURED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS TAKEN
FROM NATURE.

BY ALEXANDER WILSON.

WITH A SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE,
BY GEORGE ORD, F. L. S. &c.

IN THREE VOLS.— VOL. I.

PUBLISHED BY COLLINS & CO, NEW YORK,

AND

HARRISON HALL, PHILADELPHIA.
1828.

EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit:

BE tT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-fourth day of April, in the
fifty-second year of the independence of the United States of America, A.
D. 1828, HARRISON HALL, of the said district, hath deposited in this office
the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as Proprietor, in the words
following, to wit:

American Ornithology; or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States.
Illustrated with plates engraved and coloured from original drawings taken from
Nature. By Alexander Wilson. With a sketch of the Author's Life, by George
Ord, F. L. S. Sfc. Jn three Volumes.— Vol. I.

In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, entitled
" An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of
maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies du-
ring the times therein mentioned." — And also to the act, entitled, " An
act supplementary to an act, entitled, " An act for the encouragement of
learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors
and proprietors of such" copies during the times therein mentioned, and
extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and
etching historical and other prints."

D. CALDWELL,
Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

YY

\

v.l

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Page.

EDITOR'S PREFACE, ..... v

Preface to the Life of Wilson, ... vii

Sketch of the Life of Wilson, - ix

Introduction, - - 1

VultUT aura, Turkey Vulture or Turkey-buzzard, 13

jota, Black Vulture or Carrion-crow, - - 20

Falco peregrinus, Great-footed Hawk, - - 30

Sparverius, American Sparrow Hawk, female, - 38

male, - 42

Columbarius, Pigeon Hawk, - - 44

leucocephalus, White-headed or Bald Eagle, - 46

ossifragus, Sea Eagle, * „ . . 57

fulvus, Ring-tail Eagle, ... 54

halicetus, Fish-Hawk or Osprey, - - - 67

atricapillus, Ash-coloured or Black-cap Hawk, - 80

borealis, Red-tailed Hawk, - - - 82

Leverianus, American Buzzard, - - - 85

Fennsylvanicus, Slate-coloured Hawk, - - 87

velox, Sharp-shinned Hawk, -< - - 89

Pennsylvania?, Broad-winged Hawk, - - 92

furcatus, Swallow- tailed Hawk, . - - 95

Mississippiensis, Mississippi Kite, . 93

lagopus, Rough-legged Falcon, - - 101

niger, Black Hawk, 103

variety, - - - 105

hyemalis, Winter Falcon, - - 107

lineatus, Red-shouldered Hawk, - - - 109

uliginosus, Marsh Hawk, - - m

Striae nyctea, Snow Owl, - 1 14

Hudsonia, Hawk Owl, - us

nebulosa, Barred Owl, - - - - 121

iv CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Strix flammed, White or Barn Owl, 124

passerina, Little Owl, . - 129

brachyotos, Short-eared owl, - - 131

Virginiana, Great-horned Owl, - 133

otus, Long-eared Owl, - 138

ncevia, Mottled Owl, ... 149

asio, Red Owl, ... 143

Lanius excubitor, Great American Shrike or Butcher-bird, 145

Carolinensis, Loggerhead Shrike, 151

1'sittacus Carolinensis, Carolina Parrot, - - 153

Corvus cor ax, Raven, . 164

corone, Crow, - * - 171

Columbianus, Clark's Crow, - 180

ossifragus, Fish Crow, - - 182

pica, Magpie> 185

cristatus, Blue Jay, - 189

Canadensis, Canada Jay, - 198

Oriolus Baltimorus, Baltimore Oriole, male, - 201

female, - 207

mutatus, Orchard Oriole 209

Gracula ferruginea, Rusty Grakle, - 219

quiscala, Purple Grakle, - 222

Cuculus Carolinensis, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, - 229

erythropthalmus, Black-billed Cuckoo, 231

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

IN preparing for the press this edition of Wilson's Ornitho-
logy, the editor has adhered to the original text, correcting
only some erroneous references, and a few verbal inaccuracies,
most of which were probably typographical errors.

Wilson, in his introduction, mentions its being desirable,
that the birds should be arranged scientifically; and takes no-
tice of the causes, that rendered it, at that time, impracticable.
In fact, he was obliged to figure and describe his birds, nearly
in the order in which he obtained them; and was, therefore,
often compelled to place together those of the most dissimilar
habits and characters, and to separate the male and female of
the same species. In arranging them in proper order, the edi-
tor believes that he is merely accomplishing that, which the
author himself would have done, had he lived to prepare ano-
ther edition. That the value of the work is thus much enhan-
ced, is too evident to require comment.

The classification of Latham having been adopted by Wilson,
has been followed by the editor, not because he considers it
the best, but for the reason just mentioned; and also because
there has not been any arrangement, hitherto proposed, entirely
free from objections. In the notes, however, the most import-
ant recent improvements in classification have been pointed
out; the errors committed by Wilson, in consequence of his not
being able to procure specimens for comparison, and books for
reference, have been corrected; and additional synonymes
given. For these improvements, the editor must acknowledge
himself to be, in great measure, indebted to the " Observations
on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology, by Charles L.
Bonaparte," in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences

vi EDITOR'S PREFACE.

of Philadelphia, volumes in and iv; the " Synopsis of the
Birds of the United States," by the same author, in the Annals
of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York; but princi-
pally to George Ord, Esq. the friend and associate of Wilson,
who has kindly afforded his valuable counsel and assistance, and
has added some highly interesting notes.

Mr. Ord has likewise permitted the birds, contained in his
supplementary volume, to be incorporated with, and his sketch
of the life of Wilson to be prefixed to, the work.

The original plates, engraved under the eye of Wilson, are
employed in this edition, after having been carefully examined
and retouched by Mr. Alexander Lawson, by whom most of
them were executed; and who as an engraver of objects of natu-
ral history, stands unrivalled.

The birds have been coloured by skilful artists, from recent
specimens, or from the beautiful preparations belonging to the
Philadelphia Museum. The improvements made in the arts
within the last few years, have removed many of the difficul-
ties that Wilson encountered in this department; and it is there-
fore confidently believed that in the permanency, brilliancy and
accuracy of the colouring, the plates of the present edition are,
at least, not inferior to those of the original.

PREFACE

TO

THE LIFE OF WILSON.

IN the preface to the first edition of this biographical sketch,
the motives of the publication are stated, and the peculiar circum-
stances under which its author was placed, in respect to materi-
als, are detailed; there is, therefore, no need of repeating them.

It has been thought proper to augment the volume, by a se-
lection from the series of interesting letters, which were put into
the writer's hands by some of Wilson's personal friends, who
were anxious that these memorials should not be lost. It may be,
perhaps, objected, that some of them are of too trifling a nature
for publication; but let it be observed that they all, more or less,
tend to throw light upon the employments, and peculiarities of
character, of an individual of no every day occurrence; one of
those to whose genius we would render homage, and the memory
of whom we delight to cherish.

For the particulars of Wilson's early life, the writer has been
indebted to a narrative, in manuscript, which was communicated
to him by Mr. William Duncan. This information, coming from
a nephew of Wilson's, and his confidential friend for many
years, must be deemed authentic; and we have to regret that
the plan and limits of our publication, did not allow us to make a
freer use of what was so kindly placed at our disposal.

To Mr. Duncan, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Lawson, the writer
owes many obligations, for the promptitude with which they in-
trusted to him their letters; and his acknowledgments are equally
due to Colonel Robert Carr, who furnished him with the letters
to the late William Bartram. The friendship which subsisted
between Wilson and the latter was of the most exalted kind; and
the warm expression of confidence and regard which characterize
these letters, will afford a proof of how much of the writer's hap-
piness was derived from this amiable intercourse. The reader's
obligations to Colonel Carr will not be lessened, when it is sta-

Viii PREFACE.

ted, that the greater part of these interesting epistles were mis-
laid during the latter days of the venerable botanist to whom they
were addressed; and that it was through the care of the above-
mentioned gentleman they were rescued from oblivion.

It will be long ere the lovers of science will cease to deplore
the event, which snatched from us one so eminently gifted for
natural investigations, by his zeal, his industry, his activity, and
his intelligence; one who, after a successful prosecution of his
great undertaking through a series of eventful years, was de-
prived of his merited reward, at the moment when he was about
putting the finishing hand to those labours, which have secured
to him an imperishable renown. " The hand of death," says
Pliny, " is ever, in my estimation, too severe, and too sudden,
when it falls upon such as are employed in some immortal work.
The sons of sensuality, who have no other views beyond the pre-
sent hour, terminate with each day the whole purpose of their
lives; but those who look forward to posterity, and endeavour to
extend their memories to future generations by useful labours; —
to such, death is always immature, as it still snatches them from
amidst some unfinished design."

But although that Being, who so often frustrates human pur-
poses, thought proper, in his wisdom, to terminate the " unfin-
ished design" of our lamented friend, yet were his aspirations
after an honourable distinction in society fully answered. The
poor despised weaver of Paisley takes his rank among the wri-
ters of our country; and after ages shall look up to the Father
of American Ornithology, and bless that Providence, which, by
inscrutable ways, led him to the only spot, perhaps, of the civi-
lized earth, where his extraordinary talents would be encouraged
to develop themselves, and his estimable qualities of heart
would be duly appreciated.

Wilson has proved to us what genius and industry can effect
in despite of obstacles, which men of ordinary abilities would
consider insurmountable. His example will not be disregarded j
and his success will be productive of benefits, the extent of which
cannot now be estimated.

SKETCH

OP

THE AUTHOR'S LIFE.

ALEXANDER WILSON was born in the town of Paisley, in
the west of Scotland, on the sixth day of July, 1766. His fa-
ther, who was also named Alexander, followed the distilling
business ; an humble occupation, which neither allowed him
much time for the improvement of his mind, nor yielded him
much more than the necessaries of life. He was illiterate and
poor; and died on the 5th June, 1816, at the age of eighty-
eight. His mother was a native of Jura, one of the Hebrides
or Western Islands of Scotland. She is said to have been a
woman of delicate health, but of good understanding; and pas-
sionately fond of Scotch music, a taste for which she early in-
culcated on her son; who, in his riper years, cultivated it as
one of the principal amusements of his life. She died when
Alexander was about ten years old, leaving him, and two sis-
ters, to mourn their irreparable loss; a loss which her affec-
tionate son never ceased to deplore, as it deprived him of his
best friend; one who had fostered his infant mind; and who
had looked forward, with fond expectation, to that day,

" When, clad in sable gown, with solemn air,
" The walls of God's own house should echo back his prayer:"

for it appears to have been her wish that he should be edu-
cated for the ministry.

At a school in Paisley, Wilson was taught the common ru-
diments of learning. But what proficiency he made, whether

he was distinguished from his schoolmates or not, my memo-
VOL. i. — B

x LIFE OF WILSON.

rials of his early life do not inform me. It appears that he was
initiated in the elements of the Latin tongue; but having been
removed from school at the age of twelve or thirteen, the
amount of knowledge acquired could not have been great; and
I have reason to believe that he never afterwards resumed the
study. His early productions show that his English education
had not only been greatly circumscribed, but very imperfect
He wrote, as all self-taught authors write, carelessly and incor-
rectly; his sentences, constructed by the ear, often displease
one by their gross violations of the rules of grammar; an essen-
tial part of learning to which he never seriously applied him-
self, until, after his arrival in America, he found it necessary
to qualify himself for an instructor of youth.

Wilson's father, feeling the want of a helper in the govern-
ment of an infant family, again entered into the matrimonial
state. The maiden name of this second wife was Brown.

It was the intention of the father that Alexander should be
educated for a physician; but this design was not relished by
the son, who had, through the impertinent interference of some
persons, imbibed some prejudices against the profession, which
were the cause of the project's being abandoned.

It being the wish of the step-mother that the boy should be
put to a trade, he was accordingly apprenticed to his brother-
in-law, William Duncan, who then resided in Paisley, to learn
the art of weaving. That this determination was the result of
good sense there can be no doubt; the employment had the
tendency to fix a disposition somewhat impetuous and waver-
ing; and the useful knowledge acquired thereby he was ena-
bled, at a subsequent period of life, to turn to account, when
mental exertion, even with superior resources, would have
availed him but little.

The scheme of being taught a trade met with little or no op-
position from the subject of this memoir, his father's house no
longer affording him that pleasure which it had done during
the life .of her who had given him existence. Some difference
ha.d arisen between him and his step-mother; whether from

LITE OF WILSON. x'|

undutiful conduct of his, or harsh treatment of hers, I know
not; but it may be asserted with truth, that she continued an
object of his aversion through life; which was manifest from
the circumstance that, in the many letters which he wrote from
America to his father, he seldom, if ever, mentioned her name.
She is still living, and must, doubtless, feel not a little rejoiced
that her predictions with respect to the " lazy weaver" as
Sandy was termed at home, who, instead of minding his busi-
ness, mispent his time in making verses, were never verified.
But, in justice to her character, we must state, that, if she was
an unkind step-mother, she nevertheless proved herself to be
a faithful and affectionate wife; and supported, by her industry,
her husband when he became, by age and infirmities, incapa-
ble of labour.

At an early period of his life Wilson evinced a strong desire
ibr learning; and this was encouraged by a spirit of emulation
which prevailed among his youthful acquaintance, who, like
himself, happily devoted many of their vacant hours to literary
pursuits. He had free access to a collection of magazines and
essays, which, by some good luck, his father had become pos-
sessed of; and these, as he himself often asserted, " were the
first books that gave him a fondness for reading and reflection."
This remarkable instance of the beneficial tendency of periodi-
cal publications we record with pleasure; and it may be ad-
duced as an argument in favour of affording patronage, in our
young country, to a species of literature so well adapted to the
leisure of a commercial people; and which, since the days of
Addison, has had so powerful an influence on the taste and
morals of the British nation.

Caledonia is fruitful of versemen: every village has its poets;
and so prevalent is the habit of jingling rhymes, that a scholar-
is considered as possessing no taste, if he do not attune the
Scottish lyre to those themes, which the amor patrise, the na-
tional pride of a Scotsman, has identified with his very ex-
istence.

Thnt poetry would attract the regard of Wilson was to be ex-

xii LIFE OP WILSON.

pected; it was the vehicle of sentiments which were in unison
with his sanguine temperament; he had early imbibed a love
of virtue, and it now assumed a romantic cast by assimilation
with the high-wrought efforts of fancy, combined with the me-
lody of song.

After an apprenticeship of about five years, Wilson became
his own master; and, relinquishing the occupation of weaving,
he resolved to gratify his taste for rural scenery, by journey-
ing into the interior of the country, in the capacity of a pedler.
He was now about eighteen, full of ardour and vivacity; had a
constitution capable of great exertion; and a mind which pro-
mised resources amid every difficulty. Having been initiated
in the art of trading, he shouldered his pack, and cheerfully
set out in quest of riches. In a mind of a romantic turn, Scot-
land affords situations abundantly calculated to arouse all those
associations which the sublime and beautiful in nature inspire.
Wilson was an enthusiast; and the charms of those mountains,
vallies, and streams, which had been immortalized in song,
filled his soul with rapture, and incited some of the earliest ef-
forts of his youthful muse.

To him who would accumulate wealth by trade, the muses
must not be propitious. That abstraction of mind from world-
ly concerns which letters require, but ill qualifies one to de-
scend to those arts, which, in order to be successfully prac-
tised, must be the unceasing objects of solicitude and attention.
While the trader was feasting his eyes upon the beauties of a
landscape, or enditing an elegy or a song, the auspicious mo-
ment to drive a bargain was neglected, or some more fortunate
rival was allowed to supplant him. From the habit of survey-
ing the works of nature arose an indifference to the employ-
ment of trading, which became more disgusting at each inter-
view with the muses; and nothing but the dread of poverty in-
duced him to conform to the vulgar avocations of common life.

Burns was now the favourite of the public; and from the un-
exampled success of this humble son of genius, many aspired
io the honours of the laurel, who otherwise would have con-

LIFE OP WILSON. xiii

lined their views of renown to the limited circle of their family
or acquaintance. Among this number may be reckoned our
Wilson; who, believing that he possessed the talent of poetical
expression, ventured to exhibit his essays to his friends, whose
approbation encouraged him to renewed perseverance, in the
hope of emerging from that condition in society which his as-
piring soul could not but disdain.

In consequence of his literary attainments, and correct moral
deportment, he was admitted to the society of several gentle-
men of talents and respectability, who descried in our youth
the promise of eminence. Flattered by attentions, which are
always grateful to the ingenuous mind, he was imboldened to
the purpose of collecting and publishing his poetical attempts;
hoping thereby to secure funds sufficient to enable him to per-
severe in the walks of learning, which, to his glowing fancy,
appeared to be strewed with flowers.

In pursuance of this design he printed proposals; arid, being
" resolved," to adopt his own language, "to make one bold
push for the united interests of Pack and Poems," he once more
vSet out to sell his merchandise, and obtain patronage to his work.

This expedition was unprofitable: he neither advanced his
fortune, nor received the encouragement of many subscriptions.
Fortunate would it have been for him, if, instead of giving
vent to his spleen at the supposed want of discernment of rising
merit, or lack of taste for the effusions of genius, he had per-
mitted himself to be admonished of his imprudence by the in-
difference of the public, and had taken that for an act of friend-
ship, which his wounded feelings did not fail to construe into
contempt.

But in defiance of discouragement he published his volume,
under the title of " Poems, Humorous, Satirical and Serious. "
The writer of this sketch has it now before him; and finds in it
the following remarks, in the hand-writing of the author him-
self: " I published these poems when only twenty -two — an
age more abundant in sail than ballast. Reader, let this
soften the rigor of criticism a little." Dated, " GrayVFerrv.

xiy LIFE OF WILSON.

July 6th, 1804." These poerfis were, in truth, the produc-
tions of a boy, who composed them under the most disadvan-
tageous circumstances. They answered the purpose for which
they were originally intended: to gratify the partiality of
friendship, and alleviate moments of solitude and despondency.
Their author, in his riper years, lamented his rashness in giv-
ing them to the world; and it is to be hoped that no one will
be so officious as to draw them from that obscurity to which
he himself sincerely rejoiced to see them condemned. They
went through two small editions in octavo, the last of which
appeared in 1791. The author reaped no benefit from the
publication.

Mortified at the ill success of his literary undertaking, and
probably with the view of withdrawing himself from associates,
who, instead of advancing, rather tended to retard his studies.
Wilson retired to the little village of Lochwinnoch, situated in
a delightful valley, a few miles from Paisley. In this seques-
tered place he had before resided; and he now resorted to it,
under the pressure of disappointment; and soothed his mind
with the employment of letters; and spent his vacant hours
amid the romantic scenery of a country, which was wrell cal-
culated to captivate one who had devoted himself to the ser-
vice of the muses.

While residing at Lochwinnoch he contributed some short
prose essays to the Bee, a periodical work which was publish-
ed at Edinburgh by Dr. Anderson. Of the merits of these es-
says I cannot speak, as I have never seen them. He also oc-
casionally visited the latter place, to frequent the Pantheon,
wherein a society for debate held their meetings. In this as-
sembly of minor wits he delivered several poetical discourses,
which obtained him considerable applause. The particulars of
these literary peregrinations have been minutely related to
me; but, at this time, I will merely state, that he always per-
formed his journeys on foot; and that his ardour to obtain dis-
tinction, drawing; him away from his profession, the only

OF WILSON. xv

means of procuring subsistence, he was frequently reduced to
the want of the necessaries of life.

Wilson, in common with many, was desirous of becoming
personally acquainted with the poet Burns, who was now in
the zenith of his glory; and an accidental circumstance brought
them together. The interview appeared to be pleasing to
both; and they parted with the intention of continuing their
acquaintance by a correspondence. But this design, though
happily begun, was frustrated by an imprudent act of the for-
mer, who, in a criticism on the tale of Tarn O'Shanter, re-
marked of a certain passage that there was " too much of the
brute" in it. The paragraph alluded to is that which begins
thus:

*' Now Tarn, O Tarn! had tliae been queans."

Burns, in reply, observed: " If ever you write again to so ir-
ritable a creature as a poet, I beg you will use a gentler epithet
than to say there is too much of the brute in any thing he says
or does." Here the correspondence closed.

From Lochwinnoch Wilson returned to Paisley; and again
sought subsistence by mechanical labour. But at this period
the result of the French revolution had become evident by the
wars enkindled on the continent; and their influence on the
manufactures of Great Britain, particularly those of Paisley,
began to be felt. Revolution principles had also crept in
among the artisans, which, superadded to the decline of busi-
ness, were the means of many being thrown out of stated em-
ployment; and the distress of others was not a little aggravated
by exactions which it was supposed neither policy nor justice
ought to have dictated. Hence arose a misunderstanding be-
tween the manufacturers and the weavers, which soon grew
into a controversy, that awakened the zeal of both parties; and
Wilson, incited by principle, as well as interest, remained not
idle on an occasion which seemed to demand the exercise of his
talents for the benefit of the poor and the oppressed.

Among the manufacturers there was one of considerable-
wealth and influence: who had risen from a low origin by a

x^i LIFE OF WILSON.

Concurrence of fortunate circumstances; and who had rendered
Rimself greatly conspicuous by his avarice and knavery. This
obnoxious individual was arraigned in a galling satire, written
in the Scottish dialect; which is well known to be fertile of
terms of sarcasm or reproach. The piece was published ano-
nymously; and, being suited to the taste of the multitude, was
read with eagerness. But the -subject of it, stung to the quick
by the severity of the censure, sought revenge of his conceal-
ed enemy, who, through some unforeseen occurrence, was re-
vealed in the person of Wilson. A prosecution for a libel was
the consequence of the disclosure; and our satirist was sen-
tenced to a short imprisonment, and to burn, with his own
hands, the poem at the public cross in the town of Paisley.
Wilson underwent the sentence of the law, surrounded by his
friends, a gallant and numerous band, who viewed him as a
martyr to the cause of honour and truth; and who, while his
character was exalted in their opinion, failed not to stigma-
tize that of his adversary in all the bitterness of contempt,
The printer, it is said, was fined for his share in the publica-
tion.

In the year 1792, Wilson wrote his characteristic tale of
" Watty and Meg," the last poem which he composed in Scot-
land. It was published without a name; and, possessing con-
siderable merit, was, by many, attributed to Burns. This as-
cription certainly showed a want of discrimination, as this pro-
duction displays none of those felicities of diction, none of that
peculiar intermixture of pathos and humour, which are so con-
spicuous in the writings of Burns. It has obtained more po-
pularity in Scotland than any of the minor essays of our author;
and has been ranked with the best productions of the Scottish
muse.

Cromek, in his sketch of Wilson's life, adverting to the pro-
secution above mentioned, says, that "the remembrance of
this misfortune dwelt upon his mind, and rendered him dis-
satisfied with his country. Another cause of Wilson's dejec-
tion was the rising, fame of Burns, and the indifference of the

UFE OF WILSON.

public to his own productions. He may be said to have envied
the Ayrshire bard, and to this envy may be attributed his best
production, * Watty and Meg,' which he wrote at Edinburgh,
in 1793 (1792.) He sent it to Nielson, printer, at Paisley,
who had suffered by the publication of his former poems. As
it was, by the advice of his friends, published anonymously,
it was generally ascribed to Burns, and went rapidly through
seven or eight editions. Wilson, however, shared no part of
the profits, willing to compensate for the former losses his pub-
lisher had sustained."*

The sketch above mentioned the author of this narrative
showed to Wilson, and the latter told him that the relation was
wanting in correctness. He pointedly denied the charge of
envying the Ayrshire bard, and felt not a little scandalized at
the unworthy imputation. He added, that no one entertained
a more exalted idea of Burns's genius, or rejoiced more at his
merited success, than himself.

Wilson now began to be dissatisfied with his lot. He was
poor, and had no prospect of bettering his condition in his na-
tive country. Having heard flattering accounts of America,
he conceived the design of emigrating thither, and settling in
the United States.

It was some time in the latter part of the year 1793 that the
resolution was formed of forsaking the land of his forefathers.
His eye having been accidentally directed to a newspaper ad-
vertisement, which stated that the American ship Swift would
sail from the port of Belfast, in Ireland, on the first of May
following, with passengers for Philadelphia, he communicated
his scheme, in confidence, to his nephew, William Duncan,
then a lad of sixteen, who consented to become his fellow-tra-
veller in the voyage; and an agreement was entered into of de-
parting in the above mentioned ship.

The next subject of consideration was the procuring of funds:
and as weaving presented the most eligible plan for this pur-
pose, to the loom Wilson applied himself, for four months.

* Cromek's « Select Scottish Soi>gV' vol. 2, p. 214. London, 1810.
VY>L. T. C

xviii LIFE OF WILSON.

with a diligence and economy almost surpassing belief; the
whole of his expenses during this period amounting to less than
one shilling per week.

All matters being finally arranged, he set out on foot for
Port Patrick, whence he embarked for Ireland. On reaching
Belfast it was found that the ship had her complement of pas-
sengers; but, rather than remain, after so much exertion, Wil-
son and his companion consented to sleep upon deck, and, con-
sequently, they were permitted to depart in the ship, which
sailed about the middle of May, and arrived at Newcastle, in
the state of Delaware, on the fourteenth of July, 1794.

We now behold Alexander Wilson in a strange land; with-
out an acquaintance on whose counsels and hospitality he could
rely in that state of uncertainty to which, having no particular
object in view, he was of course subjected; without a single
letter of introduction; and with not a shilling in his pocket*
But every care was forgotten in his transport at finding him-
self in the land of freedom. He had often cast a wishful look
towards the western hemisphere, and his warm fancy had sug-
gested the idea, that among that people only, who maintained
the doctrine of an equality of rights, could political justice be
found. He had become indignant at beholding the influence
of the wealthy converted into the means of oppression ; and had
imputed the wrongs and sufferings of the poor, not to the con-
dition of society, but to the nature and constitution of the go-
vernment. He was now free; and exulted in his release, as a
bird rejoices which escapes from the confinement of the cage.
Impatient to set his foot upon the soil of the New World, he
landed at the town of Newcastle; and, shouldering his fowling-
piece, he directed his steps towards Philadelphia, distant about
thirty-three miles. The writer of this biography has a distinct
recollection of a conversation with Wilson on this part of his

* This is literally true. The money which bore his expenses from New-
castle to Philadelphia was borrowed of a fellow passenger. The same gene-
rous friend, whose name was Oliver, made him subsequently a loan of cash
to enable him to travel into Virginia.

LIFE OF WILSON. xjx

history, wherein he described his sensations on viewing the
first bird that presented itself as he entered the forests of Dela-
ware; it was a red-headed woodpecker, which he shot, and
considered the most beautiful bird he had ever beheld.

On his arrival at Philadelphia, he deliberated upon the most
eligible mode of obtaining a livelihood, to which the state of
his funds urged immediate attention. He made himself known
to a countryman of his, Mr. John Aitken, a copper-plate prin-
ter, who, on being informed of his destitute situation, gave him
employment at this business, at which he continued for a few
weeks; but abandoned it for his trade of weaving, having made
an engagement with Mr. Joshua Sullivan, who resided on the
Penny pack creek, about ten miles north of Philadelphia.

The confinement of the loom did not agree either with Wil-
son's habits or inclinations; and learning that there was consi-
derable encouragement afforded to settlers in Virginia, he mi-
grated thither, and took up his residence near Shepherd's
Town, in that part of the state known by the name of New
Virginia.* Here he again found himself necessitated to enr
gage in the same sedentary occupation; and soon becoming dis-
gusted with the place, he returned to the mansion of his friend,
Mr. Sullivan.

I find from one of his journals, that, in the autumn of the
year 1795, he travelled through the north part of the state of

* The habits of the people with whom Wilson was compelled to asso-
ciate, in this section of the state, it should seem, gave him no satisfaction;
and the life he led added not a little to the chagrin which he suffered on find-
ing himself an alien to those social pleasures which, hitherto, had tended to
sweeten his existence. His letters at this period would, no doubt, afford
some curious particulars, illustrative of his varied life; but none of them have
fallen into my hands. The following extract from some of his manuscript
verses will lead to the conclusion that he did not quit Virginia with regret:

" Farewell to Virginia, to Berkley adieu,
Where, like Jacob, our days have been evil and few!
So few — they seem'd really but one lengthen'd curse;
And so bad — that the Devil only could have sent worse."

XX LIFE OP WILSON.

New Jersey, with an acquaintance, in the capacity of a pedler,
and met with tolerable success.

His diary of this journey is interesting. It was written with
so much care, that one is tempted to conjecture that he spent
more time in literary occupation than in vending his merchan-
dise. It contains observations on the manners of the people;
and remarks on the principal natural productions of New Jer-
sey; with sketches of the most noted indigenous quadrupeds
and birds. In these sketches one is enabled to perceive the
dawning of that talent for description, which was afterwards
revealed with so much lustre.

On his return from this trading adventure, he opened a school
on the Oxford road, about five miles to the north of Frankford,
Pennsylvania, But being dissatisfied with this situation, he
removed to Milestown, and taught in the school-house of that
village. In this latter place he continued for several years ;
and being deficient in the various branches of learning, neces-
sary to qualify him for an instructor of youth, he applied him-
self to study with great diligence; and acquired all his know-
ledge of the mathematics, which was considerable, solely by
his own exertions. To teaching he superadded the vocation
of surveying; and was occasionally employed, by the neigh-
bouring farmers, in this business.

Whilst residing at Milestown, he made a journey, on foot,
to the Genessee country, in the state of New York, for the pur-
pose of visiting his nephew, Mr. William Duncan, who re-
sided upon a small farm, which was their joint property. This
farm they had been enabled to purchase through the assistance
of Mr. Sullivan, the gentleman in whose employ Wilson had
been, as before stated. The object of this purchase, which
some might deem an act of imprudence, in those whose slen-
der funds did not suffice without the aid of a loan, was to pro-
cure an assylum for Mr. Duncan's mother, and her family of
small children, whom poverty and misfortune had, a short
time before, driven to this country. This was somewhat a fa-

LIFE OF WILSON. XXi

1 iguing journey to a pedestrian, who, in the space of twenty-
fight days, travelled nearly eight hundred miles.

The life of Wilson now becomes interesting, as we are ena-
bled, by a selection from his letters, to present him to the rea-
der as his own biographer.

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.*

Milestown, July 1, 1800.
*< Dear Bill,

" I had the pleasure of yours by the hands of Mr. P. this
day; and about fours weeks ago I had another, directed to Mr.
Dobson's care, both of which were as welcome to me as any
thing, but your own self, could be. I am just as you left me,
only my school has been thinner this season than formerly.

" I have had four letters from home, all of which I have an-
swered. Their news are — Dull trade — provisions most exor-
bitantly high — R.'s sister dead — the Seedhills mill burnt to the

ground — and some other things of less consequence.

-x- *****

" I doubt much if stills could be got up in time to do any
thing at the distilling business this winter. Perhaps it might
be a safer way to take them up, in the spring, by the Susque-
hanna. But if you are determined, and think that we should
engage in the business, I shall be able to send them up either
way. P. tells me that his two stills cost about forty pounds.
I want to hear more decisively from you before I determine.
Sooner than live in a country exposed to the ague, I would re-
main where I am.

" 0. comes out to stay with me two months, to learn survey-
ing, algebra, &c. I have been employed in several places about
this summer to survey, and have acquitted myself with credit,
and to my own satisfaction. I should not be afraid to engage
in any job with the instruments I have. * * *

* Mr. Duncan at this time resided upon the farm mentioned above, which
was situated in the township of Ovid, Cayugu County, New York.

xxii LIFE OF WILSON.

" S. continues to increase in bulk, money and respectability;
a continual current of elevenpenny bits pouring in, and but
few running out.

" We are very anxious to hear how you got up; and well
pleased that you played the Horse Jockey so luckily. If you
are fixed in the design of distilling, you will write me, by the
first opportunity, before winter sets in, so that I may arrange
matters in time.

" I have got the schoolhouse enlarged, by contributions
among the neighbours. In summer the school is, in reality,
not much; but in winter, I shall be able to teach with both

pleasure and profit.

******

" When I told R. of his sister's death, ' I expected so,' said
Jamie, f any other news that's curious?' So completely does
long absence blunt the strongest feelings of affection and friend-
ship. May it never be so with you and me, if we should ne-
ver meet again. On my part it is impossible, except God, in
his wrath, should deprive me of my present soul, and animate
me with some other."

Wilson next changed his residence for one in the village
of Bloomfield, New Jersey, where he again opened a school.
But being advised of a more agreeable and lucrative situation,
he solicited, and received, an engagement from the trustees of
Union School, situated in the township of Kingsess or King-
sessing, a short distance from Gray's Ferry, on the river Schuyl-
kill, and about four miles from Philadelphia.

This removal constituted an important era in the life of Wil-
son. His school-house and residence being but a short dis-
tance from Bartram's Botanic Garden, situated on the western
bank of the Schuylkill: a sequestered spot, possessing attrac-
tions of no ordinary kind ; an acquaintance was soon contract-
ed with that venerable naturalist, Mr. William Bartram,*

* The author of " Travels through North and. South Carolina, Georgia,
East and West Florida," &c. This excellent gentleman closed his long- and
useful life on the 22d July, 1823, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.

•

LIFE OF WILSON. xxiii

which grew into an uncommon friendship, and continued with-
out the least abatement until severed by death. Here it was
that Wilson found himself translated, if we may so speak, into
a new existence. He had long been a lover of the works of
Nature, and had derived more happiness from the contempla-
tion of her simple beauties, than from any other source of gra-
tification. But he had hitherto been a mere novice; he was
now about to receive instructions from one, whom the expe-
rience of a long life, spent in travel and rural retirement, had
rendered qualified to teach. Mr. Bartram soon perceived the
bent of his friend's mind, and its congeniality to his own; and
took every pains to encourage him in a study, which, while it
expands the faculties, and purifies the heart, insensibly leads to
the contemplation of the glorious Author of nature himself.
From his youth Wilson had been an observer of the manners
of birds; and since his arrival in America he had found them
objects of uncommon interest; but he had not yet viewed them
with the eye of a naturalist.

Mr. Bartram possessed some works on natural history, par-
ticularly those of Catesby and Edwards. Wilson perused them
attentively; and found himself enabled, even with his slender
stock of information, to detect errors and absurdities into which
these authors had fallen, from a defective mode of studying
nature : a mode, which, while it led them to the repositories of
dried skins and preparations, and to a reliance on hearsay evi-
dence, subjected them to the imputation of ignorance, which
their lives, devoted to the cultivation and promotion of science,
certainly would not justify. Wilson's improvement was now
rapid; and the judicious criticisms which he made on the above-
mentioned authors, gratified his friend and instructor, who re-
doubled his encouraging assistance, in order to further him in
a pursuit for which his genius, now beginning to develop it-
self, was evidently fitted.

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Gray's Ferry , October 30, 1802.
>< Dear Billy,

" I was favoured with your despatches a few hours ago,
through the kindness of Colonel Sullivan, who called on me
for that purpose. I have read and re-read, over and over again,
their contents; and shall devote the remainder of this evening
to reply to you, and the rest of the family, now joint tenants
of the woods. By the arrival of John F. here, in August last,
I received one letter from my brother David, one from Thomas
W. and one for Alexander from David Wilson; and last week
another packet arrived from Belfast, containing one letter from
your father to myself; and to your mother, brother and brother-
in-law, and yourself, one each, all of which I have herewith
sent, and hope they may amuse a leisure hour. F. has been
wofully disappointed in the expectations he had formed of his
uncle. Instead of being able to assist him, he found him in the
depth of poverty; and fast sinking under a severe fever; pro-
bably the arrival of a relation contributed to his recovery; he
is now able to crawl about. F. has had one child born and bu-
ried since his arrival. He weaves with Robertson, but neither
likes the situation nor employment. He is a stout, active and
ingenious fellow, can turn his hand to almost any thing, and
wishes as eagerly to get up to the lakes as ever a saint longed
to get to heaven. He gives a most dismal description of the
situation of the poor people of Scotland in 1800.

" Your letters, so long expected, have at length relieved me
from much anxiety. I am very sorry that your accommoda-
tions are so few, for my sister's sake, and the children's; a fire-
place and comfortable house for the winter must, if possible, be
got up without delay. If masons are not to be had, I would
attempt to raise a temporary one myself, I mean a fire-place —
but surely they may be had, and lime and stones are also at-
tainable by dint of industry. These observations are made not
from any doubts of your doing every thing in your power to
make your mother <as comfortable as possible, and as your means

LIFE OF WILSON. XXV

will enable you, but from- a solicitude for a sister's health, who
has sustained more distress than usual. I know the rude ap-
pearance of the country, and the want of many usual conve-
niences, will for some time affect her spirits; let it be your plea-
sure and study to banish these melancholy moments from her
as much as possible. Whatever inconveniences they may for a
while experience, it was well they left this devoted city. The
fever, that yellow genius of destruction, has sent many poor
mortals to their long homes since you departed; and the gen-
tleman who officiates as steward to the Hospital informed me
yesterday evening that it rages worse this week than at any
former period this season, though the physicians have ceased
reporting. Every kind of business has been at a stand these
three months, but the business of death.

" You intimate your design of coming down next spring.
Alexander seems to have the same intention. How this will be
done, consistent with providing for the family, is not so clear
to me. Let me give my counsel on the subject. You will see
by your father's letters that he cannot be expected before next
July, or August perhaps, a time when you must of necessity be
at home. Your coming down, considering loss of time and
expenses, and calculating what you might do on the farm, or
at the loom, or at other jobs, would not clear you more than
twenty dollars difference, unless you intended to remain here
five or six months, in which time much might be done by you
and Alexander on the place. I am sorry he has been so soon
discouraged with farming. Were my strength but equal to my
spirit, I would abandon my school for ever for such an cmploy-
, ment. Habit will reconcile him to all difficulties. It is more
healthy, more independent and agreeable than to be cooped up
in a subterraneous dungeon, surrounded by gloomy damps, and
breathing an unwholesome air from morning to night, shut out
from Nature's fairest scenes and the pure air of heaven. When
necessity demands such a seclusion, it is noble to obey; but
when we are left to choice, who would bury themselves alive?
It is only in winter that I would recommend the loom to both

VOL I. D

xxvi LIFE OF WILSON.

of you. In the month of March next I shall, if well, be able
to command two hundred dollars cash once more. Nothing
stands between me and this but health, and that I hope will con-
tinue at least till then. You may then direct as to the disposal
of this money — I shall freely and cheerfully yield the whole to
your management. Another quarter will enable me to settle
John M.'s account, about the time it will be due; and, instead
of wandering in search of employment five or six hundred
miles for a few dollars, I would beg of you both to unite in put-
ting the place and house in as good order as possible. But Al-
exander can get nothing but wheat and butter for this flagging
and slashing! Never mind, my dear namesake, put up awhile
with the rough fare and rough clothing of the country. Let us
only get the place in good order and you shall be no loser by
it. Next summer I will assuredly come up along with your fa-
ther and George, if he comes as I expect he will, and every
thing shall flourish.

"My dear friend and nephew, I wish you could find a lei-
sure hour in the evening to give the children, particularly Mary,
some instruction in reading, and Alexander in writing and ac-
counts. Don't be discouraged though they make but slow pro-
gress in both, but persevere a little every evening. I think you
can hardly employ an hour at night to better purpose. And
make James read every convenient opportunity. If I live to
come up beside you, I shall take that burden off your shoulders.
Be the constant friend and counsellor of your little colony, to
assist them in their difficulties, encourage them in their despon-
dencies, to make them as happy as circumstances will enable
you. A mother, brothers and sisters, in a foreign country,, look-,
ing up to you as their best friend and supporter, places you in
a dignified point of view. The future remembrance of your
kind duty to them now, will, in the hour of your own distress,
be as a healing angel of peace to your mind. Do every thing
possible to make your house comfortable — fortify the garrison
in every point — stop every crevice that may let in that chilling
devil, the roaring blustering northwest — heap up fires big

LIFE OF WILSON. Xxvii

enough for an Indian war-feast — keep the flour-barrel full — bake
loaves like Hamles Head* — make the loom thunder, and the
pot boil; and your snug little cabin re-echo nothing but sounds
of domestic felicity. I will write you the moment I hear of
George. I shall do every thing I have said to you, and never
lose sight of the eighteenth of March ; for which purpose I shall
keep night school this winter, and retain every farthing but
what necessity requires — depend upon me. These are the out-
lines of my plan. If health stand it, all will be well; if not,
we cannot help it. Ruminate on all this, and consult together.
If you still think of coming down, I hope you would not hesi-
tate for a moment to make my neighbourhood your home. If
you come I shall be happy to have you once more beside me.
If you resolve to stay on the farm, and put things in order as
far as possible, I will think you have done what you thought
best. But I forget that my paper is done.

"Robb, Orr, &c. have escaped as yet from the pestilence;
but Robb's three children have all had the ague. Rabby Rowan
has gone to Davie's Locker at last: he died in the West Indies.
My brother David talks of coming to America, and my father,
poor old man, would be happy to be with you, rough and un-
comfortable as your situation at present is. As soon as I finish
this I shall write to your mother and Alexander. There is a
letter for John M., which he is requested to answer by his fa-
ther-in-law. I hope John will set a firm resolute heart to the
undertaking, and plant a posterity in that rich, western coun-
try, to perpetuate his name for ever. Thousands here would
rejoice to be in his situation. How happy may you live thus
united together in a free and plentiful country, after so many
years of painful separation, where the bare necessaries of life
were all that incessant drudgery could procure, and even that
but barely. Should even sickness visit you, which God forbid,
each of you is surrounded by almost all the friends you have in
the world, to nurse you, and pity and console you; and surely
it is not the least sad comfort of a death bed, to be attended by
* The name of a rock near Paisley.

xxyiii LIFE OF WILSON.

affectionate relatives. Write me positively by post, two or three
times. My best love to my sister, to Isabella, Alexander, John,
the two Maries, James, Jeany, little Annie. God Almighty
bless you all.

" Your ever affectionate friend,

" ALEX. WILSON."

TO ALEXANDER DUNCAN.

October 31, 1802,
" Dear Alexander,

" I have laughed on every perusal of your letter. I have
now deciphered the whole, except the blots, but I fancy they
are only by the way of half mourning for your doleful capti-
vity in the back woods, where there is nothing but wheat and
butter, eggs and gammon, for hagging down trees. Deplora-
ble! what must be done? It is a good place, you say, for a man
who has a parcel of weans!

" But forgive this joking. I thank you, most heartily, for
this your first letter to me; and I hope you will follow it up
with many more. I shall always reply to them with real plea-
sure. I am glad that your chief objection to the country is
want of money. No place is without its inconveniences. Want
of the necessaries of life would be a much greater grievance.
If you can, in your present situation, procure sufficient of these,
though attended with particular disadvantages, I would recom-
mend you to persevere where you are. I would wish you and
William to give your joint labours to putting the place in as
good order as possible. A farm of such land, in good cultiva-
tion, is highly valuable; it will repay all the labour bestowed
upon it a hundred fold; and contains within it all the powers
of plenty and independence These it only requires industry
to bring forth, and a Small stock of money to begin with. The
money I doubt not of being able to procure, next summer, for
a year or two, on interest, independent of two hundred dol-
lars of my own, which I hope to possess on or before the mid-
dle of March next C. S. is very much attached to both your

LIFE OF WILSON. xxix

brother and me; and has the means in his power to assist us —
and I know he will. In the mean time, if you and William
unite in the undertaking, I promise you as far as I am concern-
ed, to make it the best plan you could pursue.

" Accustom yourself, as much as you can, to working out.
Don't despise flagging down trees. It is hard work, no doubt;
but taken moderately, it strengthens the whole sinews; and is
a manly and independent employment. An old weaver is a
poor, emaciated, helpless being, shivering over rotten yarn,
and groaning over his empty flour barrel. An old farmer sits
in his arm chair before his jolly fire, while his joists are crowd-
ed with hung beef and gammons, and the bounties of Heaven
are pouring into his barns. Even the article of health is a con-
sideration sufficient to make a young man prefer the labours of
the field: for health is certainly the first enjoyment of human
life. But perhaps weaving holds out advantages that farming
does not. Then blend the two together; weave in the depth
of winter, and work out the rest of the year. We will have
it in our power, before next winter, to have a shop, looms, &c.
provided. Consider all I have said, and if I have a wrong
view of the subject, form your own plans, and write me with-
out delay."

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Gray's Ferry, December 23, 1802.

" The two Mr. Purdies popped into my school, this after-
noon, as unexpected as they were welcome, with news from
the promised land. I shall detain them with me all night, on
purpose to have an opportunity of writing you a few lines. I
am glad you are all well. I hope that this is the last devilish
slough of despond which you will have to struggle in for some
time. I will do all that I said to you, in my last, by the mid-
dle of March; so let care and sorrow be forgotten; and indus-
try, hope, good-humour and economy, be your bosom friends.
******

" I succeed tolerably well; and seem to gain in the esteem

XXX LIFE OF WILSON.

of the people about. I am glad of it, because I hope it will
put it in my power to clear the road a little before you, and ba-
nish despondence from the heart of my dearest friend. Be as-
sured that I will ever as cheerfully contribute to your relief in
difficulties, as I will rejoice with you in prosperity. But we
have nothing to fear. One hundred bushels of wheat, to be
sure, is no great marketing; but has it not been expended in
the support of a mother, and infant brothers and sisters, thrown
upon your bounty in a foreign country? Robert Burns, when
the mice nibbled away his corn, said:

" I'll get a blessin wij the lave,

And never miss *t."

" Where he expected one, you may a thousand. Robin, by
his own confession, ploughed up his mice out of ha? and
hame. You have built for your little wanderers a cozie bield,
where none dare molest them. There is more true greatness
in the affectionate exertions which you have made for their
subsistence and support, than the bloody catalogue of heroes
can boast of. Your own heart will speak peace and satisfaction
to you, to the last moment of your life, for every anxiety you
have felt on their account. Colonel Sullivan talks with pride
and affection of you.

" I wish Alexander had written me a few lines of the old
German text. I laugh every time I look at his last letter: its
a perfect antidote against the spleen. Well, Alexander, which
is the best fun, handling the shuttle, or the ax? When John
M. comes down, write me largely. And, dear sister, let me
hear from you also. * *

" I would beg leave to suggest to you the propriety of teach-
ing the children to behave with good manners, and dutiful re-
spect, to yourself, each other, and every body.

" You must excuse me for any thing I may have said amiss,
or any thing I may have omitted to mention. I am, with sin-
cere attachment, your affectionate friend."

The foregoing letters place the character of Wilson in the

LIFE OF WILSON. xxxi

most amiable point of view; and they entirely supersede any
remarks which I might make upon those social affections that
distinguished him through life.

In his new situation Wilson had many enjoyments; but he
had likewise moments of despondency, which solitude tended
to confirm. He had addicted himself to the writing of verses,
and to music; and, being of a musing turn of mind, had given
way to those seductive feelings, which the charming scenery
of the country, in a sensible heart, never fails to awaken. This
was a fatal bias, which all his efforts could not counteract or
remove. His acquaintance perceived the danger of his state;
and one in whose friendship he had placed strong reliance, and
to whom he had freely unburthened himself, Mr. Lawson, the
engraver, entertained apprehensions for the soundness of his
intellect.* There was one subject which contributed not a lit-
tle to increase his mental gloom, and this was the considera-
tion of the life of penury and dependence to which he seemed
destined as the teacher of a country school. Mr. Lawson im-
mediately recommended the renouncing of poetry and the
flute, and the substituting of the amusement of drawing in their
stead, as being most likely to restore the balance of his mind;
and as an employment well adapted to one of his recluse habits
and inclinations. To this end, sketches of the human figure,
and landscapes, were provided for him; but his attempts were
so unpromising that he threw them aside with disgust; and
concluded that one at his period of life could never succeed in

* The following incident was communicated to me by Colonel Carr, who
had it from Wilson himself. While the latter laboured under great depres-
sion of spirits, in order to sooth his mind he one day rambled with his gun.
The piece by accident slipped from his hand, and, in making- an effort to re-
gain it, the lock was cocked. At that moment had the gun gone off, it Is
more than probable that he would have lost his life, as the muzzle was oppo-
site to his breast. When Wilson reflected on the danger which he had es-
caped, he shuddered at the idea of the imputation of suicide, which a fatal
occurrence, to one in his frame of mind, would have occasioned. There is
room to conjecture that many have accidentally met their end, whose me-
mories have been sullied by the alleged crime of self murder.

xxxii LIFE OF WILSON.

the art of delineation. Mr. Bartram now advised a trial at
birds; and being tolerably skilful himself, exhibited his port-
folio, which was graced with many specimens from his own
hands. The attempt was made, and succeeded beyond the ex-
pectation of Wilson, or that of his friends. There was a ma-
gic in the employment which aroused all the energies of his
soul ; he saw, as it were, the day spring of a new creation ; and,
from being the humble follower of his instructors, he was soon
qualified to lead the way in the charming art of imitating the
works of the GREAT ORIGINAL.

That Wilson likewise undertook the task of delineating flow-
ers, appears from the following note to Mr. Bartram, dated
Nov. 20th, 1803:

" I have attempted two of those prints which Miss Nancy*
so obligingly, and with so much honour to her own taste, se-
lected for me. I was quite delighted with the anemone, but
fear I have made but bungling work of it. Such as they are I
send them for your inspection and opinion; neither of them is
quite finished. For your kind advice towards my improvement
I return my most grateful acknowledgments.

" The duties of my profession will not admit me to apply to
this study with the assiduity and perseverance I could wish.
Chief part of what I do is sketched by candle-light; and for this
I am obliged to sacrifice the pleasures of social life, and the
agreeable moments which I might enjoy in company with you
and your amiable friend. I shall finish the other some time this
week; and shall be happy if what I have done merit your ap-
probation."

As Wilson advanced in drawing, he made corresponding pro-
gress in the knowledge of Ornithology. He had perused the
works of some of the naturalists of Europe, who had written
on the subject of the birds of America, and became so disgust-
ed with their caricatured figures, fanciful theories, fables and
misrepresentations, that on turning, as he himself observes,
from these barren and musty records to the magnificent repo-
* Mr. Barlram's niece, now the consort of Col. Carr.

LIFE OF WILSON. xxxiii

sitory of the woods and fields — the Grand Jlviary of Nature,
his delight bordered on adoration. It was not in the inventions
of man that the DIVINE WISDOM could be traced; but it was
visible in the volume of creation, wherein are inscribed the
AUTHOR'S lessons of goodness and love, in the conformation,
the habitudes, melody and migrations, of the feathered tribes,
that beautiful portion of the work of his hands.

To invite the attention of his fellow-citizens to a study, at-
tended with so much pleasure and improvement, was the natu-
ral wish of one who had been educated in the School of Wis-
dom. He humbly thought it would not be rendering an unac-
ceptable service to the GREAT MASTER OF CREATION himself,
to derive from objects that every where present themselves in
our rural walks, not only amusement and instruction, but the
highest incitements to piety and virtue. Moreover, self-grati-
fication, that source of so many of our virtuous actions, had its
share in urging him to communicate his observations to others *
He examined the strength of his mind, and its resources; the
undertaking seemed hazardous; he pondered it for a long while
before he ventured to mention it to his friends. At length the
subject was made known to Mr. Bartram, who freely express-
ed his confidence in the abilities and acquirements of Wilson;
but, from a knowledge of the situation and circumstances of
the latter, hinted his fears that the difficulties which stood in
the way of such an enterprise were almost too great to be over-
come. Wilson was not easily intimidated; the very mention
of difficulties suggested to his mind the means of surmounting
them, and the glory which would accrue from such an achieve-
ment. He had a ready answer to every objection of his cau-
tious friend; and evinced such enthusiasm, that Mr. Bartram
trembled lest his intemperate zeal should lead him into a situa-
tion, from the embarrassments of which he could not well be
extricated.

The scheme was unfolded to Mr. Lawson, and met with his
cordial approbation. But he observed that there were several

* Introduction to vol. i.
VOL. I. — E

XXxiv LIFE OF WILSON.

considerations which should have their weight, in determining
in an affair of so much importance. These were frankly stated ;
and followed by advice, which did not quadrate with the tempe-
rament of Wilson ; who, vexed that his friend would not enter
into his feelings, expressed his scorn of the maxims of pru-
dence with which he was assailed, by styling them the offspring
of a cold, calculating, selfish philosophy. Under date of
March 12th, 1804, he thus writes to the last named gentleman;
" I dare say you begin to think me very ungenerous and un-
friendly in not seeing you for so long a time. I will simply
state the cause, and I know you will excuse me. Six days in
one week I have no more time than just to swallow my meals,
and return to my Sanctum Sanctorum. Five days of the
following week are occupied in the same routine ofpedagogu-
ing matters; and the other two are sacrificed to that itch for
drawing, which I caught from your honourable self, I never
was more wishful to spend an afternoon with you. In three
weeks I shall have a few days vacancy, and mean to be in
town chief part of the time. I am most earnestly bent on pur-
suing my plan of making a collection of all the birds in this
part of North America. Now I don't want you to throw cold
water, as Shakspeare says, on this notion, Quixotic as it may
appear. I have been so long accustomed to the building of
airy castles and brain windmills, that it has become one of my
earthly comforts, a sort of a rough bone, that amuses me when
sated with the dull drudgery of life."

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Marc/129, 1804.

" Three months have passed away since I had the pleasure
of seeing you; and three dark and heavy months they have
been to your family. My heart has shared in your distress,
and sincerely sympathises with you for the loss you have sus-
tained. But Time, the great curer of every grief, will gradu-
ally heal those wounds which Misfortune has inflicted; and

LIFE OF WILSON. XXXV

many years of tranquillity and happiness are, I sincerely hope,
reserved for you.

" I have been prevented from seeing you so long by the hur-
ry of a crowded school, which occupied all my hours of day-
light, and frequently half the others. The next quarter will
leave me time enough ; and, as there is no man living in whose
company I have more real satisfaction, I hope you will pardon
me if I now and then steal a little of your leisure.

" I send for your amusement a few attempts at some of our
indigenous birds, hoping that your good nature will excuse
their deficiencies, while you point them out to me. I intended
to be the bearer of them myself, but having so many little ac-
counts to draw up before to morrow, I am compelled to plead
this as my excuse. I am almost ashamed to send you these
drawings; but I know your generous disposition will induce
you to encourage one in whom you perceive a sincere and ea-
ger wish to do well. They were chiefly coloured by candle-
light.

" I have now got my collection of native birds considerably
enlarged; and shall endeavour, if possible, to obtain all the
smaller ones this summer. Be pleased to mark on the draw-
ings, with a pencil, the names of each bird, as, except three or
four, I do not know them. I shall be extremely obliged to you
for every hint that will assist me in this agreeable amusement.

" I am very anxious to see the performances of your fair pu-
pil; and beg you would assure her from me that any of the
birds I have are heartily at her service. Surely Nature is pre-
ferable, to copy after, to the works of the best masters, though
perhaps more difficult; for I declare that the face of an owl,
and the back of a lark, have put me to a nonplus; and if Miss
Nancy will be so obliging as to try her hand on the last men-
tioned, I will furnish her with one in good order; and will
copy her drawing with the greatest pleasure; having spent al-
most a week on two different ones, and afterwards destroyed
them both, and got nearly in the slough of despond."

XXX vi LIFE OF WILSON.

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Kingsessing, March, 31, 1804.

"I take the first few moments I have had since receiving
your letter, to thank you for your obliging attention to my lit-
tle attempts at drawing; and for the very affectionate expres-
sions of esteem with which you honour me. But sorry 1 am,
indeed, that afflictions so severe, as those you mention, should
fall where so much worth and sensibility reside, while the pro-
fligate, the unthinking and unfeeling, so frequently pass
through life, strangers to sickness, adversity or suffering. But
God visits those with distress whose enjoyments he wishes to
render more exquisite. The storms of affliction do not last for
ever; and sweet is the serene air, and warm sunshine, after a
day of darkness and tempest. Our friend has, indeed, passed
away, in the bloom of youth and expectation ; but nothing has
happened but what almost every day's experience teaches us to
expect. How many millions of beautiful flowers have flourished
and faded under your eye; and how often has the whole profu-
sion of blossoms, the hopes of a whole year, been blasted by an
untimely frost. He has gone only a little before us; we must
soon follow; but while the feelings of nature cannot be repress-
ed, it is our duty to bow with humble resignation to the deci-
sions of the great Father of all, rather receiving with gratitude
the blessings he is pleased to bestow, than repining at the loss
of those he thinks proper to take from us. But allow me, my
dear friend, to withdraw your thoughts from so melancholy a
subject, since the best way to avoid the force of any overpower-
ing passion, is to turn its direction another way.

"That lovely season is now approaching, when the garden,
woods and fields, will again display their foliage and flowers.
Every day we may expect strangers, flocking from the south,
to fill our woods with harmony. The pencil of Nature is now
at work, and outlines, tints, and gradations of lights and shades, .
that baffle all description, will soon be spread before us by that
great master, our most benevolent friend and father. Let us

LIFE OF WILSON. xxxvii

cheerfully participate in the feast he is preparing for all our
senses. Let us survey those millions of green strangers, just
peeping into day, as so many happy messengers come to pro-
claim the power and munificence of the Creator. I confess that
I was always an enthusiast in my admiration of the rural sce-
nery of Nature; but, since your example and encouragement
have set me to attempt to imitate her productions, I see new
beauties in every bird, plant or flower, I contemplate; and find
my ideas of the incomprehensible first cause still more exalted,
the more minutely I examine his works.

"I sometimes smile to think that while others are immers-
ed in deep schemes of speculation and aggrandizement — in
building towns and purchasing plantations, I am entranced in
contemplation over the plumage of a lark, or gazing like a de-
spairing lover, on the lineaments of an owl. While others are
hoarding up their bags of money, without the power of enjoy-
ing it, I am collecting, without injuring my conscience, or
wounding my peace of mind, those beautiful specimens of Na-
ture's works that are for ever pleasing. I have had live crows,
hawks and owls — opossums, squirrels, snakes, lizards, &c., so
that my room has sometimes reminded me of Noah's ark; but
Noah had a wife in one corner of it, and in this particular our
parallel does not altogether tally. I receive every subject of na-
tural history that is brought to me, and though they do not
march into my ark, from all quarters, as they did into that of
our great ancestor, yet I find means, by the distribution of a
few five penny bits, to make them find the way fast enough.
A boy, not long ago, brought me a large basket full of crows.
I expect his next load will be bull-frogs, if I don't soon issue or-
ders to the contrary. One of my boys caught a mouse in school,
a few days ago, and directly marched up to me with his pri-
soner. I set about drawing it that same evening, and all the
while the pantings of its little heart showed it to be in the most
extreme agonies of fear. I had intended to kill it, in order to
fix it in the claws of a stuffed owl, but happening to spill a few
drops of water near where it was tied, it lapped it up with such

XXXviii LIFE OF WILSON.

eagerness, and looked in my face with such an eye of supplica-
ting terror, as perfectly overcame me. I immediately untied it,
and restored it to life and liberty. The agonies of a prisoner at
the stake, while the fire and instruments of torment are prepa-
ring, could not be more severe than the sufferings of that poor
mouse; and, insignificant as the object was, I felt at that mo-
ment the sweet sensations that mercy leaves on the mind when
she triumphs over cruelty.

"My dear friend, you see I take the liberty of an old ac-
quaintance with you, in thus trifling with your time. You have
already raised me out of the slough of despond, by the hopes of
your agreeable conversation, and that of your amiable pupil.
Nobody, I am sure, rejoices more in her acquisition of the beau-
tiful accomplishment of drawing than myself. I hope she will
persevere. I am persuaded that any pains you bestow on her
will be rewarded beyond your expectations. Besides, it will be
a new link in that chain of friendship and consanguinity by
which you are already united; though I fear it will be a power-
ful addition to that attraction which was fully sufficient before,
to make even a virtuoso quit his owls and opossums, and think
of something else."

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

May 21, 1804.

" I send you a few more imitations of birds for your opinion,
which I value beyond that of any body else, though I am seri-
ously apprehensive that I am troublesome. These are the last
I shall draw for some time, as the employment consumes every
leisure moment, leaving nothing for friendship, or those rural
recreations which I so much delight in. Even poetry, whose
heavenly enthusiasm I used to glory in, can hardly ever find
me at home, so much has this bewitching amusement engrossed
all my senses.

" Please to send me the names of the birds. I wish to draw
a small flower, in order to represent the Humming-bird in the
act of feeding: will you be so good as to send me one suitable,

LIFE OF WILSON. xxxix

and not too large? The legs and feet of some are unfinished;
they are all miserably imperfect, but your generous candour I
know to be beyond all their defects."

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

June 15, 1804.

" I have arranged my business for/mr little journey; and, if
to-morrow be fair, I shall have the chaise ready for you at any
time in the morning, say seven o'clock. Or if you think any
other hour more suitable, please to let me know by the bearer,
and I shall make it answerable to me."

June 16, 1804.

" I believe we had better put off our intended jaunt until
some more auspicious day.

" Clouds, from Eastern regions driven,
Still obscure the gloomy skies;
Let us yield, since angry Heaven
Frowns upon our enterprise.

" Haply some unseen disaster
Hung impending o'er our way,
Which our kind Almighty Master
Saw, and sought us thus to stay.

" By and by, when fair Aurora
Bids the drowsy fogs to fly,
And the glorious god of Flora
Rises in a cloudless sky,

" Then, in whirling chariot seated,
With my friend I'll gladly go:
With his converse richly treated —
Happy to be honoured so."

The inconveniences of his situation, as teacher of a country
school, determined Wilson to endeavour after some employ-
ment more congenial to his disposition; and that would enable
him to attain to that distinction, as a scholar, which he was
anxious to merit. He consequently directed his views to the
"Literary Magazine," conducted by C. B. Brown, a monthly

xl LIFE OF WILSON.

publication of some note, as a suitable vehicle for the diffusion
of those productions which he hoped would arrest the attention
of the public. In this magazine appeared his " Rural Walk,"
and his " Solitary Tutor;" but it does not appear that their au-
thor received any other reward for his well-meant endeavours
than the thanks of the publisher. He was flattered, it is true,
by a republication, in the Port Folio, of the " Rural Walk,"
with some " commendations of its beauties;" but I must con-
fess that my perspicacity has not enabled me to detect them.

The then editor of the Port Folio, Mr. Dennie, enjoyed the
reputation of being a man of taste and judgment; and the major
part of his selections should seem to prove that his character,
in these respects, was well founded. But with regard to the
poem in question, I am totally at a loss to discover by what
principles of criticism he judged it, seeing that his opinion of
it will by no means accord with mine. The initial stanza, which
is not an unfair specimen of the whole, runs thus:

" The summer sun was riding high,
The woods in deepest verdure drest;
From care and clouds of dust to fly,
Across yon bubbling- brook I past."

The reader of classical poetry may well pardon me if, out of
an effusion consisting of forty-four stanzas, I save him the task
of perusing any more than one.

TO MR. LAWSON.

Gray's Ferry, August 14, 1804.
" Dear Sir,

"Enclosed is a copy of the "Solitary Tutor," which I
should like to see in the " Literary Magazine" of this month,
along with the other poem which I sent the editor last week.
Wishing, for my future benefit, to call the public attention to
these pieces, if, in the editor's opinion, they should seem worthy
of it, I must request the favour of you to converse with him on
this subject. You know the numerous pieces I am in possession
of, would put it in my power to support tolerably well any re-

LIFE OF WILSON. xli

commendation he might bestow on these ; and while they would
not, I trust, disgrace the pages of his valuable publication, they
might serve as my introduction to the literary world, and as a
sort of inspiration to some future and more finished attempts.
Knowing that you will freely pardon the quantum of vanity
that suggested these hints,

(< I remain, with real regard, &c."

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Union School, September 17, 1804.

" The second volume of Pinkerton's Geography has at length
made its appearance; and I take the freedom of transmitting it,
and the atlas, for your amusement. To condemn so extensive
a work before a re-perusal, or without taking into consideration
all the difficulties that were to be surmounted, is, perhaps, not
altogether fair. Yet we almost always form our judgment from
the first impressions, and this judgment is very seldom relin-
quished. You will, therefore, excuse me if I give you some
of the impressions made on myself by a cursory perusal.

" Taking it all in all, it is certainly the best treatise on the
subject hitherto published; though had the author extended his
plan, and, instead of two, given us four volumes, it would not
frequently have laid him under the necessity of disappointing
his reader by the bare mention of things that required greater
illustration; and of compressing the natural history of whole
regions into half a page. Only thirty-four pages allotted to
the whole United States ! This is brevity with a vengeance. I
had indeed expected from the exertions of Dr. Barton, as com-
plete an account of the natural history of this part of the world
as his means of information, and the limits of the work, would
admit. I have been miserably disappointed; and you will par-
don me when I say that his omitting entirely the least reference
to your researches in Botany and Zoology, and seeming so so-
licitous to let us know of his own productions, bespeak a nar-
rowness of mind, and self consequence, which are truly despi-
cable. Every one acquainted with you both,, would have con-

VOL. i. — F

xlii LIFE OF WILSON.

fidently trusted that he would rejoice in the opportunity of
making the world better acquainted with a man whose works
show such a minute and intimate knowledge of these sub-
jects; and from whom he had received so much information.
But no — not even the slightest allusion, lest posterity might
discover that there existed, at this time, in the United States, a
naturalist of information superior to his. My dear sir, I am a
Scotchman, and don't love my friends with that cold selfish
prudence which I see in some; and if I offend in thus speaking
from the fulness of my heart, I know you will forgive me.

"Pinkerton has, indeed, furnished us with many curious
particulars unknown, or, at least, unnoticed, by all former geo-
graphers; and also with other items long since exploded as fa-
bulous and ridiculous; such is his account of the Upas or poi-
sonous tree; and of children having been lost in some of our
American swamps, and of being seen many years afterwards,
in a wild savage state ! But he very gravely tells his readers
that the people of Scotland eat little or no pork from a prejudice
which they entertain against swine, the Devil having taken
possession of some of them two thousand years ago ! What an
enlightened people these Scots must be; and what a delicate
taste they must be possessed of! Yet I have traversed nearly
three-fourths of that country, and mixed much with the com-
mon people, and never heard of such an objection before. Had
the learned author told his readers that, until late years, Scot-
land, though abounding in rich pastures, even to its mountain
tops, was yet but poorly productive in grain, fruit, &c. the usu-
al food of hogs, and that on this account innumerable herds of
sheep, horses and cattle were raised, and but very little pork,
he would then have stated the simple facts; and not subjected
himself to the laughter of every native of that part of Britain.

"As. to the pretended antipathy of the Scots to eels, because
they resemble snakes, it is equally ridiculous and improbable;
ninety-nine out of a hundred of the natives never saw a snake
in their lives. The fact is, it is as usual to eat eels in Scotland,
where they can be got, as it is in America; and although I have

LIFE OF WILSON. xliii

frequently heard such objections made to the eating of eels here,
where snakes are so common, yet I do not remember to have
heard the comparison made in Scotland. I have taken notice
of these two observations of his, because they are applied gen-
erally to the Scots, making them appear a weak squeamish-
stomached set of beings, infected with all the prejudices and
antipathies of children.

il These are some of my objections to this work, which, how-
ever, in other respects, does honour to the talents, learning,
and industry of the compiler."

In the month of October, 1804, Wilson, accompanied with
two of his friends, set out on a pedestrian journey to visit the
far-famed cataract of Niagara, whereof he had heard much, but
which he had never had an opportunity of beholding. The pic-
turesque scenery of that beautiful river, the vastness and sub-
limity of the cataract, as might be expected, filled the bosom
of our traveller with the most rapturous emotions. And he ever
after declared, that no language was sufficiently comprehensive
to convey an adequate idea of that wonderful curiosity.

On the return of Wilson, he employed his leisure moments
in writing a poetical narrative of the journey. This poem,
which contains some interesting description, and pleasing im-
agery, is entitled " THE FORESTERS;" and was gratuitously
tendered to the proprietors of the Port Folio, and published in
that excellent miscellany, in the years 1809 — 10.

This expedition was undertaken rather too late in the season,
and, consequently, our travellers were subjected to hardships
of which they were not aware. Winter overtook them whilst
in the Genessee country, in their return by the way of Albany;
and they were compelled to trudge, the greater part of the route,
through snow midleg deep.

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Gray's Ferry, December 1 5th, 1804.

"Though now snug at home, looking back in recollection
on the long, circuitous, journey which I have at length finished,

xliv LIFE OF WILSON.

through deep snows, and almost uninhabited forests; over stu-
pendous mountains, and down dangerous rivers: passing over,
in a course of thirteen hundred miles, as great a variety of men
and modes of living, as the same extent of country can exhibit
in any part of the United States — though in this tour I have
had every disadvantage of deep roads and rough weather; hur-
ried marches, and many other inconveniences to encounter, —
yet so far am I from being satisfied with what I have seen, or
discouraged by the fatigues which every traveller must submit
to, that I feel more eager than ever to commence some more
extensive expedition; where scenes and subjects entirely new,
and generally unknown, might reward my curiosity; and where
perhaps my humble acquisitions might add something to the
stores of knowledge. For all the hazards and privations inci-
dent to such an undertaking, I feel confident in my own spirit
and resolution. With no family to enchain my affections; no
ties but those of friendship; and the most ardent love of my
adopted country — with a constitution which hardens amidst
fatigues; and a disposition sociable and open, which can find it-
self at home by an Indian fire in the depth of the woods, as
well as in the best apartment of the civilized; I have at present
a real design of becoming a traveller. But I am miserably de-
ficient in many acquirements absolutely necessary for such a
character. Botany, Mineralogy, and Drawing, I most ardent-
ly wish to be instructed in, and with these I should fear no-
thing. Can I yet make any progress in Botany, sufficient to
enable me to be useful, and what would be the most proper
way to proceed? I have many leisure moments that should be
devoted to this pursuit, provided I could have hopes of suc-
ceeding. Your opinion on this subject will confer an additional
obligation on your affectionate friend.5'

It is worthy of remark, that when men of uncommon talents
conceive any great scheme, they usually overlook those cir-
cumstances of minor importance, which ordinary minds would
estimate as first deserving attention. Thus Wilson, with an
intellect expanded with information, and still grasping at fur-

LIFE OF WILSON. xlv

ther improvement as a means of distinction, would fain become
a traveller, even at the very moment when the sum total of his
funds amounted to seventy-five cents!

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Gray's Ferry, December 24, 1804.

" You have no doubt looked for this letter long ago, but 1
wanted to see how matters would finally settle with respect to
my school before I wrote; they remain, however, as uncertain
as before; and this quarter will do little more than defray my
board and firewood. Comfortable intelligence truly, methinks
I hear you say; but no matter. * * * *

" I shall begin where you and I left off our story, viz. at
Aurora, on the shores of the Cayuga.* The evening of that
day, Issac and I lodged at the outlet of Owasco Lake, on the
turnpike, seven or eight miles from Cayuga bridge; we waded
into the stream, washed our boots and pantaloons, and walked
up to a contemptible dram-shop, where, taking possession of
one side of the fire, we sat deafened with the noise and hubbub
of a parcel of drunk tradesmen. At five next morning we
started; it had frozen; and the road was in many places deep
and slippery. I insensibly got into a hard step of walking;
Isaac kept groaning a rod or so behind, though I carried his
gun. * * * We set off again; and we stopped at the out-
let of Skaneateles Lake; ate some pork-blubber and bread; and
departed. At about two in the afternoon we passed Onondaga
Hollow, and lodged in Manlius square, a village of thirty
houses, that have risen like mushrooms in two or three years;
having walked this day thirty-four miles. On the morning of
the 22d we started as usual by five — road rough — and Isaac
grunting and lagging behind. This day we were joined by
another young traveller, returning home to his father's on the
Mohawk; he had a pocket bottle, and made frequent and long
applications of it to his lips. The road this day bad, and the
snow deeper than before. Passing through Oneida castle, I vi-

* Mn Duncan remained among his friends at Aurora,

xlvi LIFE OF WILSON.

sited every house within three hundred yards of the road, and
chatted to the copper-coloured tribe. In the evening we lodged
at Lard's tavern, within eleven miles of Utica, the roads de-
plorably bad, and Isaac and his disconsolate companion groan-
ing at every step behind me, so that, as drummers do in battle,
I was frequently obliged to keep before, and sing some lively
ditty, to drown the sound of their ohs ! and ahs ! and 0 Lords !
The road for fifteen or twenty miles was knee deep of mud.
We entered Utica at nine the next .morning. This place is
three times larger than it was four years ago; and from Oneida
to Utica is almost an entire continued village. This evening
we lodged on the east side of the Mohawk, fifteen miles below
Utica, near which I shot a bird of the size of a Mocking-bird,
which proves to be one never yet described by naturalists. I
have it here in excellent order. From the town called Her-
kimer we set off through deep mud, and some snow; and about
mid-day, between East and West Canada Creeks, I shot three
birds of the Jay kind, all of one species, which appears to be un-
described. Mr. Bartram is greatly pleased at the discovery;
and I have saved two of them in tolerable condition. Below
the Little Falls the road was excessively bad, and Isaac was al-
most in despair, in spite of all I could do to encourage him. We
walked this day twenty-four miles; and early on the 25th start-
ed off again through deep mud, till we came within fifteen
miles of Schenectady, when a boat coming down the river,
Isaac expressed a wish to get on board. I walked six miles
afterwards by myself, till it got so dark that I could hardly
rescue myself from the mud holes. The next morning I en-
tered Schenectady, but Isaac did not arrive, in the boat, till
noon. Here we took the stage-coach for Albany, the roads
being excessively bad, and arrived there in the evening. Af-
ter spending two days in Albany, we departed in a sloop, and
reached New York on Saturday, at noon, the first of Decem-
ber. My boots were now reduced to legs and upper leathers;
and my pantaloons in a sad plight. Twelve dollars were ex-
pended on these two articles.

LIFE OF WILSON. xlvii

On Friday, the 7th December, I reached Gray's Ferry, hav-
ing walked forty-seven miles that day. I was absent two
months on this journey, and I traversed in that time upwards
of twelve hundred miles.

" The evening of my arrival I went to L***h's, whose wife
had got twins, a boy and a girl. The boy was called after me:
this honour took six dollars more from me. After paying for a
cord of wood, I was left with only three quarters of a dollar. "

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Union School, December, 24, 1804.

" I have perused Dr. Barton's publication,* and return it
with many thanks for the agreeable and unexpected treat it has
afforded me. The description of the falls of Niagara is, in some
places, a just, though faint, delineation of that stupendous cata-
ract. But many interesting particulars are omitted; and much
of the writer's reasoning on the improbability of the wearing:
away of the precipice, and consequent recession of the Falls,
seems contradicted by every appearance there; and many other
assertions are incorrect. Yet on such a subject, every thing,
however trifling, seems to attract attention: the reader's imagi-
nation supplying him with scenery in abundance, even amidst
the feebleness and barrenness of the meanest writer's descrip-
tion.

" After this article, I was most agreeably amused with
"Anecdotes of an American crow," written in such a pleasing
style of playful humour as I have seldom seen surpassed; and
forming a perfect antidote against the spleen j abounding, at the
same time, with observations and reflections not unworthy of a
philosopher.

" The sketch of your father's life, with the extracts from his
letters, I read with much pleasure. They will remain lasting
monuments of the worth and respectability of the father, as
well as of the filial affection of the son.

* The Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal, vol. I.

xlviil LIFE OF WILSON.

" The description of the Chactaw Bonepickers is a picture so
horrible, that I think nothing can exceed it. Many other pieces
in this work are new and interesting. It cannot fail to promote
the knowledge of natural history, and deserves, on this account,
every support and encouragement."

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

December 26, 1804.

"I send for your amusement the ". Literary Magazine" for
September, in which you will find a well written, and, except
in a few places, a correct description of the great Falls of Nia-
gara. I yesterday saw a drawing of them, taken in 1768, and
observe that many large rocks, that used formerly to appear in
the rapids above the Horseshoe falls, are now swept away; and
the form of the curve considerably altered, the consequence of
its gradual retrogression. I hope this account will entertain you,
as I think it by far the most complete I have yet seen. "

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Kingsessingj February 20, 1805.

"'I received yours of January 1, and wrote immediately; but
partly through negligence, and partly through accident, it has
not been put into the post office; and I now sit down to give

you some additional particulars.

* •* * *

" This winter has been entirely lost to me, as well as to your-
self. I shall on the twelfth of next month be scarcely able to
collect a sufficiency to pay my board, having not more than
twenty-seven scholars. Five or six families, who used to send
me their children, have been almost in a state of starvation. The
rivers Schuylkill and Delaware are still shut, and wagons are
passing and repassing at this moment upon the ice.

" The solitary hours of this winter I have employed in com-
pleting the poem which I originally intended for a description
of your first journey to Ovid. It is now so altered as to bear
little resemblance to the original; and I have named it the " Fo-

LIFE OF WILSON. xlix

Testers" It begins with a description of the Fall or Indian
Summer, and relates, minutely, our peregrinations and adven-
tures until our arrival at Catharine Landing, occupying ten
hundred and thirty lines. The remainder will occupy nearly
as much; and as I shall, if ever I publish it, insert numerous
notes, I should be glad, if, while you are on the spot, you would
collect every interesting anecdote you can of the country, and
of the places which we passed through. Hunting stories, &c.,
peculiar to the would be acceptable. I should be

extremely glad to spend one afternoon with you for the benefit
of your criticisms. I lent the poem to Mr.
our senator, who seems to think it worth reading; and * *
* * has expressed many flattering compliments on my la-
bours; but I dont value either of their opinions so much as I
would yours. I have bestowed more pains upon this than I
ever did upon any former poem; and if it contain nothing really
good, I shall for ever despair of producing any other that will. "

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

March 4, 1805.
" My dear friend,

" This day the heart of every republican, of every good man,
within the immense limits of our happy country, will leap with

j°y-

" The re-appointment and continuance of our beloved Jeffer-
son to superintend our national concerns, is one of those dis-
tinguished blessings whose beneficent effects extend to posterity;
and whose value our hearts may feel, but can never express.

" I congratulate with you, my dear friend, on this happy
event. The enlightened philosopher, — the distinguished na-
turalist,— the jirst statesman on earth, — the friend, the or-
nament of science, is the father of our country, the faithful guar-
dian of our liberties. May the precious fruits of such pre-eminent
talents long, long be ours: and the grateful effusions of millions
of freemen, at a far distant period, follow their aged and ho-
noured patriot to the peaceful tomb.

VOL. i. — o

1 LIFE OF WILSON.

" I am at present engaged in drawing the two birds which I
brought from the Mohawk; and, if I can finish them to your
approbation, I intend to transmit them to our excellent presi-
dent, as the child of an amiable parent presents to its affection-
ate father some little token of its esteem."

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Gray's Ferry , March 26, 1805.

"I received your letter of January 1, sometime about the
beginning of February; and wrote the same evening very fully;
but have heard nothing in return. Col. S. desires me to tell
you to be in no uneasiness, nor part with the place to a disad-
vantage on his account. His son has been with me since Ja-
nuary. I told you in my last of the thinness of my school: it
produced me the last quarter only twenty-six scholars; and the
sum of fifteen dollars was all the money I could raise from
them at the end of the term. I immediately called the trustees
together, and, stating the affair to them, proposed giving up the
school. Two of them on the spot offered to subscribe between
them one hundred dollars a-year, rather than permit me to go;
and it was agreed to call a meeting of the people: the result was
honourable to me, for forty-eight scholars were instantly sub-
scribed for; so that the ensuing six months my school will be
worth pretty near two hundred dollars. So much for my af-
fairs. * * * *

" I have never had a scrap from Scotland since last summer;
but I am much more anxious to hear from you. I hope you
have weathered this terrible winter; and that your heart and
your limbs are as sound as ever. I also most devoutly wish that
matters could be managed so that we could be together. This
farm must either be sold, or let; it must not for ever be a great
gulf between us. I have spent most of my leisure hours this
winter in writing the "Foresters," a poem descriptive of our
journey. I have brought it up only to my shooting expedition
at the head of the Seneca Lake; and it amounts already to
twelve hundred lines. I hope that when you and I meet,, it

LIFE OF WILSON. H

will afford you more pleasure than any of my productions has
ever done. The two nondescript birds* which I killed on the
Mohawk, attracted the notice of several naturalists about Phi-
ladelphia. On the fourth of March I set to work upon a large
sheet of fine drawing paper, and in ten days I finished two faith*
ful drawings of them, far superior to any that I had done before.
In the back ground I represented a view of the Falls of Nia-
gara, with the woods wrought in as finely as I possibly could
do. Mr. Lawson was highly pleased with it, and Mr. Bartram
was even more so. I then wrote a letter to that best of men,
Mr. Jefferson, which Mr. Bartram enclosed in one of his, (both
of which, at least copies of them, I shall show you when we
meet, ) and sent off the whole, carefully rolled up, by the mail,
on the 20th inst. to Monticello, in Virginia. The Jay I presented
to Mr. Peale, at his request; and it is now in the Museum. I
have done but few other drawings, being so intent on the poem.
I hope if you find any curious birds, you will attempt to pre-
serve them, or at least their skins; if a small bird be carefully
skinned, it can easily be set up at any time. I still intend to
complete my collection of drawings; but the last will be by far
the best. * * * *

" The poor of Philadelphia have suffered extremely this win-
ter, the river having been frozen up for more than two months,
yet the ice went away without doing any damage. I must again
request that you and Alexander would collect the skins of as
many birds as you have not seen here. * * * * The
process of skinning the birds may amuse you; and your collec-
tions will fee exceedingly agreeable to me. In the mean time
never lose sight of getting rid of the troublesome farm, if it can
be done with advantage; so that we may once more be together;
and write to me frequently.

" I have now nothing more to say, but to give my affection-
ate compliments to your mother and all the family; and to wish

* One of these birds was the Canada Jay, (Am. Om. vol. 3, p. 33. ed. 1st.)
which was known to naturalists.

lil LIFE OF WILSON.

you every comfort that the state of society you are in can af-
ford. With the great volume of Nature before you, you can
never, while in health, be without amusement. Keep a diary
of every thing you meet with that is curious. Look out, now
and then, for natural curiosities as you traverse your farm; and
remember me as you wander through your woody solitudes."

FROM MR. JEFFERSON.

Monticello, *ftpril 7, 1805,
" Sir,

"I received here yesterday your favour of March 18, with
the elegant drawings of the new birds you found on your tour
to Niagara, for which I pray you to accept my thanks. The
Jay is quite unknown to me. From my observations while in
Europe, on the birds and quadrupeds of that quarter, I am of
opinion there is not in our continent a single bird or quadruped
which is not sufficiently unlike all the members of its family
there to be considered as specifically different; on this general
observation I conclude with confidence that your Jay is not a
European bird.

"The first bird on the same sheet I judge to be a Muscicapa
from its bill, as well as from the following circumstance. Two
or three days before my arrival here a neighbour killed a bird,
unknown to him, and never before seen here, as far as he could
learn; it was brought to me soon after I arrived; but in the dusk
of the evening, and so putrid that it could not be approached
but with disgust. But I retain a sufficiently exact idea of its
form and colours to be satisfied it is the same with yours. The
only difference I find in yours is that the white on the back is
not so pure, and that the one I saw had a little of a crest. Your
figure, compared with the white bellied Gobe-mouche, 8 Buff.
342. PI. enlum. 566, shows a near relation. Buffon's is dark
on the back.

" As you are curious in birds, there is one well worthy your
attention, to be found, or rather heard, in every part of Ame-
rica, and yet scarcely ever to be seen ; it is in all the forests,

LIFE OF WILSON. liii

from spring to fall, and never but on me tops of the tallest trees,
from which it perpetually serenades us with some of the sweet-
est notes, and as clear as those of the nightingale. I have fol-
lowed it for miles without ever, but once, getting a good view
of it. It is of the size and make of the Mocking-bird, lightly
thrush-coloured on the back, and a grayish-white on the breast
and belly. Mr. Randolph, my son-in-law, was in possession of
one which had been shot by a neighbour; he pronounces this
also a Muscicapa, and I think it much resembling the Mouche-
rolle de la Martinique, 8 Buffon, 374, PI. enlum. 568. As it
abounds in all the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, you may per-
haps by patience and perseverance (of which much will be re-
quisite) get a sight, if not a possession of it. I have for twenty
years interested the young sportsmen of my neighbourhood to
shoot me one; but as yet without success. Accept my saluta-
tions and assurances of respect.

TH. JEFFERSON.

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

April 18th, 1805.

" By Mr. Jefferson's condescending and very intelligent let-
ter to me, which I enclose for your perusal, it appears that our
Jay is an entirely new, or rather undescribed bird, which met
me on the banks of the Mohawk, to do me the honour of ush-
ering him to the world. This duty I have conscientiously dis-
charged, by introducing him to two naturalists: the one endear-
ed to me, and every lover of science, by the benevolence of his
heart; and the other ordained by Heaven to move in a distin-
guished orbit — an honour to the human race — the patron of
science, and best hope of republicans ! I say, that no bird, since
Noah's days, could boast of such distinguished honour.

" Mr. Jefferson speaks of a very strange bird; please let me
know what it is; I shall be on the look out, and he must be a
sly fellow if he escape me. I shall watch his motions, and the
sound of his serenade, pretty closely, to be able to transmit to

liV LIFE OF WILSON.

our worthy president a faithful sketch of a bird, which he has
been so long curious to possess. "

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Gray's Ferry, May 8th, 1805.

^ I am glad to understand that the plantation is increasing
•so fast in value, but more so that it is not either sold or other-
wise disposed of at the low rate at which we would have once
thrown it away; yet it is the perpetual cause of separating us,
which I am very sorry for. I am living a mere hermit, not
spending one farthing, to see if I possibly can reimburse ****,
who I can see is not so courteous and affable as formerly. I
hope to be able to pay him one hundred dollars, with interest,
next October, and the remainder in the spring; we shall then
be clear of the world; and I don't care how many privations I
suffer to effect that. I associate with nobody; spend my leisure
hours in drawing, wandering through the woods, or playing
upon the violin.

" I informed you in my last of sending Mr. Jefferson draw-
ings of the Falls, and some birds, which I found on the Mo-
hawk, and which it seems have never been taken notice of by
any naturalist He returned me a very kind and agreeable let-
ter, from Monticello, expressing many obligations for the draw-
ings, which he was highly pleased with; and describing to me
a bird, which he is very desirous of possessing, having inter-
ested the young sportsmen of his neighbourhood, he says, these
twenty years, to shoot him one, without success. It is of the
size and make of the Mocking-bird, lightly thrush-coloured on
the back, and grayish- white on the breast; is never heard but
from the tops of the tallest trees, whence it continually serer
nades us with some of the sweetest notes, and as clear as those
of the nightingale. Mr. Bartram can give no account of this
bird, except it be the Wood Robin, which I don't think it is;
for Mr. Jefferson says, « it is scarcely ever to be seen;" and
" I have followed it for miles without ever, but once, getting a

LIFE OF WILSON. ty

good view of it."* I have been on the look-out ever since, but
in vain. If you can hear of such a bird, let me know. I wish
you also to look for the new bird which I discovered. It is of
the size of the Blue Jay; and is of that genus — of a dull lead co-
lour on the back — the forehead white — black on the back of the
neck — the breast and belly a dirty, or brownish white, with a
white ring round its neck — its legs and bill exactly the Jay's.
Pray inquire respecting it, and any other new bird. If they
could be conveyed to me, drawings of them, presented to the
same dignified character, might open the road to a better ac-
quaintance, and something better might follow. Alexander and
you, will, I hope, be on the look-out with the gun, and kill every
bird that comes in your way; and keep written descriptions, or
the skins, if possible, of those you don't know. Were I able,
I would undertake another journey up to you through the
woods, while the birds are abundant; and nothing would give
me so much pleasure as to make another extensive tour with
you for this purpose; for I am persuaded that there are many
species yet undescribed; and Mr. Jefferson is anxious to replen-
ish his museum with the rare productions of his country."

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Gray's Ferry, May 31, 1805.

" Yesterday evening I was finishing a Hanging-bird in my
silent mansion, musing upon a certain affairy when Mr. L. pop-

* After many inquiries, and an unwearied research, it turned out that this
invisible musician was no other than the Wood Robin, a bird which, if sought
for in those places which it affects, may be seen every hour of the day. Its
favourite haunts Wilson has beautifully described in its history; but so far from
being found always "on the tops of the tallest trees," it is seldom seen in
such places, but seems to prefer the horizontal branches, at no great height,
especially when piping its exquisitely melodious song. One of its names, the
Ground Robin, is derived from the circumstance of its being frequently seen
upon the ground. Its song consists of several distinct parts, at the conclusion
of each of which it commonly flies a few feet, and rests just long enough to
continue the strain. A' person unacquainted with these particulars, would sup-
pose that he heard several birds, in various quarters, responding to each other,
and would find it hard to believe that the whole was the performance of one.

Ivi LIFE OF WILSON.

ped his head in at the window, with, a letter. I instantly laid
down my pencil, and enjoyed a social crack with my distant
friend; and was heartily and truly pleased with the upshot. In
every thing relative to this land business, you have acted amidst
difficulties and discouragements with prudence and discretion.
In refusing to engage with ****** yOU acted well; and I
doubt not but you will be equally circumspect in making a
transfer of the property, so that the Yankee will not be able,
even if he were willing, to take you in. More than half of the
roguery of one-half of mankind is owing to the simplicity of
the other half. You have my hearty concurrence in the whole
affair, for I impatiently wish you beside me, not only to enjoy
your society and friendship, but to open to you the book of
knowledge, and enable you, in your turn, to teach it to others.
In plain language, I wish you to prosecute your studies with
me a few months; a school will soon be found, and you can then
pursue them without expense, and I trust with pleasure. The
business has indeed its cares, but affords leisure for many amuse-
ments; and is decent and reputable when properly discharged.
I am living in solitude; spending nothing; diligently attending
to the duties of the day; and filling up every leisure moment
with drawing and music. I have bought no clothes, nor shall
I, this summer; therefore if you settle the matter with * * * as
you have agreed, we can discharge our obligations to * * * *,
and be in a state to go on with your studies for at least six
months. Mr. * * * * was here yesterday, and expressed many
acknowledgments for the rapid progress ***** js making, for
indeed I have exerted myself to pay my obligations to the fa-
ther by my attentions to the son.

" I wrote you respecting the letter I had from the president.
I have never been able to get a sight of the bird he mentions.
I hope you will not neglect to bring your gun with you, and
look out as you come along.

"I have done no more to the " Foresters." The journey
is brought up to my expedition upon the Seneca Lake. I am
much in want of notes of the first settlement, and present state,

LIFE OF WILSON. 6 lvif

of the different places that we passed, as we went up the Sus-
quehannah; every thing of this kind, with hunting anecdotes,
&c. I wish you to collect in your way down. The remainder
of the poem will, I hope, be superior to what is already writ-
ten, the scenery and incidents being more interesting; and will
extend to at least another fifteen hundred lines, which will make
in all about three thousand. * The notes will swell it to a tole-
rable size.

"The i Rural Walk? which I published last summer in
the Literary Magazine, has been lately republished in the Port
Folio, t with many commendations on its beauties. The ' So-
litary Tutor' met with much approbation. But I reserve my
best efforts for the remainder of the ( Foresters.'

" I have not mentioned anything of the sale of the land, nor
shall I until the business is finally concluded. I shall expect to
hear from you at least twice yet before you arrive; and I hope
you will make no unnecessary delay in returning. As you cut
a pretty ragged appearance at present, and want something to
laugh at, suppose you set your muse to work upon your tatter-
demalian dishabille. The former neatness of your garb, con-
trasted with its present squalidness, would make a capital sub-
ject for a song, not forgetting the causes. But you are in the
dress of the people you live among: you are therefore in cha-
racter. B. had a hat on when I was up in your quarter, the rim
of which had been eaten off, close to his head, by the rats, or,
perhaps, cut off to make soles to his shoes; yet it was so com-
mon as to escape observation. I saw another fellow, too, at the
tavern, who had pieces cut out of his behind, like a swallow's
tail." *

The spring of the year 1805 gave to the enraptured view of
our naturalist his interesting feathered acquaintance. He lis-
tened to their artless songs ; he noted their habitudes; he sketch-

* Tliis poem, as published in the Port Folio, contains two thousand two
hundred and eighteen lines. It is illustrated with lour plates, two of which
were engraved by George Cooke of London.

t For April 27, 1805.
VOL. I. — H

Iviii * LIFE OF WILSON.

ed their portraits. And, after having passed a few months
varied with this charming occupation, he again writes to the
respected inhabitant of the Botanic Garden:

Union School, July 2, 1805.

" I dare say you will smile at my presumption, when I tell
you that I have seriously begun to make a collection of draw-
ings of the birds to be found in Pennsylvania, or that occasion-
ally pass through it: twenty-eight, as a beginning, I send for
your opinion. They are, I hope, inferior to what I shall pro-
duce, though as close copies of the originals as I could make.
One or two of these I cannot find either in your nomenclature,
or among the seven volumes of Edwards. I have never been
able to find the bird Mr. Jefferson speaks of, and begin to think
that it must be the Wood Robin, though it seems strange that
he should represent it as so hard to be seen. Any hint for pro-
moting my plan, or enabling me to execute better, I will re-
ceive from you with much pleasure. I have resigned every
other amusement, except reading and fiddling, for this design,
which I shall not give up without making a fair trial

" Criticise these, my dear friend, without fear of offending
me — this will instruct, but not discourage me. — For there is
not among all our naturalists one who knows so well what they
are, and how they ought to be represented. In the mean time
accept of my best wishes for your happiness — wishes as sincere
as ever one human being breathed for another. To your ad-
vice and encouraging encomiums I am indebted for these few
specimens, and for all that will follow. They may yet tell pos-
terity that I was honoured with your friendship, and that
to your inspiration they owe their existence."

The plates illustrative of the natural history of Edwards were
etched by the author himself. Wilson had examined them very
attentively, and felt assured that, with a little instruction in the
art of etching, he could produce more accurate delineations; and
would be enabled, by his superior knowledge of colouring, to

LIFE OF WILSON. lix

finish the figures for his contemplated work, in a style not in-
ferior to his spirited and beautiful drawings from nature.

Mr. Lawson was of course consulted on this occasion, and
cheerfully contributed his advice and assistance in the novel and
difficult enterprise. Wilson procured the copper; and, the for-
mer having laid the varnish, and furnished the necessary tools,
he eagerly commenced the important operation, on the success-
ful termination of which his happiness seemed to depend.

Let the reader pause and reflect on the extravagance of that
enthusiasm, which could lead a person to imagine, that, with-
out any knowledge of an art derived from experience, he could
at once produce that effect, which is the result only of years of
trial and diligence.

The next day after Wilson had parted from his preceptor, the
latter, to use his own words, was surprised to behold him bounc-
ing into his room, crying out — " / have finished my plate! let
us bite it in with the aquafortis at once, for I must have a
proof before I leave town!* Lawson burst into laughter at the
ludicrous appearance of his friend animated with impetuous
zeal; and to humour him granted his request. A proof was
taken, but fell far short of Wilson's expectations, or of his ideas
of correctness. However, he lost no time in conferring with
Mr. Bartram, to whom he wrote as follows:

66 Nov. 29, 1805.

" I have been amusing myself this some time in attempting
to etch; and now send you a proof-sheet of my first performance
in this way. Be so good as communicate to me your own cor-
rections, and those of your young friend and pupil. I will re-

* For the information of those of our readers, who are unacquainted with
the process of etching1, we subjoin the following explanatory note: —

Upon the polished copper-plate, a coat of varnish, of a particular compo-
sition, is thinly spread. The design is then traced, and cut through to the
copper, with an instrument termed a point. A bank of wax is now raised
around the plate, and aquafortis poured into the enclosure, which acid eats
into the copper only where the point had past. The length of time requi-
site for the successful action of the aquafortis, must be determined by the
judgment of the operator.

1X LIFE OF WILSON.

ceive them as a very kind and particular favour. The draw-
ings which I also send, that you may compare them together,
were done from birds in full plumage, and in the best order.
My next attempt in etching will perhaps be better, every thing
being new to me in this. I will send you the first impression
I receive after I finish the plate."

In a short time another plate was prepared and completed
with the despatch of the former. In fulfilment of his promise
to his friend, he transmits a proof, accompanied with the fol-
lowing note:

" Mr. Wilson's affectionate compliments to Mr Bartram; and
sends for his amusement and correction another proof of his
Birds of the United States. The colouring being chiefly done
last night, must soften criticism a little. Will be thankful for
my friend's advice and correction.

" Mr. Wilson wishes his beloved friend a happy new-year,
and every blessing."

Saturday, January 4th, 1806.

These essays in etching,* though creditable to Wilson's in-
genuity and perseverance, yet by no means afforded satisfac-
tion. He became now convinced that the point alone was not
sufficient to produce the intended effect; and that nothing short
of the accuracy of the graver would in any wise correspond to
his ideas of excellence. But in the art of engraving he had ne-
ver been instructed; and he could not command means suffi-
cient to cover the expense of the plates even of a single volume,
on the magnificent plan which his comprehensive mind had
delineated. A proposition was now made to Mr. Lawson to
engage in the work, on a joint concern. But there were se-
veral objections which this gentleman urged, sufficiently
weighty, in his opinion, to warrant his non-acceptance of the
offer. Wilson, finding his schemes thus baffled, declared, with

* The two first plates of the Ornithology are those which the author etch-
ed himself. The writer of this sketch has in his possession a proof of the
first one, which he preserves as a relic of no small value. It is inscribed
with the author's name.

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixi

solemn emphasis, his resolution of proceeding alone in the pub-
lication, if it should even cost him his life. " I shall at least
leave," continued he, "a small beacon to point out where I
perished.."

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Jan. 27, 1806.

" Being in town on Saturday, I took the opportunity of call-
ing on Mr. , who, in 1804, went down the Ohio, with

one companion, in a small bateau. They sometimes proceed-
ed seventy miles in twenty-four hours, going often night and
day. They had an awning; and generally slept on board the
boat, without ever catching cold, or any inconvenience by
moschetoes, except when in the neighbourhood of swamps.
He describes the country as exceedingly beautiful. The object
of their journey being trade, they had neither gun nor fishing-
tackle; and paid little or no attention to natural objects. He
says the navigation of a bateau is perfectly easy, and attended
with no hazard whatever. One solitary adventurer passed
them in a small boat, going from Wheeling to New Orleans.

" If, my dear friend, we should be so happy as to go toge-
ther, what would you think of laying our design before Mr.
Jefferson, with a view to procure his advice, and recommenda-
tion to influential characters in the route? Could we procure
his approbation and patronage, they would secure our success.
Perhaps he might suggest some improvements in our plan. Had
we a good companion, intimately acquainted with mineralogy,
who would submit to our economical plan of proceeding, it
would certainly enhance the value of the expedition. However,
this I have no hopes of.

" I see, by the newspapers, that Mr. Jefferson designs to em-
ploy persons to explore the shores of the Mississippi the ensu-
ing summer: surely our exertions would promote his wishes. I
write these particulars that you may give them the considera-
tion they deserve; and will call upon you to deliberate further
on the affair.

Ixii LIFE OF WILSON.

To the Same.

February 3, 1806.

" The enclosed sketch of a letter is submitted for your opi-
nion, and, if approved, I must request of you the favour to en-
close it in one of your own to Mr. Jefferson. You see I am
serious in my design of traversing our southern wildernesses.
Disappointed in your company, I have no hopes in another's
that would add any value to the Ohio tour. I am therefore
driven to this expedient, and I hope it will succeed. Please to
let me hear your sentiments on this affair to-morrow morning ;
and oblige yours, &c. "

To the Same.

February 5, 1806.

" I am infinitely obliged to you, my dear friend, for your
favourable opinion of me, transmitted to the president. Should
an engagement be the consequence, I will merit the character
which you have given of me, or perish in the endeavour to de-
serve it. Accept my assurances of perpetual affection and es-
teem.

"The letters go off to-morrow. "

It will be perceived, by the foregoing letters, that the Presi-
dent of the United States had it in contemplation to despatch
men of science, for the purpose of exploring the country of the
Mississippi. Wilson now conceived that a favourable oppor-
tunity would be afforded him of gratifying a desire, which he
had long indulged, of visiting those regions, which he was con-
vinced were rich in the various objects of science; and, parti-
cularly, where subjects, new and interesting, might be collect-
ed for his embryo work on the Ornithology of our country.
He expressed his wishes to Mr. Bartram, who approved of
them; and the latter cheerfully wrote to his correspondent, Mr.
Jefferson, stating Wilson's character and acquirements; and re-
commending him as one highly qualified to be employed in
that important national enterprise. This introductory letter,
endited in the most respectful terms, was accompanied with

LIFE OF WILSON.

an application from Wilson himself, which, as a faithful bio-
grapher of my friend, I here think proper to insert entire: —

" TO HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS JEFFERSON,

" President of the United States.
" Sir,

" Having been engaged, these several years, in collecting
materials, and furnishing drawings from nature, with the de-
sign of publishing a new Ornithology of the United States of
America, so deficient in the works of Catesby, Edwards, and
other Europeans, I have traversed the greater part of our
northern and eastern districts; and have collected many birds
undescribed by these naturalists. Upwards of one hundred
drawings are completed; and two plates in folio already en-
graved. But as many beautiful tribes frequent the Ohio, and
the extensive country through which it passes, that probably
never visit the Atlantic states; and as faithful representations
of these can be taken only from living nature, or from birds
newly killed; I had planned an expedition down that river,
from Pittsburg to the Mississippi, thence to New Orleans, and
to continue my researches by land in return to Philadelphia,
I had engaged as a companion and assistant Mr. William Bar-
tram of this place, whose knowledge of Botany, as well as
Zoology, would have enabled me to make the best of the voy-
age, and to collect many new specimens in both those depart-
ments. Sketches of these were to have been taken on the spot;
and the subjects put in a state of preservation to finish our
drawings from, as time would permit. We intended to set
out from Pittsburg about the beginning of May; and expected
to reach New Orleans in September.

" But my venerable friend, Mr. Bartram, taking into more
serious consideration his advanced age, being near seventy, and
the weakness of his eye-sight; and apprehensive of his inability
to encounter the fatigues and deprivations unavoidable in so
extensive a tour; having, to my extreme regret, and the real
loss of science, been induced to decline the journey; I had re-
luctantly abandoned the enterprise, and all hopes of accom-

lxiv LIFE OF WILSON.

-plishing my purpose; till hearing that your excellency had it
in contemplation to send travellers this ensuing summer up the
Red River, the Arkansaw, and other tributary streams of the
Mississippi; and believing that my services might be of advan-
tage to some of these parties, in promoting your excellency's
design; while the best opportunities would be afforded me of
procuring subjects for the work which I have so much at heart;
under these impressions I beg leave to offer myself for any of
these expeditions; and can be ready at a short notice to attend
your excellency's orders.

u Accustomed to the hardships of travelling, without a fami-
ly, and an enthusiast in the pursuit of Natural History, I will
devote my whole powers to merit your excellency's approba-
tion; and ardently wish for an opportunity of testifying the sin-
cerity of my professions, and the deep veneration with which
I have the honour to be,

" Sir,

" Your obedient servant,

ALEX. WILSON."*
Kingsess, Feb. 6, 1806.

Mr. Jefferson had in his port-folio decisive proofs of Wilson's
talents as an ornithologist, the latter having some time before,
as the reader will have observed, transmitted to his excellency
some elegant drawings of birds, accompanied with descriptions.
Yet with these evidences before him, backed with the recom-
mendation of a discerning and experienced naturalist, Mr. Jef-
ferson was either so scandalized at the informal application of
our ornithologist, or so occupied in the great concerns of his ex-
alted station, that no answer was returned to the overture; and
the cause of the supposed, contemptuous neglect, neither Wil-
son nor Bartram could ever ascertain.

Whatever might have been the views of the president, who
unquestionably bore an effective part in scheming and encourag-

* Wilson was particularly anxious to accompany Pike, who commenced
his journey from the cantonment on the Missouri, for the sources of the Ar-
kansaw, &c. on the 15th July, 1806.

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixy

ing the expeditions commanded by Lewis and Clark, and Pike,
there can be but one opinion on the insufficiency of that plan of
discovery which does not embrace the co-operation of men of
letters and science: those whose knowledge will teach them to
select what is valuable, and whose learning will enable them
to digest it for the advantage of others. We would not draw
an invidious comparison between the expeditions above-men-
tioned, and those under the command of Major Long; but we
will rest in the hope that, as the government now appears to
be sensible of the beneficial effects resulting from a liberal and
enlightened policy, it will continue to foster that spirit of enter-
prise which distinguishes some of our citizens; and which, if
properly directed, will redound to the honour and glory of our
country.

TO MR. WILLIAM DUNCAN.

Gray's Ferry, Feb. 26, 1806.

"Notwithstanding the great esteem I have for your judg-
ment, in preference, many times, to my own, yet I believe we
are both wrong in the proposed affair of Saturday week. I have
not the smallest ambition of being considered an orator; and
would it not, by some, be construed into vanity, or something
worse, for me to go all the way from this place to deliver a po-
litical lecture at Milestown? Politics has begot me so many
enemies, both in the old and new world, and has done me so
little good, that I begin to think the less you and I harangue on
that subject the better. I do not say this from any doubt I have
of being able to say something on the subject, but much ques-
tion the policy and prudence of it. If you and I attend punctu-
ally to the duties of our profession, and make our business our
pleasure; and the improvement of our pupils, with their good
government, our chief aim; honour, and respectability, and suc-
cess will assuredly attend us, even if we never open our lips on
politics.

" These have been some of my reflections since we parted.
I hope you will weigh them in your own mind, and acquiesce

VOL. i. — i

Ixvi LIFE OF WILSON.

in my resolution of not interfering in the debate on Saturday,
as we talked of. At the same time I am really pleased to see
the improvement the practice has produced in you ; and would
by no means wish to dissuade you from amusing and exercising
your mind in this manner; because I know that your modera-
tion in sentiment and conduct will always preserve you from
ill will on any of these scores. But as it could add nothing to
my fame, and as they have all heard me, often enough, on dif-
ferent subjects, about Milestown; and as it would raise no new
friends to you, but might open old sores in some of your pre-
sent friends, I hope you will agree with me that it will be pru-
dent to decline the affair. And as you have never heard me
deliver any of my own compositions in this way, I will com-
mit a speech to memory which I delivered at Milestown, in
the winter of 1800, and pronounce it to you when we are by
ourselves in the woods, where we, can offend nobody.

" I have heard nothing from Washington yet; and I begin to
think that either Mr. Jefferson expects a brush with the Span-
iards, or has not received our letters; otherwise he would never
act so impolitely to one for whom he has so much esteem as
for Mr. Bartram. No hurry of business could excuse it. But
if affairs are not likely to be settled with Spain, very probably
the design of sending parties through Louisiana will be suspend-
ed. Indeed I begin to think that if I should not be engaged by
Mr. Jefferson, a journey by myself, and at my own expense,
at a time, too, when we are just getting our heads above water,
as one may say, would not be altogether good policy. Perhaps
in another year we might be able, without so much injury, to
make a tour together, through part of the south-west countries,
which would double all the pleasures of the journey to me. I
will proceed in the affair as you may think best, notwithstand-
ing my eager wishes, and the disagreeableness of my present
situation. I write this letter in the schoolhouse — past ten at
night — L. 's folks all gone to roost — the flying squirrels rattling
in the loft above me, and the cats squalling in the cellar below.
Wishing you a continuation of that success in teaching, which

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixvii

has already done you so much credit, I bid you for the present
good-night."

We now approach that era of Wilson's life, in which we be-
hold him emerging from the vale of obscurity, and attaining that
enviable distinction, in the republic of science and letters, which
it is the lot of but few to enjoy.

Mr. Samuel F. Bradford, bookseller, of Philadelphia, being
about to publish an edition of Rees's New Cyclopaedia, Wilson
was introduced to him as one qualified to superintend the work;
and was engaged, at a liberal salary, as assistant editor. The
articles of agreement are dated the 20th of April, 1806.

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Philadelphia, Jlpril 22d, 1806.
"My dear friend,

"I take the liberty of informing you that having been im-
portuned to engage as assistant editor of that comprehensive and
voluminous work, Rees's New Cyclopaedia, now publishing
here, and a generous salary offered me, I have now accepted of
the same, and will commence my new avocation on Monday
next.

"This engagement will, I hope, enable me, in more ways
than one, to proceed in my intended Ornithology, to which all
my leisure moments will be devoted. In the mean time I an-
ticipate, with diffidence, the laborious, and very responsible,
situation I am soon to be placed in, requiring a much more gene-
ral fund of scientific knowledge, and stronger powers of mind,
than I am possessed of; but all these objections have been over-
ruled, and I am engaged, in conjunction with Mr. S. F. Brad-
ford, to conduct the publication. In this pursuit I will often
solicit your advice, and be happy to communicate your obser-
vations to posterity. Shut up from the sweet scenes of rural
nature, so dear to my soul, conceive to yourself the pleasures
I shall enjoy in sometimes paying a visit to your charming Re-
treat, and you cannot doubt of frequently seeing your very sin-
cere friend."

Ixviil LIFE OF WILSON.

Not long after his engagement, he unfolded his mind to Mr.
Bradford on the subject of his projected Ornithology; and ex-
hibited such evidence of his talents for a work of that nature,
that the latter promptly agreed to become the publisher of it,
and to furnish the requisite funds; and now, for the first time,
Wilson found those obstructions removed, which had opposed
his favourite enterprise.

TO MR. WILSON AT THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

Philadelphia, July 8th, 1806.
" Dear Sir,

"This will be handed to you by Mr. Michaux, a gentleman
of an amiable character, and a distinguished naturalist, who is
pursuing his botanical researches through North America, and
intends visiting the Cataract of Niagara. The kindness 1 re-
ceived from your family in 1804 makes me desirous that my
friend, Mr. Michaux, should reside with you during his stay at
Niagara; and any attention paid to him will be considered as
done to myself, and suitable acknowledgments made in person
by me on my arrival at Niagara, which I expect will be early
next spring.

66 You will be so good as give Mr. Michaux information re-
specting the late rupture of the rock at the falls, of the burning
spring above, and point out to him the place of descent to the
rapids below, with any other information respecting the won-
derful scenery around you.

"In the short stay I made, and the unfavourable weather I
experienced, I was prevented from finishing my intended sketch
equal to my wishes; but I design to spend several weeks with
you, and not only take correct drawings, but particular descrip-
tions of every thing relating to that stupendous Cataract, and
to publish a more complete and satisfactory account, and a bet-
ter representation of it, than has been yet done in the United
States. *

* Wilson's subsequent engagements prevented his return to the Falls, in
conformity with his wishes; but his sketches were completed by an artist, en-

LIFE OF WILSON, Ixix

" I had a rough journey home through the Genessee country,
which was covered with snow to the depth of fifteen inches,
and continued so all the way to Albany. If you know of any
gentlemen in your neighbourhood acquainted with botany, be
so good as introduce Mr. Michaux to them."

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN.

Philadelphia, April 8, 1807.

" Enclosed is a proof-sheet of our prospectus; as soon as the
impressions are thrown off on fine paper, I will transmit one
for Mr. L. This afternoon Mr. Lawson is to have one of the
plates completely finished; and I am going to set the copper-
plate printer at work to print each bird in its natural colours,
which will be a great advantage in colouring, as the black ink
will not then stain the fine tints. We mean to bind in the pro-
spectus at the end of the next half volume, for which purpose
twenty-five hundred copies are to be thrown off; and an agent
will be appointed in every town in the Union. The prospectus
will also be printed in all the newspapers; and every thing done
to promote the undertaking.

" I hope you have made a beginning, and have already a
collection of heads, bills and claws, delineated. If this work
should go on, it will be a five years affair; and may open the
way to something more extensive; for which reason I am anx-
ious to have you with me to share the harvest.

" I started this morning, by peep of day, with my gun, for
the purpose of shooting a nuthatch. After jumping a hundred
fences, and getting over the ancles in mud, (for I had put on
my shoes for lightness,) I found myself almost at the junction
of the Schuylkill and Delaware, without success, there being
hardly half an acre of woodland in the whole neck; and the
nuthatch generally frequents large-timbered woods. I returned
home at eight o'clock, after getting completely wet, and in a

graved by George Cooke of London, and illustrate his poem of the "Forest-
ers," which was published in the Port Folio. These well-engraved views,
which are two in number, convey a good idea of the famous Cataract; the
"Great Pitch," in particular, is admirably represented.

Ixx LIFE OF WILSON.

profuse perspiration, which, contrary to the maxims of the doc-
tors, has done me a great deal of good; and I intend to repeat
the dose; except that I shall leave out the ingredient of the wet
feet, if otherwise convenient. Were I to prescribe such a re-
medy to Lawson, he would be ready to think me mad. Mode-
rate, nay even pretty severe exercise, is the best medicine in
the world for sedentary people, and ought not to be neglected
on any account/'

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Philadelphia, April 29, 1807.
"My dear sir,

" The receipt of yours of the 1 1th inst. in which you approve
of my intended publication of American Ornithology, gave me
much satisfaction; and your promise of befriending me in the
arduous attempt commands my unfeigned gratitude. From the
opportunities I have lately had, of examining into the works of
Americans, who have treated of this part of our natural history,
I am satisfied that none of them have bestowed such minute at-
tention on the subject as you yourself have done. Indeed they
have done little more than copied your nomenclature and ob-
servations, and referred to your authority. To have you, there-
fore, to consult with in the course of this great publication I
consider a most happy and even auspicious circumstance; and
I hope you will, on all occasions, be a rigid censor, and kind
monitor, whenever you find me deviating from the beauties of
nature, or the truth of description.

" The more I read and reflect upon the subject, the more dis-
satisfied I am with the specific names which have been used by
almost every writer. A name should, if possible, be expressive
of some peculiarity in colour, conformation, or habit; if it will
equally apply to two different species, it is certainly an impro-
per one. Is migratorius an epithet peculiarly applicable to the
robin? Is it not equally so to almost every species of turdus
we have? Europea has been applied by Pennant to our large
sitta or nuthatch, which is certainly a different species from the

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxi

European, the latter being destitute of the black head, neck and
shoulders of ours. Latham calls it carolinensis, but it is as much
an inhabitant of Pennsylvania and New York as Carolina. The
small red-bellied sitta is called canadensis by Latham, a name
equally objectionable with the other. Turdus minor seems also
improper; in short I consider this part of the business as pecu-
liarly perplexing; and I beg to have your opinion on the matter,
particularly with respect to the birds I have mentioned, whether
I shall hazard a new nomenclature, or, by copying, sanction
what I do not approve of.

" I hope you are in good health, enjoying in your little Para-
dise the advances of spring, shedding leaves, buds and blossoms,
around her; and bringing in her train choirs of the sweetest
songsters that earth can boast of; while every zephyr that plays
around you breathes fragrance. Ah ! how different my situation
in this delightful season, immured among musty books, and
compelled to forego the harmony of the woods for the everlast-
ing din of the city; the very face of the blessed heavens involv-
ed in soot, and interrupted by walls and chimney tops. But if
I don't lanch out into the woods and fields oftener than I have
done these twelvemonths, may I be transformed into a street
musician. " (The remainder of the MS. defaced. )

All things being happily arranged, Wilson applied himself to
his varied and extensive duties with a diligence which scarcely
admitted repose; until finding his health much impaired there-
by, he was induced to seek the benefits of relaxation, in a pe-
destrian journey through a part of Pennsylvania; which afforded
him a favourable opportunity of procuring specimens of birds;
and some additional information relating to them, of which he
was very desirous to be possessed. This excursion was made
in the month of August, 1807; and on his return he engaged in
his avocations with renewed ardour; devoting every moment,
which could be spared from his editorial duties, to his great
work.

At length in the month of September, 1808, the first volume
of the " AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY" made its appearance. From

Ixxii LIFE OF WILSON.

the date of the arrangement with the publisher, a prospectus
had been issued, wherein the nature and intended execution of
the work were specified; but yet no one appeared to entertain
an adequate idea of the elegant treat which was about to be af-
forded to the lovers of the arts, and of useful literature. And
when the volume was presented to the public, their delight was
only equalled by their astonishment, that our country, as yet in
its infancy, should produce an original work in science, that
could vie, in its essentials, with the proudest productions, of a
similar nature, of the European world.

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Philadelphia, Sept. 21, 1808.

"In a few minutes I set out for the Eastern States, through
Boston to Maine, and back through the state of Vermont, in
search of birds and subscribers. I regret that I have not been
able to spend an evening with you before my departure. But
I shall have a better stock of adventures to relate after my re-
turn.

f( I send a copy of the prospectus, and my best wishes for the
happiness of the whole family. I leave my horse behind, and
go by the stage coach, as being the least troublesome. I hope
to make some discoveries in my tour, the least agreeable of
which will, I fear, be — that I have bestowed a great deal of la-
bour and expense to little purpose. But all these things will not
prevent me from enjoying, as I pass along, the glorious face of
Nature, and her admirable productions, while I have eyes to
see, and taste and judgment to appreciate them."

After despatching the above note, Wilson set out on a jour-
ney to the eastward, to exhibit his book, and procure subscribers.
He travelled as far as the District of Maine; and returned through
Vermont, by the way of Albany, to Philadelphia. From a letter
to a friend, dated Boston, October 10th, 1808, we have made
the following extract:

" I have purposely avoided saying any thing either good or
bad, on the encouragement I have met with. I shall only say,

LIFE OF WILSON. Jxxiii

that among the many thousands who have examined my book,
and among these were men of the first character for taste and
literature, I have heard nothing but expressions of the highest
admiration and esteem. If I have been mistaken in publishing
a work too good for the country, it is a fault not likely to be
soon repeated, and will pretty severely correct itself. But what-
ever may be the result of these matters, I shall not sit down
Avith folded hands, whilst any thing can be done to carry my
point: since God helps them who help themselves. I am fixing
correspondents in every corner of these northern regions, like
so many pickets and outposts, so that scarcely a wren or tit
shall be able to pass along, from York to Canada, but I shall get
intelligence of it."

TO MR. D. H. MILLER.

Boston, October 12, 1808.
"Dear Sir,

" I arrived here on Sunday last, after various adventures, the
particulars of which, as well as the observations I have had lei-
sure to make upon the passing scenery around me, I shall en-
deavour, as far as possible, to compress into this letter, for your
own satisfaction, and that of my friends who may be interested
for my welfare. My company in the stage coach to New York
were all unknown to me, except Col. S., who was on his route
to Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario, to take command of the
troops intended to be stationed on that part of the frontier, to
prevent evasions of the embargo law. The sociable disposition
and affability of the Colonel made this part of the journey pass
very agreeably, for both being fond of walking, whenever the
driver stopped to water, or drink grog, which was generally
every six or eight miles, we set out on foot, and sometimes got
on several miles before the coach overhauled us. By this method
we enjoyed our ride, and with some little saving of horseflesh,
which I know you will approve of. At Princeton I bade my
fellow travellers good by, as I had to wait upon the reverend

doctors of the college. I took my book under my arm, put se-
VOL. i. — K

Ixxiv UFE OF WILSON,

veral copies of the prospectus into my pocket, and walked up
to this spacious sanctuary of literature. I could amuse you with
some of my reflections on this occasion, but room will not per-
mit Dr. Smith, the president, and Dr. M'Lean, professor of
Natural History, were the only two I found at home. The latter
invited me to tea, and both were much pleased and surprised
with the appearance of the work. I expected to receive some
valuable information from McLean, on the ornithology of the
country, but I soon found, to my astonishment, that he scarcely
knew a sparrow from a woodpecker. At his particular request,
I left a specimen of the plates with him ; and from what passed
between us, I have hopes that he will pay more attention to this
department of his profession than he has hitherto done. I visit-
ed several other literary characters; and, at about half past eighty
the Pilot coming up, I took my passage in it to New Brunswick,,
which we reached at midnight, and where I immediately went
to bed.

" The next morning was spent in visiting the few gentlemen
who were likely to patronize my undertaking. I had another
task of the same kind at Elizabethtown; and, without tiring you
with details that would fill a volume, I shall only say that I
reached Newark that day, having gratified the curiosity, and
feasted the eyes, of a great number of people, who repaid me
with the most extravagant compliments, which I would have
very willingly exchanged for a few simple subscriptions. I
spent nearly the whole of Saturday in Newark, where my
book attracted as many starers as a bear or a mammoth would
have done; and I arrived in New York the same evening. The
next day I wrote a number of letters, enclosing copies of the
prospectus, to different gentlemen in town. In the afternoon
of Tuesday I took my book, and waited on each of those gen-
tlemen to whom I had written the preceding day. Among these
I found some friends, but more admirers. The professors of
Columbia College expressed much esteem for my performance.
The professor of languages, being a Scotchman, and also a Wil-
son, seemed to feel all the pride of national partiality so common

LIFE OF WILSON, Ixxv

to his countrymen; and would have done me any favour in his
power. I spent the whole of this week traversing the streets,
from one particular house to another, till, I believe, I became
almost as well known as the public crier, or the clerk of the
market, for I could frequently perceive gentlemen point me out

to others as I passed with my book under my arm,

# * * *

On Sunday morning, October 2, I went on board a packet
for New Haven, distant about ninety miles. The wind was fa-
vourable, and carried us rapidly through Hellgate, (a place I
had no intention of calling at in my tour) on the other side of
which we found upwards of sixty vessels beating up for a pas-
sage. The Sound here, between Long Island and the main, is
narrowed to less than half a mile, and filled with small islands,
and enormous rocks under water, among which the tide roars
and boils violently, and has proved fatal to many a seaman.
At high water it is nearly as smooth as any other place, and
can then be safely passed. The country, on the New York
side, is ornamented with handsome villas, painted white, and
surrounded by great numbers of Lombardy poplars. The
breeze increasing to a gale, in eight hours from the time we set
sail the high red-fronted mountain of New Haven rose to our
view. In two hours more we landed; and, by the stillness
and solemnity of the streets, recollected we were in New En-
gland, and that it was Sunday, which latter circumstance had
been almost forgotten on board the packet-boat.

" This town is situated upon a sandy plain; and the streets
are shaded with elm trees and poplars. In a large park or
common, covered with grass, and crossed by two streets, and
several foot paths, stand the church, the state house and col-
lege buildings, which last are one hundred and eighty yards in
front From these structures rise four or five wooden spires,
which, in former time, as one of the professors informed me,
were so infested by woodpeckers, which bored them in all di-
rections, that, to preserve their steeples from destruction, it
became necessary to set people, with guns, to watch and shoot

Ixxvi LIFE OF WILSON.

these invaders of the sanctuary. Just about the town the pas-
ture fields and corn look well, but a few miles off, the country
is poor and ill cultivated.

" The literati of New Haven received me with politeness
and respect; and after making my usual rounds, which occupi-
ed a day and a half, I set off for Middletown, twenty-two
miles distant. The country through which I passed was gene-
rally flat and sandy — in some places whole fields were entirely
covered with sand, not a blade of vegetation to be seen, like
some parts of New Jersey. Round Middletown, however,
the country is really beautiful — the soil rich; and here I first
saw the river Connecticut, stretching along the east side of the
town, which consists of one very broad street, with rows of
elms on each side. On entering I found the' street filled with
troops, it being muster day; and I counted two hundred and
fifty horse, and six hundred foot, all in uniform. The sides of
the street were choaked up with wagons, carts and wheel-bar-
rows, filled with bread, roast beef, fowls, cheese, liquors, bar-
rels of cider, and rum bottles. Some were singing out, " Here's
the best brandy you ever put into your head!" others in do-
zens shouting, " Here's the round and sound gingerbread!
most capital gingerbread!" In one place I observed a row of
twenty or thirty country girls, drawn up with their backs to a
fence, and two young fellows supplying them with rolls of
bread from a neighbouring stall, which they ate with a hearty
appetite, keeping nearly as good time with their grinders, as
the militia did with their muskets. In another place the crowd
had formed a ring, within which they danced to the catgut
scrapings of an old negro. The spectators looked on with as
much gravity as if they were listening to a sermon; and the
dancers laboured with such seriousness, that it seemed more
like a penance imposed on the poor devils, for past sins, than
mere amusement.

" I waited on a Mr. A. of this town; and by him I was in-
troduced to several others. He also furnished me with a good
deal of information respecting the birds of New England. He

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxvii

is a great sportsman — a man of fortune and education — and
has a considerable number of stuffed birds, some of which he
gave me, besides letters to several gentlemen of influence in
Boston. I endeavoured to recompense him in the best man-
ner I could, and again pursued my route to the north-east
The country between this and Hartford is extremely beautiful,
much resembling that between Philadelphia and Frankford.
The road is a hard sandy soil; and in one place I had an im-
mense prospect of the surrounding country, nearly equal to
that which we saw returning from Easton, but less covered
with woods. On reaching Hartford, I waited on Mr. Gk, a
member of congress, who recommended me to several others,
particularly a Mr. W., a gentleman of taste and fortune, who
was extremely obliging. The publisher of a newspaper here
expressed the highest admiration of the work, and has since
paid many handsome compliments to it in his publication, as
three other editors did in New York. This is a species of cur-
rency that will neither purchase plates, nor pay the printer;
but, nevertheless, it is gratifying to the vanity of an author —
when nothing better can be got. My journey from Hartford
to Boston, through Springfield, Worcester, &c. one hundred
and twenty-eight miles, it is impossible for me to detail at this
time. From the time I entered Massachusetts, until within
ten miles of Boston, which distance is nearly two-thirds the
length of the whole state, I took notice that the principal fea-
tures of the country were stony mountains, rocky pasture
fields, and hills and swamps adorned with pines. The fences,
in every direction, are composed of strong stones; and, unless
a few straggling, self-planted, stunted apple trees, overgrown
with moss, deserve the name, there is hardly an orchard to be
seen in ten miles. Every six or eight miles you come to a
meeting-house, painted white, with a spire. I could perceive
little difference in the form or elevation of their steeples.

" The people here make no distinction between town and
township; and travellers frequently asked the driver of the
stagecoach, « What town are we now in?" when perhaps we

Ixxviii LIFE OF WILSON.

were upon the top of a miserable barren mountain, several
miles from a house. It is in vain to reason with the people
on the impropriety of this — custom makes every absurdity
proper. There is scarcely any currency in this country but
paper, and I solemnly declare that I do not recollect having
seen one hard dollar since I left New York. Bills even of
twenty-five-cents, of a hundred different banks, whose very
names one has never heard of before, are continually in circu-
lation. I say nothing of the jargon which prevails in the
country. Their boasted schools, if I may judge by the state of
their school-houses, are no better than our own.

" Lawyers swarm in every town, like locusts; almost every
door has the word Office painted over it, which, like the web
of a spider, points out the place where the spoiler lurks for his
prey. There is little or no improvement in agriculture; in
fifty miles I did not observe a single grain or stubble field,
though the country has been cleared and settled these one hun-
dred and fifty years. In short, the steady habits of a great
portion of the inhabitants of those parts of New England
through which I passed, seem to be laziness, law bickerings
and * * * *. A man here is as much ashamed of being seen
walking the streets on Sunday, unless in going and returning

from church, as many would be of being seen going to a * * *

* # #

" As you approach Boston the country improves in its ap-
pearance; the stone fences give place to those of posts and rails;
the road becomes wide and spacious; and every thing an-
nounces a better degree of refinement and civilization. It was
dark when I entered Boston, of which I shall give you some
account in my next. I have visited the celebrated Bunker's
Hill, and no devout pilgrim ever approached the sacred tomb
of his holy prophet with more awful enthusiasm, and profound
veneration, than I felt in tracing the grass-grown intrench-
ments of this hallowed spot, made immortal by the bravery of
those heroes who defended it, whose ashes are now mingled

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxix

with its soil, and of whom a mean, beggarly pillar 'of bricks
is all the memento."

TO MR. D. H. MILLER.

Windsor, Vermont, October 26, 1808.
"Dear Sir,

" I wrote you two or three weeks ago from Boston, where I
spent about a week. A Mr. S., formerly private secretary to
John Adams, introduced me to many of the first rank in the
place, whose influence procured me an acquaintance with others;
and I journied through the streets of Boston with my book, as
I did at New York and other places, visiting all the literary
characters I could find access to.

" I spent one morning examining Bunker's Hill, accompa-
nied by lieutenant Miller and sergeant Carter, two old soldiers
of the revolution, who were both in that celebrated battle, and
who pointed out to me a great number of interesting places.
The brother of general Warren, who is a respectable physician
of Boston, became very much my friend, and related to me
many other matters respecting the engagement.

" I visited the University at Cambridge, where there is a fine
library, but the most tumultuous set of students I ever saw.

" From the top of Bunker's Hill, Boston, Charlestown, the
ocean, islands and adjacent country, form the most beautifully
varied prospect I ever beheld.

" The streets of Boston are a perfect labyrinth. The markets
are dirty; the fish market is so filthy that I will not disgust you
by a description of it. Wherever you walk you hear the most
hideous howling, as if some miserable wretch were expiring on
the wheel at every corner; this, however, is nothing but the
draymen shouting to their horses. Their drays are twenty-eight
feet long, drawn by two horses, and carry ten barrels of flour.
From Boston I set out for Salem, the country between swampy,
and in some places the most barren, rocky, and desolate in na-
ture. Salem is a neat little town. The wharves were crowded
with vessels. One wharf here is twenty hundred and twenty-

1XXX LIFE OF AVILSON.

two feet long. I staid here two days, and again set off for

Newburyport, through a rocky, uncultivated, steril country.

* * * *

" I travelled on through New Hampshire, stopping at every
place where I was likely to do any business; and went as far
east as Portland in Maine, where I staid three days, and, the
supreme court being then sitting, I had an opportunity of see-
ing and conversing with people from the remotest boundaries
of the United States in this quarter, and received much inter-
esting information from them with regard to the birds that fre-
quent these northern regions. From Portland I directed my
course across the country, among dreary savage glens, and
mountains covered with pines and hemlocks, amid whose black
and half-burnt trunks the everlasting rocks and stones, that co-
ver this country, " grinned horribly." One hundred and fifty-
seven miles brought me to Dartmouth College, Newhampshire,
on the Vermont line. Here I paid my addresses to the reve-
rend fathers of literature, and met with a kind and obliging
reception. Dr. Wheelock, the president, made me eat at his
table, and the professors vied with each other to oblige me.

" I expect to be in Albany in five days, and if the legislature
be sitting, I shall be detained perhaps three days there. In
eight days more I hope to be in Philadelphia. I have laboured
with the zeal of a knight errant in exhibiting this book of mine,
wherever I went, travelling with it, like a beggar with his
bantling, from town to town, and from one country to another.
I have been loaded with praises — with compliments and kind-
nesses— shaken almost to pieces in stage coaches; have wan-
dered among strangers, hearing the same O's and *fth's, and
telling the same story a thousand times over — and for what?
Ay, that's it! You are very anxious to know, and you shall
know the whole when I reach Philadelphia."

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxi

TO MR. ALEXANDER LAWSON.

Albany ', November 3, 1808.
« Dear Sir,

" Having a few leisure moments at disposal, I will devote
them to your service in giving you a sketch of some circum-
stances in my long literary pilgrimage, not mentioned in my
letters to Mr. Miller. And in the first place, I ought to thank
you for the thousands of compliments I have received for my
birds, from persons of all descriptions; which were chiefly due
to the taste and skill of the engraver. In short, the book, in
all its parts, so far exceeds the ideas and expectations of the
first literary characters in the eastern section of the United
States, as to command their admiration and respect. The only
objection has been the sum of one hundred and twenty dollars,
which, in innumerable instances, has risen like an evil genius
between me and my hopes. Yet I doubt not but when those
copies subscribed for are delivered, and the book a little better
known, the whole number will be disposed of, and perhaps en-
couragement given to go on with the rest. To effect this, to
me, most desirable object, I have encountered the fatigues of a
long, circuitous, and expensive journey, with a zeal that has in-
creased with increasing difficulties; and sorry I am to say that
the whole number of subscribers which I have obtained amounts
only to forty-one.

" While in New York I had the curiosity to call on the ce-
lebrated author of the "Rights of Man." He lives in Green-
wich, a short way from the city. In the only decent apartment
of a small indifferent-looking frame house, I found this extra-
ordinary man, sitting wrapt in a night gown, the table before
him covered with newspapers, with pen and ink beside him.
Paine's face would have excellently suited the character of Bar-
dolph; but the penetration and intelligence of his eye bespeak
the man of genius, and of the world. Pie complained to me of
his inability to walk, an exercise he was formerly fond of; — he
examined my book, leaf by leaf, with great attention — desired

VOL i. — L

Ixxxii LIFE OF WILSON.

me to put down his name as a subscriber; and, after inquiring
particularly for Mr. P. and Mr. B., wished to be remembered
to both.

"My journey through almost the whole of New England
has rather lowered the Yankees in my esteem. Except a few
neat academies, I found their schoolhouses equally ruinous and
deserted with ours — fields covered with stones — stone fences- —
scrubby oaks and pine trees — wretched orchards — scarcely one
grain field in twenty miles — the taverns along the road dirty,
and filled with loungers, brawling about law suits and politics —
the people snappish, and extortioners, lazy, and two hundred
years behind the Pennsylvanians in agricultural improvements.
I traversed the country bordering the river Connecticut for
nearly two hundred miles. Mountains rose on either side, some-
times three, six, or eight miles apart, the space between almost
altogether alluvial; the plains fertile, but not half cultivated.
From some projecting headlands I had immense prospects of
the surrounding countries, every where clothed in pine, hem-
lock, and scrubby oak.

"It was late in the evening when I entered Boston, and,
whirling through the narrow, lighted streets, or rather lanes, I
could form but a very imperfect idea of the town. Early the
next morning, resolved to see where I was, I sought out the
way to Beacon Hill, the highest part of the town, and whence
you look down on the roofs of the houses — the bay interspersed
with islands — the ocean — the surrounding country, and distant
mountains of New Hampshire; but the most singular objects
are the long wooden bridges, of which there are five or six,
some of them three quarters of a mile long, uniting the towns
of Boston and Charlestown with each other, and with the main
land. I looked round with an eager eye for that eminence so
justly celebrated in the history of the revolution of the United
States, BUNKER'S HILL, but I could see nothing that I could
think deserving of the name, till a gentleman, who stood by,
pointed out a white monument upon a height beyond Charles-
town, which he said was the place. I explored my way thither

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxiii

without paying much attention to other passing objects; and, in
tracing the streets of Charlestown, was astonished and hurt at
the indifference with which the inhabitants directed me to the
place.* I inquired if there were any person still living here
who had been in the battle, and I was directed to a Mr. Miller,
who was a lieutenant in this memorable affair. He is a man of
about sixty — stout, remarkably fresh coloured, with a benign
and manly countenance. I introduced myself without ceremo-
ny— shook his hand with sincere cordiality, and said, with some
warmth, that I was proud of the honour of meeting with one
of the heroes of Bunker's Hill — the first unconquerable cham-
pions of their country. He looked at me, pressed my hand in
his, and the tears instantly glistened in his eyes, which as in-
stantly called up corresponding ones in my own. In our way
to the place he called on a Mr. Carter, who he said was also in
the action, and might recollect some circumstances which he
had forgotten. With these two veterans I spent three hours,
the most interesting to me of any of my life. As they pointed

* We have here a trait of character worthy of note. Wilson's enthusi-
asm did not permit him to reflect, that an object which presents uncommon
attractions to one who beholds it for the first time, can have no such effect
upon the minds of the multitude, accustomed to view it from their infancy;
and in whose breasts those chaste and exquisite feelings which result from
taste, refined by culture, can have no place.

But what Wilson felt upon this occasion, was that which almost all men of
genius and sensibility experience when similarly situated — that divine enthu-
siasm, which, exalts one, as it were, above mortality, and which commands
our respect in proportion as the subject of it is estimable or great.

Who has not read, or having read, who can forget, that admirable passage
in Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides, wherein the illustrious traveller re-
lates his reflections on his landing upon the island of Icolmkill! " Far from
me, and from my friends," says he, " be such frigid philosophy as may con-
duct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified
by wisdom, bravery, or virtue." That this frigid philosophy was a stranger
to the soul of Wilson, we have his own declaration in evidence; and so little
skilled was he in the art of concealing his emotions, that, on any occasion
which awakened his sensibility, he would exhibit the impulse of simple na-
ture by weeping like a child.

LIFE OF WILSON.

out to me the route of the British — the American intrench-
ments — the place where the greatest slaughter was made — the
spot where Warren fell, and where he was thrown amid heaps
of the dead, I felt as though I could have encountered a whole
battalion myself in the same glorious cause. The old soldiers
were highly delighted with my enthusiasm; we drank a glass
of wine to the memory of the illustrious dead, and parted al-
most with regret.

"From Boston to Portland,- in the District of Maine, you
are almost always in the neighbourhood, or within sight, of the
Atlantic. The country may be called a mere skeleton of rocks,
and fields of sand, in many places entirely destitute of wood,
except a few low scrubby junipers, in others covered with pines
of a diminutive growth. On entering the tavern in Portland,
I took up the newspaper of the day, in which I found my song
of Freedom and Peace,* which I afterwards heard read before
a numerous company, (for the supreme court was sitting,) with
great emphasis, as a most excellent song; but I said nothing on
the subject.

" From Portland I steered across the country for the northern
parts of Vermont, among barren, savage, pine-covered moun-
tains, through regions where nature and art have done infinitely
less to make it a fit residence for man than any country I ever
traversed. Among these dreary tracts I found winter had al-
ready commenced, and the snow several inches deep. I called
at Dartmouth College, the president of which, as well as of all
I visited in New England, subscribed. Though sick with a se-
vere cold, and great fatigue, I continued my route to this place,
passing and calling at great numbers of small towns in my way.
"The legislature is at present in session — the newspapers
have to-day taken notice of my book, and inserted my advertise-
ment— I shall call on the principal people — employ an agent

* A certain military association of Philadelphia, being disposed to dignify
the national celebration of this year, offered a gold medal for the best song
which should be written for the occasion; and Wilson bore away the prize
from many competitors.

LIFE OF WILSON. 1XXXV

among some of the booksellers in Albany, and return home by
New York."

Wilson after tarrying at home a few days, departed to the
southward, visiting every city and town of importance as far
as Savannah in the state of Georgia. This journey being per-
formed in the winter, and alone, was of course not attended
with many travelling comforts; and to avoid the inconve-
niences of a return by land, he embarked in a vessel, and ar-
rived at New- York in the month of March, 1809. This was
rather an unproductive tour; but few subscriptions being ob-
tained.

TO MR. D. H. MILLER.

Washington City, December 24, 1808.
"Dear Sir,

" I sit down, before leaving this place, to give you a few
particulars of my expedition. I spent nearly a week in Balti-
more, with tolerable success, having procured sixteen subscri-
bers there. In Annapolis I passed my book through both
houses of the legislature: the wise men of Maryland stared and
gaped, from bench to bench; but having never heard of such a
thing as one hundred and twenty dollars for a book, the ayes
for subscribing were none; and so it was unanimously deter-
mined in the negative. Nowise discouraged by this shge de-
cision, I pursued my route through the tobacco fields, sloughs
and swamps, of this illiterate corner of the state, to Washing-
ton, distant thirty-eight miles; and in my way opened fifty-
five gates. I was forewarned that I should meet with many
of these embarrassments, and I opened twenty-two of them
with all the patience and philosophy I could muster; but when
I still found then coming thicker and faster, my patience and
philosophy both abandoned me, and I saluted every new gate
(which obliged me to plunge into the mud to open it) with
perhaps less Christian resignation than I ought to have done.
The negroes there are very numerous, and most wretchedly
clad : their whole covering, in many instances, assumes the ap-

LIFE OF WILSON.

pearance of neither coat, waistcoat, nor breeches, but a motley
mass of coarse, dirty woolen Tags, of various colours, gathered
up about them. When I stopped at some of the negro huts to
inquire the road, both men and women huddled up their filthy
bundles of rags around them, with both arms, in order to co-
ver their nakedness, and came out, very civilly, to show me
the way.

61 1 cannot pretend, within the bounds of a letter, to give
you a complete description of Washington. It consists of a
great extent of confined commons, one-half of which is nearly
level, and little higher than the Potomac; the other parts, on
which the Capitol and President's house are built, are high and
commanding. The site is much better than I expected to find
it; and is certainly a noble place for a great metropolis. I saw
one brick house building, which is the only improvement, of
that kind, going on at present. The taverns and boarding
houses here are crowded with an odd assemblage of characters.
Fat placemen, expectants, contractors, petitioners, office-hun-
ters, lumber-dealers, salt-manufacturers, and numerous other
adventurers. Among the rest are deputations from different
Indian nations, along our distant frontiers, who are come hither
to receive their last alms from the President, previous to his
retirement.

" The President received me very kindly. 1 asked for no-
body to introduce me, but merely sent him in a line that I was
there; when he ordered me to be immediately admitted. He
has given me a letter to a gentleman in Virginia, who is to in-
troduce me to a person there, who, Mr. Jefferson says, has
spent his whole life in studying the manners of our birds; and
from whom I am to receive a world of facts and observations.
The President intended to send for this person himself; and to
take down, from his mouth, what he knows on the subject;
thinking it a pity, as he says, that the knowledge he possesses
should die with him. But he has entrusted the business to
me; and I have promised him an account of our interview.

" All the subscribers I have gleaned here amount to seven-

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxvii

teen. I shall set off, on finishing this letter, to Georgetown
and Alexandria. I will write you, or some of my friends, from
Richmond."

TO MR. D. H. MILLER.

Charleston, February 22, 1809.
"Dear Sir,

66 1 have passed through a considerable extent of country
since I wrote you last; and met with a variety of adventures,
some of which may perhaps amuse you. Norfolk turned out
better than I expected. I left that place on one of the coldest

mornings I have experienced since leaving Philadelphia.

* * # *

" I mentioned to you in my last that the streets of Norfolk
were in a most disgraceful state; but I was informed that some
time before, they had been much worse; that at one time the
news-carrier delivered his papers from a boat; which he poled
along through the mire ; and that a party of sailors, having no-
thing better to do, actually lanched a ship's long-boat into the
streets, rowing along with four oars through the mud, while
one stood at the bow, heaving the lead, and singing out the
depth.

" I passed through a flat, pine covered country, from Nor-
folk to Suffolk, twenty-four miles distant; and lodged, in the
way, in the house of a planter, who informed me that every
year, in August and September, almost all his family are laid
up with the bilious fever; that at one time forty of his people
were sick; and that of thirteen children, only three were living.
Two of these, with their mother, appeared likely not to be long
tenants of this world. Thirty miles farther, I came to a small
place on the river Nottaway, called Jerusalem. Here I found
the river swelled to such an extraordinary height, that the old-
est inhabitant had never seen the like. After passing along the
bridge, I was conveyed, in a boat termed a flat, a mile and
three-quarters through the woods, where the torrent sweeping
along in many places rendered this sort of navigation rather

Ixxxviii LIFE OF WILSON.

disagreeable. I proceeded on my journey, passing through so-
litary pine woods, perpetually interrupted by swamps, that co-
vered the road with water two and three feet deep, frequently
half a mile at a time, looking like a long river or pond. These
in the afternoon were surmountable; but the weather being ex-
ceedingly severe, they were covered every morning with a
sheet of ice, from half an inch to an inch thick, that cut my
horse's legs and breast. After passing a bridge, I had many
times to wade, and twice to swim my. horse, to get to the shore.
I attempted to cross the Roanoke at three different ferries, thir-
ty-five miles apart, and at last succeeded at a place about fifteen
miles below Halifax. A violent snow storm made the roads still
more execrable.

" The productions of these parts of North Carolina are hogs,
turpentine, tar, and apple brandy. A tumbler of toddy is usual-
ly the morning's beverage of the inhabitants, as soon as they
get out of bed. So universal is the practice, that the first thing
you find them engaged in, after rising, is preparing the brandy
toddy. You can scarcely meet a man whose lips are not parch-
ed and chopped or blistered with drinking this poison. Those
who do not drink it, they say, are sure of the ague. I, how-
ever, escaped. The pine woods have a singular appearance,
every tree being stripped, on one or more sides, of the bark, for
six or seven feet up. The turpentine covers these parts in thick
masses. I saw the people, in different parts of the woods,
mounted on benches, chopping down the sides of the trees;
leaving a trough or box in the tree for the turpentine to run
into. Of hogs they have immense multitudes; one person will
sometimes own five hundred. The leaders have bells round
their necks; and every drove knows its particular call, whether
it be a conch-shell, or the bawling of a negro, though half a
mile off. Their owners will sometimes drive them for four or
five days to a market, without once feeding them.

61 The taverns are the most desolate and beggarly imaginable:
bare, bleak, and dirty walls; — one or two old broken chairs,
and a bench, form all the furniture. The white females seldom

LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxix

make their appearance; and every thing must be transacted
through the medium of negroes. At supper, you sit down to a
meal, the very sight of which is sufficient to deaden the most
eager appetite; and you are surrounded by half a dozen dirty,
half-naked blacks, male and female, whom any man of common
scent might smell a quarter of a mile off. The house itself is
raised upon props, four or five feet; and the space below is left
open for the hogs, with whose charming vocal performance the
wearied traveller is serenaded the whole night long, till he is
forced to curse the hogs, the house, and every thing about it.

" I crossed the river Taw at Washington, for Newbern, which
stands upon a sandy plain, between the rivers Trent and Neuse,
both of which abound with alligators. Here I found the shad
fishery begun, on the 5th instant; and wished to have some of
you with me to assist in dissecting some of the finest shad I ever
saw. Thence to Wilmington was my next stage, one hundred
miles, with only one house for the accommodation of travellers
on the road; two landlords having been broken up with the fever.

" The general features of North Carolina, where I crossed it,
are immense, solitary, pine savannas, through which the road
winds among stagnant ponds, swarming with alligators; dark,
sluggish creeks, of the colour of brandy, over which are thrown
high wooden bridges, without railings, and so crazy and rotten
as not only to alarm one's horse, but also the rider, and to make
it a matter of thanksgiving with both when they get fairly over,
without going through; enormous cypress swamps, which, to
a stranger, have a striking, desolate, and ruinous appearance.
Picture to yourself a forest of prodigious trees, rising, as thick
as they can grow, from a vast flat and impenetrable morass, co-
vered for ten feet from the ground with reeds. The leafless
limbs of the cypresses are clothed with an extraordinary kind
of moss, ( Tillandsia usneoides,) from two to ten feet long, in
such quantities, that fifty men might conceal themselves in one
tree. Nothing in this country struck me with such surprise as
the prospect of several thousand acres of such timber, loaded,
as it were, with many million tons of tow, waving in the wind.

VOL. -i. — M

XC LIFE OF WILSON.

I attempted to penetrate several of these swamps, with my gun,
in search of something new; but, except in some chance places, I
found it altogether impracticable. I coasted along their borders,
however, in many places, and was surprised at the great pro-
fusion of evergreens, of numberless sorts; and a variety of ber-
ries that I knew nothing of. Here I found multitudes of birds
that never winter with us in Pennsylvania, living in abundance.
Though the people told me that the alligators are so numerous
as to destroy many of their pigs, calves, dogs, &c. , yet I have
never been enabled to get my eye on one, though I have been
several times in search of them with my gun. In Georgia, they
tell me, they are ten times more numerous; and I expect some
sport among them. I saw a dog at the river Santee, who swims
across when he pleases, in defiance of these voracious animals;
when he hears them behind him, he wheels round, and attacks
them, often seizing them by the snout. They generally retreat,
and he pursues his route again, serving every one that attacks
him in the same manner.* He belongs to the boatman; and,
when left behind, always takes to the water.

" As to the character of the North Carolinians, were I to
judge of it by the specimens which I met with in taverns, I
should pronounce them to be the most ignorant, debased, in-
dolent and dissipated, portion of the union. But I became ac-
quainted with a few such noble exceptions, that, for their

* This is an uncommon instance of intrepidity in the canine race, and is
worthy of record. It is well-known that the alh'gutor is fond of dog-flesh; and
the dog appears to be instructed by instinct to avoid so dangerous an enemy,
it being difficult to induce him to approach the haunts of the alligator, even
when encouraged by the example of his master. A fine stout spaniel accom-
panied me to East Florida. Being one day engaged in wading through a pond,
in pursuit of ducks, with my dog swimming behind me, apparently delighted
with his employment, he smelt an alligator: he immediately made to the shore,
fled into the forest, and all my endeavours to prevail with him to return were
ineffectual. Ever after, when we approached that pond, he exhibited such
evidences of apprehension, that I was fain to retire with him, lest his terror
should again induce him to flee, where he would have, probably, been lost.

LIFE OF WILSON. xci

sakes, I am willing to believe they are all better than they
seemed to be.

" Wilmington contains about three thousand souls; and yet
there is not one cultivated field within several miles of it. The
whole country, on this side of the river, is a mass of sand, into
which you sink up to the ankles; and hardly a blade of grass is
to be seen. All about is pine barrens. * * *

" From Wilmington I rode through solitary pine savannas,
and cypress swamps, as before; sometimes thirty miles without
seeing a hut, or human being. On arriving at the Wackamaw,
Pedee, and Black river, I made long zigzags among the rich
nabobs, who live on their rice plantations, amidst large villages
of negro huts. One of these gentlemen told me that he had
" something better than six hundred head of blacks!"
These excursions detained me greatly. The roads to the plan-
tations were so long, so difficult to find, and so bad, and the
hospitality of the planters was such, that I could scarcely get
away again. I ought to have told you that the deep sands of
South Carolina had so worn out my horse, that, with all my
care, I found he would give up. Chance led me to the house
of a planter, named V. , about forty miles north of the river
Wackamaw, where I proposed to bargain with him, and to
give up my young blood horse for another in exchange; giving
him at least as good a character as he deserved. He asked
twenty dollars to boot, and / thirty. We parted, but I could
perceive that he had taken a liking to my steed; so I went on.
He followed me to the seabeach, about three miles, under pre-
tence of pointing out to me the road ; and there, on the sands,
amidst the roar of the Atlantic, we finally bargained; and I
found myself in possession of a large, well formed and elegant,
sorrel horse, that ran off with me, at a canter, for fifteen miles
along the sea shore; and travelled the same day forty-two
miles, with nothing but a few mouthfuls of rice straw, which I
got from a negro. If you have ever seen the rushes with
which carpenters sometimes smooth their work, you may form
some idea of the common fare of the South Carolina horses. I

LIFE OF WILSON.

found now that I had got a very, devil before my chair; the
least sound of the whip made him spring half a rod at a leap;
no road, however long or heavy, could tame him. Two or
three times he had nearly broke my neck, and chair to boot;
and at Georgetown ferry he threw one of the boatmen into the
river. But he is an excellent traveller, and for that one quali-
ty I forgave him all his sins, only keeping a close rein, and a

sharp look out.

* •* * *

" I should now give you some account of Charleston, with
the streets of which I am as well acquainted as I was with
those of New York and Boston; but I reserve that till we meet.
I shall only say, that the streets cross each other at right an-
gles— are paved on the sides — have a low bed of sand in the
middle; and frequently are in a state fit to compare to those of
Norfolk. The town, however, is neat — has a gay appearance
— is full of shops; and has a market place which far surpasses
those of Philadelphia for cleanliness, and is an honour to the
city. Many of the buildings have two, three, and four ranges
of piazzas, one above another, with a great deal of gingerbread
work about them. The streets are crowded with negroes; and
their quarrels often afford amusement to the passengers. In a
street called Broad street, I every day see a crowd of wretch-
edly clad blacks, huddled in a corner for sale: people handling
them as they do black cattle. Here are female chimney
sweeps; stalls with roasted sweet potatoes for sale; and on the
wharves clubs of blacks, male and female, sitting round fires,
amid heaps of oyster-shells, cooking their victuals — these seem
the happiest mortals on earth. The finest groups for a comic
painter might every day be found here that any country can
produce.

" The ladies of Charleston are dressed with taste; but their
pale and languid countenances by no means correspond with
their figures. * * *

" To-morrow afternoon I shall set off for Savannah. I have

LIFE OF WILSON. xciii

collected one hundred and twenty-five subscribers since leaving
home."

Savannah, March 5, 1809.
" Dear Sir,

" I have now reached the ne plus ultra of my peregrina-
tions, and shall return home by the first opportunity. Whether
this shall be by land or water, depends on circumstances; if
the former, I shall go by Augusta, where I am told twelve or
fifteen subscribers may be procured. These, however, would
be insufficient to tempt me that way, for I doubt whether my
funds would be sufficient to carry me through.

" The innkeepers in the southern states are like the vultures
that hover about their cities; and treat their guests as the others
do their carrion: are as glad to see them, and pick them as
bare. The last letter I wrote you was on my arrival in
Charleston. I found greater difficulties to surmount there than
I had thought of. I solicited several people for a list of names,
but that abject and disgraceful listlessness, and want of energy,
which have unnerved the whites of all descriptions in these
states, put me off from time to time, till at last I was obliged
to walk the streets, and pick out those houses which, from
their appearance, indicated wealth and taste in the occupants,
and introduce myself. Neither M., Dr. R., nor any other
that I applied to, gave me the least assistance, though they pro-
mised, and knew I was a stranger. I was going on in this
way, when the keeper of the library, a Scotsman, a good man,
whose name had been mentioned to me, made me out a list
from the directory; and among these I spent ten days. The
extreme servility, and superabundance of negroes, have ruined
the energy and activity of the white population. M. appears
to be fast sinking into the same insipidity of character, with a
pretty good sprinkling of rapacity. In Charleston, however,
I met with some excellent exceptions, among the first ranks of
society; and the work excited universal admiration. Dr. D.
introduced it very handsomely into the Courier. On hearing
of general Wilkinson's arrival, I waited on him. He received

XCiv LIFE OF WILSON.

me with kindness — said he valued the book highly — and paid
me the twelve dollars; on which I took occasion to prognosti-
cate my final success on receiving its first fruits from him.

" I will not tire you by a recital of the difficulties which I
met with between Charleston and Savannah, by bad roads, and
the extraordinary flood of the river Savannah, where I had
nearly lost my horse, he having, by his restiveness, thrown
himself overboard; and, had I not, at great personal risk, res-
cued him, he might have floated down to Savannah before me.

" I arrived here on Tuesday last, and advertised in the Re-
publican, the editors of which interested themselves considera-
bly for me, speaking of my book in their Thursday's paper
with much approbation. The expense of advertising in the
southern states is great; but I found it really necessary. I
have now seen every person in this place and neighbourhood,
of use to be seen. Here I close the list of my subscrip-
tions, obtained at a price worth more than five times their
amount. But, in spite of a host of difficulties, I have gained
my point; and should the work be continued in the style it has
been begun, I have no doubt but we may increase the copies
to four hundred. I have endeavoured to find persons of re-
spectability in each town, who will receive and deliver the vo-
lumes, without recompense, any further than allowing them to
make the first selection. By this means the rapacity of some
booksellers will be avoided.

" The weather has been extremely warm these ten days, the
thermometer stood in the shade on Friday and Saturday last,
at 78° and 79°. I have seen no frost since the 5th of February.
The few gardens here are as green and luxuriant as ours are in
summer — full of flowering shrubbery, and surrounded with
groves of orange trees, fifteen and twenty feet high, loaded with
fruit. The streets are deep beds of heavy sand, without the ac-
commodation of a foot pavement. I most sincerely hope that
I may be able to return home by water; if not, I shall trouble
you with one letter more."

LIFE OF WILSON, XCV

TO MR. WILLIAM BARTRAM.

Savannah, March 5, 1809.

" Three months, my dear friend, are passed since I parted
from you in Kingsess. I have been travelling ever since ; and
one half of my journey is yet to be performed — but that half is
homewards, and through old Neptune's dominions, where I trust
I shall not be long detained. This has been the most arduous,
expensive, and fatiguing, expedition I ever undertook. I have,
however, gained my point in procuring two hundred and fifty
subscribers, in all, for my Ornithology ; and a great mass of in-
formation respecting the birds that winter in the southern states,
and some that never visit the middle states; and this information
I have derived personally, and can therefore the more certainly
depend upon it. I have, also, found several new birds, of which
I can find no account in Linneus. All these things we will talk

over when we meet.

* * * *

" I visited a great number of the rich planters on the rivers
Santee and Pedee, and was much struck with the miserable
swarms of negroes around them. In these rice plantations, there
are great numbers of birds, never supposed to winter so far
north, and their tameness surprised me. There are also many
here that never visit Pennsylvania. Round Georgetown I also
visited several rich planters, all of whom entertained me hos-
pitably. I spent ten days in Charleston, still, in every place
where I stopped a day or two, making excursions with my gun.

" On the commons, near Charleston, I presided at a singular
feast. The company consisted of two hundred and thirty-seven
Carrion Crows, ( Vultur atratus] five or six dogs, and myself,
though I only kept order, and left the eating part entirely to
the others. I sat so near to the dead horse, that my feet touch-
ed his, and yet at one time I counted thirty-eight vultures on
and within him, so that hardly an inch of his flesh could be seen
for them. Linneus and others have confounded this Vultur with
the Turkey Buzzard, but they are two very distinct species.

xcvi LiFE OF WILSON.

" As far north as Wilmington, in North Carolina, I met with
the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. I killed two, and winged a male,
who alarmed the whole town of Wilmington, screaming exactly
like a young child crying violently, so that every body sup-
posed I had a baby under the apron of my chair, till I took out
the bird to prevent the people from stopping me. This bird I
confined in the room I was to sleep in, and in less than half an
hour he made his way through the plaster, the lath, and partly
through the weather boards; and would have escaped, if I had
not accidentally come in. The common people confound the

P. principalis and P. pileatus together.

* * * *

"I am utterly at a loss in my wood rambles here, for there
are so many trees, shrubs, plants, and insects, that I know no-
thing of. There are immense quantities of elegant butterflies,
and other singular insects. I met with a grasshopper so big that
I took it for a bird; it settles upon trees and bushes. I have
kept a record of all the birds which I have seen or shot since I
left home.

" This journey will be of much use to me, as I have formed
acquaintance in almost every place, who are able to transmit
me information. Great numbers of our summer birds are al-
ready here; and many are usually here all winter.

" There is a Mr. Abbot here, who has resided in Georgia
thirty-three years, drawing insects and birds. I have been on
several excursions with him. He is a very good observer, and
paints well. He has published, in London, one large folio vo-
lume of the Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia. It is a very
splendid work. There is only one vessel here bound to New
York; she sails some time next week, and I shall take my pas-
sage in her. I caught a fever here by getting wet; I hope the
sea air, and sea-sickness, will carry it off."

Savannah, March 8, 1809.
"Dear Sir,

" Having now visited all the towns within one hundred miles
of the Atlantic, from Maine to Georgia, and done as much for

LIFE OF WILSON. XCvii

this bantling book of mine as ever author did for any progeny
of his brain, I now turn my wishful eye towards home. There
is a charm, a melody, in this little word home, which only
those know, who have forsaken it to wander among strangers,
exposed to dangers, fatigues, insults and impositions, of a thou-
sand nameless kinds. Perhaps I feel the force of this idea ra-
ther more at present than usual, being indisposed with a slight
fever these three days, which a dose of sea-sickness will, I hope,
rid me of. The weather since my arrival in this place has been
extremely warm for the season. The wind generally south-
west, and the thermometer ranging between 75 and 82. To me
it feels more intolerable than our summer heat in Philadelphia.
The streets of Savannah are also mere beds of burning sand,
without even a foot pavement; and until one learns to traverse
them with both eyes and mouth shut, both are plentifully filled
with showers and whirlwinds of sand. I was longer detained in
Charleston than I expected, partly on account of the races, which
occupied the minds of many I wished to visit, to the exclusion
of every thing else. At nine they were in bed; at ten break-
fasting— dressing at eleven — gone out at noon, and not visible
again until ten next morning, I met, however, with some ex-
cellent exceptions, among the first ranks of society, and my
work excited universal admiration. Dr. D. introduced it very
handsomely into the Courier.

"The indolence, want of energy, and dissipation, of the
wealthy part of the community in that place, are truly con-
temptible. The superabundance of negroes in the southern
states has destroyed the activity of the whites. The carpenter,
bricklayer, and even the blacksmith, stand with their hands in
their pockets, overlooking their negroes. The planter orders
his servant to tell the overseer to see my horse fed and taken
care of; the overseer sends another negro to tell the driver to
send one of his hands to do it. Before half of this routine is
gone through, I have myself unharnessed, rubbed down, and
fed my horse. Every thing must be done through the agency
of these slovenly blacks. * * * These, however, are not one-

VOL. i. — N

XCViii LIFE OF WILSON.

tenth of the curses slavery has brought on the southern states.
Nothing has surprised me more than the cold melancholy re-
serve of the females, of the best families, in South Carolina and
Georgia. Old and young, single and married, all have that dull
frigid insipidity, and reserve, which is attributed to solitary old
maids. Even in their own houses they scarce utter any thing
to a stranger but yes or no, and one is perpetually puzzled to
know whether it proceeds from awkwardness or dislike. Those
who have been at some of their balls say that the ladies hardly
ever speak or smile, but dance with as much gravity, as if they
were performing some ceremony of devotion. On the contrary,
the negro wenches are all sprightliness and gayety; and if re-
port be not a defamer — (here, there is a hiatus in the manu-
script) which render the men callous to all the finer sensations
of love, and female excellence.

" I will not detain you by a recital of my journey from
Charleston to Savannah. In crossing the Savannah river, at a
place called the Two Sisters' Ferry, my horse threw himself
into the torrent, and had I not, at the risk of my own life, res-
cued him, would have been drowned."

Of the first volume of the Ornithology, only two hundred
copies had been printed. But it was now thought expedient to
strike off a new edition of three hundred more; as the increas-
ing approbation of the public warranted the expectation of cor-
responding support.

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Philadelphia, August 4, 1809.

" The second volume of " American Ornithology" being
now nearly ready to go to press, and the plates in considerable
forwardness, you will permit me to trespass on your time, for
a few moments, by inquiring if you have any thing interesting
to add to the history of the following birds, the figures of which

will be found in this volume.

* * * *

«\

" I have myself already said every thing of the foregoing

LIFE OF WILSON. xcix

that my own observations suggested, or that I have been ena-
bled to collect from those on whom I could rely. As it has fallen
to my lot to be the biographer of the feathered tribes of the
United States, I am solicitous to do full justice to every species;
and I would not conceal one good quality that any one of them
possesses. I have paid particular attention to the mocking-bird,
humming-bird, king-bird and cat-bird; all the principal traits
in their character I have delineated at full. If you have any
thing to add on either of them, I wish you would communicate
it in the*form of a letter, addressed particularly to me. Your fa-
vourable opinion of my work (if such you have) would, if pub-
licly known, be of infinite service to me, and procure me many
friends. *

"I assure you, my dear friend, that this undertaking has
involved me in many difficulties and expenses which I never
dreamt of ;t and I have never yet received one cent from it. I

* This instance of Wilson's diffidence of his own talents and acquirements
is too remarkable to be passed over without a note. He seemed to fear lest
the intrinsic merit of his work should not be sufficient, of itself, tog-etit into
notice; and therefore he solicited the favourable opinion of one, to whose
judgment in these matters, he felt assured, the public paid a deference.
Contrasted with this modest deportment, how contemptible is the vanity, and
self conceit, of those writers, who, whether they compose a superficial essay,
for the transactions of a learned society, or compile a bald and meager pam-
phlet, present themselves before the public with an air of importance, which
should seem to demand that countenance and applause, as a matter of right,
which true merit humbly requests as a favour.

f The great expense of the publication prevented the author from giving
all his plates that finish which his taste and judgment would have approved;
but that in some instances extraordinary pains were bestowed upon them, a
cursory glance will render evident. I have Mr. Lawson's authority for assert-
ing1, that, so anxious was he to encourage his friend, frequently after compu-
ting" the time spent upon perfecting his work, he found liis reward did not
amount to more than fifty cents per day.

From a note to this gentleman, I make the following- extract, relating to
the bald eagle :

" I hope you go on courageously with the eagle; let no expense deter you
from giving it the freest and most masterly touches of your graver. I think
we shall be able to offer it as a competitor with the best that this country or
Europe can produce."

C LIFE OF WILSON.

am, therefore, a volunteer in the cause of Natural History, im-
pelled by nobler views than those of money. The second volume
will be ready for delivery on the first of January next. I have re-
ceived communications from many different parts of the United
States; with some drawings, and offers of more. But these are
rarely executed with such precision as is necessary for a work
of this kind.

" Let me know if you have ever seen the nest of Catesby's
cowpen-bird. I have every reason to believe that this bird never
builds itself a nest, but, like the cuckoo of Europe, flrops its
eggs into the nests of other birds; and leaves the result to their
mercy and management. I have found no less than six nests
this season, with each a young cow-bird contained in it. One
of these, which I had found in the nest of the Maryland yellow-
throat, and which occupied the whole nest, I brought home,
and put it into the cage of a crested red-bird, who became its
foster father, and fed, and reared it, with great affection. It
begins to chant a little.

" I have just heard from our old friend M* *. He has not
yet published the first number of his work; and Bonaparte has
been so busy with cutting throats, and building bridges, in the
forests of Austria, that the Inspector of the Forests of France
has not yet received his appointment."

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

October 11, 1809.

" Thanks for your bird, so neatly stuffed, that I was just
about to skin it. It is the Rallus virginianus of Turton, and
agrees exactly with his description. The one in company was
probably the female. Turton mentions four species as inhabi-
tants of the United States. I myself have seen six. Mr. Abbot
of Savannah showed me two new species. I found the sora, as
the Virginians call it, in the rice flats near Savannah, in March.
General Wilkinson told me that the sora was in multitudes at
Detroit. Query — don't you think they breed in the north, like
the rice-birds? Are not the European naturalists mistaken in

LIFE OF WILSON. ci

saying that the reed-birds or rice-birds pass from the Island of
Cuba, in September, to Carolina? All the Spaniards with whom
I have conversed, say that these birds are seen in Cuba, early
in the spring only, and again in October. And the people of
the District of Maine, of all the New England states, and those
who have lived on the river Illinois, declare that these birds
breed there in vast numbers.

"I have many times been told that our small snow-bird
(fringilla hudsonia) breeds in the Great Swamp, which I
can hardly believe. When I was in Williamsburg, Virginia,
Bishop Madison told me of a mountain, in the interior of that
state, where they bred in multitudes. I have lately had the
most positive assurances from a gentleman who lived on the
ranges of the Alleghany, about two hundred and fifty miles dis-
tant, that he saw them there four months ago; and that they
built their nests almost every where among the long grass. He
said he took particular notice of them, as he had heard it said
down here, that they changed to chipping sparrows in summer.
What think you of these matters?"

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Philadelphia, Nov. 11, 1809.
« Dear Sir,

" Since I parted from you yesterday evening, I have rumi-
nated a great deal on my proposed journey ; I have considered
the advantages and disadvantages of the three modes of pro-
ceeding: on horseback — in the stage-coach, and on foot. Taking
every thing into view, I have at length determined to adopt
the last, as being the cheapest, the best adapted for examining
the country we pass through; the most favourable to health;
and, in short, except for its fatigues, the best mode for a sci-
entific traveller or naturalist, in every point of view. I have
also thought that by this determination I will be so happy as
to secure your company, for which I would willingly sustain
as much hardship, and as many deprivations, as I am able to
bear.

Cii LIFE OF WILSON.

" If this determination should meet your approbation, and
if you are willing to encounter the hardships of such a pedes-
trian journey, let me know as soon as is convenient. I think
one dollar a day, each, will be fully sufficient for our expenses,
by a strict regard, at all times, to economy."

The second volume of the Ornithology was published in Ja-
nuary, 1810; and Wilson set out for Pittsburg, the latter part
of the same month, in his route to New Orleans. I trust that
no apology is necessary for introducing the following letters,
addressed to Mr. Lawson, into these memoirs, notwithstand-
ing three of them are well known to the public, having origi-
nally appeared in the Port Folio.*

TO MR. ALEXANDER LAWSON.

4 Pittsburg, February 22d} 1810.
« Dear Sir,

" From this first stage of my Ornithological pilgrimage, I
sit down, with pleasure, to give you some account of my ad-
ventures since we parted. On arriving at Lancaster, I waited
on the governor, secretary of state, and such other great folks
as were likely to be useful to me. The governor received me
with civility, passed some good natured compliments on the
volumes, and readily added his name to my list. He seems
an active man, of plain good sense, and little ceremony. By
Mr. L. I was introduced to many members of both houses,
but I found them, in general, such a pitiful, squabbling, politi-
cal mob; so split up, and justling about the mere formalities of
legislation, without knowing any thing of its realities, that I
abandoned them in disgust. I must, however, except from
this censure a few intelligent individuals, friends to science,
and possessed of taste, who treated me with great kindness.
On Friday evening I set out for Columbia, where I spent one
day in vain. I crossed the Susquehannah on Sunday forenoon,
with some difficulty, having to cut our way through the ice for
several hundred yards; and passing on to York, paid my re-

* New Series, vols. Ill, 499, IV, 310, VII, 34.

LIFE OF WILSON. ciii

spects to all the literati of that place without success. Five
miles north of this town lives a very extraordinary character,
between eighty and ninety years of age, who has lived by
trapping birds and quadrupeds these thirty years. Dr. F. car-
ried me out in a sleigh to see him, and presented me with a
tolerably good full length figure of him; he has also promised
to transmit to me such a collection of facts relative to this sin-
gular original, as will enable me to draw up an interesting nar-
rative of him for the Port Folio. I carried him half a pound
of snuff, of which he is insatiably fond, taking it by handfuls.
I was much diverted with the astonishment he expressed on
looking at the plates of my work — he could tell me anecdotes
of the greater part of the subjects of the first volume, and some
of the second. One of his traps, which he says he invented
himself, is remarkable for ingenuity, and extremely simple.
Having a letter from Dr. Muhlenberg to a clergyman in Hano-
ver, I passed on through a well cultivated country, chiefly in-
habited by Germans, to that place, where a certain Judge took
upon himself to say, that such a book as mine ought not to be
encouraged, as it was not ivithin the reach of the commona-
lity; and therefore inconsistent with our republican institu-
tions! By the same mode of reasoning, which I did not dis-
pute, I undertook to prove him a greater culprit than myself,
in erecting a large, elegant, three-story brick house, so much
beyond the reach of the commonality, as he called them, and
consequently grossly contrary to our republican institutions. I
harangued this Solomon of the Bench more seriously after-
wards, pointing out to him the great influence of science on a
young rising nation like ours, and particularly the science of
Natural History, till he began to show such symptoms of in-
tellect, as to seem ashamed of what he had said.

" From Hanover I passed through a thinly inhabited coun-
try; and crossing the North Mountain, at a pass called New-
man's Gap, arrived at Chambersburg, whence I next morning
returned to Carlisle, to visit the reverend doctors of the col-
lege. * * *

civ LIFE OF WILSON.

" The towns of Chambersburg and Shippensburg produced
me nothing. On Sunday, the llth, I left the former of these
places in the stage coach; and in fifteen miles began to ascend
the Alpine regions of the Alleghany mountains, where above,
around, and below us, nothing appeared but prodigious decli-
vities, covered with woods; and, the weather being fine, such
a profound silence prevailed among these aerial solitudes, as im-
pressed the soul with awe, and a kind of fearful sublimity.
Something of this arose from my being alone, having left the
coach several miles below. These high ranges continued for
more than one hundred miles to Greensburg, thirty-two miles
from Pittsburg; thence the country is nothing but an assem-
blage of steep hills, and deep vallies, descending rapidly till
you reach within seven miles of this place, where I arrived on
the 15th instant. We were within two miles of Pittsburg,
when suddenly the road descends a long and very steep hill,
where the Alleghany river is seen at hand, on the right,
stretching along a rich bottom, and bounded by a high ridge of
hills on the west. After following this road, parallel with the
river, and about a quarter of a mile from it, through a rich low
valley, a cloud of black smoke, at its extremity, announced
the town of Pittsburg. On arriving at the town, which
stands on a low flat, and looks like a collection of Blacksmith's
shops, Glasshouses, Breweries, Forges and Furnaces, the Mo-
nongahela opened to the view, on the left, running along the
bottom of a range of hills so high that the sun, at this season,
sets to the town of Pittsburg at a little past four: this range
continues along the Ohio as far as the view reaches. The ice
had just begun to give way in the Monongahela, and came
down in vast bodies for the three following days. It has now
begun in the Alleghany, and, at the moment I write, the river
presents a white mass of rushing ice.

" The country beyond the Ohio, to the west, appears a
mountainous and hilly region. The Monongahela is lined
with arks, usually called Kentucky-boats, waiting for the rising
of the river, and the absence of the ice, to descend. A per-

LIFE OF WILSON. CV

spective view of the town of Pittsburg at this season, with the
numerous arks and covered keel-boats preparing to descend
the Ohio; its hills, its great rivers — the pillars of smoke rising
from its furnaces and glass-works — would make a noble picture.
I began a very diligent search in this place, the day after my
arrival, for subscribers, and continued it for four days. I suc-
ceeded beyond expectation, having got nineteen names of the
most wealthy and respectable part of the inhabitants. The in-
dustry of Pittsburg is remarkable; every body you see is busy;
and as a proof of the prosperity of the place, an eminent law-
yer told me that there has not been one suit instituted against

a merchant of the town these three years.

# # # .#

" Gentlemen here assure me that the road to Chilicothe is
impassable on foot by reason of the freshes. I have therefore
resolved to navigate myself a small skiff, which I have bought,
and named the ORNITHOLOGIST, down to Cincinnati, a distance
of five hundred and twenty-eight miles; intending to visit five
or six towns that lie in my way. From Cincinnati I will
cross over to the opposite shore, and, abandoning my boat,
make my way to Lexington, where I expect to be ere your
letter can reach that place. Were I to go by Chilicothe, I
should miss five towns, as large as it. Some say that I ought
not to attempt going down by myself — others think I may.
I am determined to make the experiment, the expense of
hiring a rower being considerable. As soon as the ice clears
out of the Alleghany, and the weather will permit, I shall
shove off, having every thing in readiness. I have ransacked
the woods and fields here without finding a single bird new to
me, or indeed any thing but a few snow-birds and sparrows.
I expect to have something interesting to communicate in my

next.

* -# * *

" My friends will please accept through you my best wishes
and kindest respects; and I regret that while the grand specta-
cle of mountains, regions of expanded forests, glittering townsr

VOL. i. — o

cvi LIFE OF WILSON.

and noble rivers, are passing in rapid succession before my de-
lighted view, they are not beside me to enjoy the varying
scenery; but as far as my pen will enable me, I will freely
share it with them, and remember them affectionately until I
forget myself.

" February 23d. My baggage is on board — I have just to
despatch this and set off. The weather is fine, and I have no
doubt of piloting my skiff in safety to Cincinnati. Farewell !
God bless you!"

TO MR. ALEXANDER LAWSON.

Lexington, JZpril 4, 1810.
" My Dear Sir,

" Having now reached the second stage of my bird-catching
expedition, I willingly sit down to give you some account of
my adventures and remarks since leaving Pittsburg; by the
aid of a good map, and your usual stock of patience, you will
be able to listen to my story, and trace all my wanderings.
Though generally dissuaded from venturing by myself on so
long a voyage down the Ohio, in an open skiff, I considered
this mode, with all its inconveniences, as the most favourable
to my researches, and the most suitable to my funds, and I de-
termined accordingly. Two days before my departure, the
Alleghany river was one wide torrent of broken ice, and I cal-
culated on experiencing considerable difficulties on this score.
My stock of provisions consisted of some biscuit and cheese,
and a bottle of cordial presented me by a gentleman of Pitts-
burg; my gun, trunk and great coat, occupied one end of the
boat; I had a small tin occasionally to bale her, and to take my
beverage from the Ohio with; and bidding adieu to the smoky
confines of Pitt, I lanched into the stream, and soon winded
away among the hills that every where enclose this noble river.
The weather was warm and serene, and the river like a mir-
ror, except where floating masses of ice spotted its surface, and
which required some* care to steer clear of; but these to my
surprise, in less than a day's sailing, totally disappeared. Far

LIFE OF WILSON. cvii

from being concerned at my new situation, I felt my heart ex-
pand with joy at the novelties which surrounded me; I listened
with pleasure to the whistling of the Red-bird on the banks as
I passed, and contemplated the forest scenery as it receded,
with increasing delight. The smoke of the numerous sugar
camps, rising lazily among the mountains, gave great effect to
the varying landscape; and the grotesque log cabins, that here
and there opened from the woods, were diminished into mere
dog-houses by the sublimity of the impending mountains. If
you suppose to yourself two parallel ranges of forest-covered
hills, whose irregular summits are seldom more than three or
four miles apart, winding through an immense extent of coun-
try, and enclosing a river half a mile wide, which alternately
washes the steep declivity on one side, and laves a rich flat
forest-clad bottom on the other, of a mile or so in breadth, you
will have a pretty correct idea of the appearance of the Ohio.
The banks of these rich flats are from twenty to sixty and
eighty feet high, and even these last were within a few feet of
being overflowed in December, 1808.

" I now stripped, with alacrity, to my new avocation. The
current went about two and a half miles an hour, and I added
about three and a half miles more to the boat's way with my
oars. In the course of the day I passed a number of arks, or,
as they are usually called, Kentucky boats, loaded with what
it must be acknowledged are the most valuable commodities of
a country; viz. men, women and children, horses and ploughs,
flour, millstones, &c. Several of these floating caravans were
loaded with store goods for the supply of the settlements
through which they passed, having a counter erected, shawls,
muslins, &c. displayed, and every thing ready for transacting
business. On approaching a settlement they blow a horn or
tin trumpet, which announces to the inhabitants their arrival.
I boarded many of these arks, and felt much interested at the
sight of so many human beings, migrating like birds of passage
to the luxuriant regions of the south and west. The arks are
built in the form of a parallelogram, being from twelve to four-

CV111

LIFE OF WILSON.

teen feet wide, and from forty to seventy feet long, covered
above, rowed only occasionally by two oars before, and steer-
ed by a long and powerful one fixed above, as in the annexed
sketch.

Jirk.

Barge for passing up stream.

" The barges are taken up along shore by setting poles, at
the rate of twenty miles or so a day; the arks cost about one
hundred and fifty cents per foot, according to their length; and
when they reach their places of destination, seldom bring more
than one-sixth their original cost. These arks descend from
all parts of the Ohio and its tributary streams, the Alleghany,
Monongahela, Muskingum, Sciota, Miami, Kentucky, Wa-
bash, &c. in the months of March, April, and May particular-
ly, with goods, produce and emigrants, the two former for
markets along the river, or at New Orleans, the latter for va-
rious parts of Kentucky, Ohio, and the Indiana Territory. I
now return to my own expedition. I rowed twenty odd miles
the first spell, and found I should be able to stand it perfectly
well. About an hour after night I put up at a miserable cabin,
fifty-two miles from Pittsburg, where I slept on what I sup-
posed to be corn-stalks, or something worse; so preferring the
smooth bosom of the Ohio to this brush heap, I got up long
before day, and, being under no apprehension of losing my
way, I again pushed out into the stream. The landscape on
each side lay in one mass of shade, but the grandeur of the pro-
jecting headlands and vanishing points, or lines, was charming-

LIFE OF WILSON. cix

ly reflected in the smooth glassy surface below. I could only
discover when I was passing a clearing, by the crowing of
cocks; and now and then, in more solitary places, the big-
horned owl made a most hideous hollowing, that echoed among
the mountains. In this lonesome manner, with full leisure for
observation and reflection, exposed to hardships all day, and
hard births all night, to storms of rain, hail and snow, for it
froze severely almost every night, I persevered, from the 24th
of February to Sunday evening March 17th, when I moored
my skiff safely in Bear-Grass Creek, at the Rapids of the Ohio,
after a voyage of seven hundred and twenty miles. My hands
suffered the most; and it will be some weeks yet before they
recover their former feeling and flexibility. It would be the
task of a month to detail all the particulars of my numerous
excursions, in every direction from the river. In Steuben-
ville, Charlestown and Wheeling, I found some friends. At
Marietta I visited the celebrated remains of Indian fortifica-
tions, as they are improperly called, which cover a large space
of ground on the banks of the Muskingum. Seventy miles
above this, at a place called Big-Grave Creek, I examined
some extraordinary remains of the same kind there. The Big
Grave is three hundred paces round at the base, seventy feet
perpendicular, and the top, which is about fifty feet over, has
sunk in, forming a regular concavity, three or four feet deep.
This tumulus is in the form of a cone, and the whole, as well
as its immediate neighbourhood, is covered with a venerable
growth of forest, four or five hundred years old, which gives
it a most singular appearance. In clambering around its steep
sides, I found a place where a large white oak had been lately
blown down, and had torn up the earth to the depth of five or
six feet. In this place I commenced digging, and continued to
labour for about an hour, examining every handful of earth
with great care, but except some shreds of earthen ware, made
of a coarse kind of gritty clay, and considerable pieces of char-
coal, I found nothing else; but a personvof the neighbourhood
presented me with some beads, fashioned out of a kind of white

ex LIFE OF WILSON.

stone, which were found in digging on the opposite side of this
gigantic mound, where I found the hole still remaining. The
whole of an extensive plain a short distance from this is mark-
ed out with squares, oblongs and circles, one of which com-
prehends several acres. The embankments by which they are
distinguished are still two or three feet above the common level
of the field. The Big Grave is the property of a Mr. Tomlin-
son, or Tumblestone, who lives near, and who would not ex-
pend three cents to see the whole sifted before his face. I en-
deavoured to work on his avarice, by representing the proba-
bility that it might contain valuable matters, and suggested
to him a mode by which a passage might be cut into it level
with the bottom, and by excavation and arching, a most noble
cellar might be formed for keeping his turnips and potatoes.
" All the turnips and potatoes I shall raise this dozen years,"
said he, " would not pay the expense." This man is no anti-
quary, or theoretical farmer, nor much of a practical one either
I fear; he has about two thousand acres of the best land, and
just makes out to live. Near the head of what is called the
Long Reach, I called on a certain Michael Cressap, son to the
noted colonel Cressap, mentioned in Jefferson's Notes on Vir-
ginia. From him I received the head of a Paddle fish, the
largest ever seen in the Ohio, which I am keeping for Mr.
Peale, with various other curiosities. I took the liberty of
asking whether Logan's accusation of his father having killed
all his family, had any truth in it; but he replied that it had
not. Logan, he said, had been misinformed; he detailed to
me all the particulars, which are too long for repetition, and
concluded by informing me that his father died early in the re-
volutionary war, of the camp fever, near New York.

"Marietta stands on a swampy plain, which has evidently once
been the ancient bed of the Muskingum, and is still occasion-
ally inundated to the depth of five or six feet. A Mr. Putnam,
son to the old general of Bunker's Hill memory, and Mr. Gill-
man and Mr. Fearing', are making great exertions here, in in-
troducing and multiplying the race of merinos. The two latter

LIFE OF WILSON. cxi

gentlemen are about establishing works by steam, for carding
and spinning wool, and intend to carry on the manufacture of
broadcloth extensively. Mr. Gillman is a gentleman of taste
and wealth, and has no doubts of succeeding. Something is ne-
cessary to give animation to this place, for since the building of
ships has been abandoned here, the place seems on the decline.
" The current of the Muskingum is very rapid, and the ferry
boat is navigated across in the following manner. A strong ca-
ble is extended from bank to bank, forty or fifty feet above the
surface of the river, and fastened tight at each end. On this ca-
ble are two loose running blocks; one rope from the bow of the
boat is fastened to the first of these blocks, and another from
the after part of the boat to the second block, and by lengthen-
ing this last a diagonal direction is given to the boat's head, a
little up stream, and the current striking forcibly and obliquely
on her aft, she is hurried forward with amazing velocity with-
out any manual labour whatever. I passetl Blannerhasset's
island after night, but the people were burning brush, and by
the light I had a distinct view of the mansion house, which is
but a plain frame of no great dimensions. It is now the pro-
perty of a Mr. Miller from Lexington, who intends laying it
chiefly in hemp. It is nearly three miles long, and contains
about three hundred acres, half of which is in cultivation; but
like all the rest of the numerous islands of the Ohio, is subject
to inundations. At Galliopolis, which stands upon a high plain,
and contains forty or fifty scattered houses, I found the fields
well fenced and well cultivated, peach and apple orchards nu-
merous, and a considerable appearance of industry. One half
of the original French settlers have removed to a tract of land
opposite to the mouth of Sandy River. This town has one shop
and two taverns; the mountains press in to within a short dis-
tance of the town. I found here another Indian mound planted
with peach trees. On Monday, March 5th, about ten miles
below the mouth of the great Sciota, where I saw the first flock
of paroquets, I encountered a violent storm of wind and rain,
which changed to hail and snow, blowing down trees and limbs

LIFE OF WILSON.

in all directions; so that for immediate preservation I was oblig-
ed to steer out into the river, which rolled and foamed like a
sea, and filled my boat nearly half full of water; and it was with
the greatest difficulty I could make the least headway. It con-
tinued to snow violently until dusk, when I at length made good
my landing at a place on the Kentucky shore, where I had per-
ceived a cabin; and here I spent the evening in learning the art
and mystery of bear-treeing, wolf-trapping, and wild-cat hunt-
ing, from an old professor. But notwithstanding the skill of this
great master, the country here is swarming with wolves and wild-
cats, black and brown; according to this hunter's own confes-
sion he had lost sixty pigs since Christmas last; and all night
long the distant howling of the wolves kept the dogs in a per-
petual uproar of barking. This man was one of those people
called squatters, who neither pay rent nor own land, but keep
roving on the frontiers, advancing as the tide of civilized po-
pulation approaches. They are the immediate successors of
the savages, and far below them in good sense and good man-
ners, as well as comfortable accommodations. An engraved
representation of one of their cabins would form a striking em-
bellishment to the pages of the Port Folio, as a specimen of
the first order of American Architecture.

" Nothing adds more to the savage grandeur, and picturesque
effect, of the scenery along the Ohio, than these miserable huts
of human beings, lurking at the bottom of a gigantic growth of
timber, that I have not seen equalled in any other part of the
United States. And it is truly amusing to observe how dear
and how familiar habit has rendered those privations, which
must have been first the offspring of necessity. Yet none pride
themselves more on their possessions. The inhabitants of
these forlorn sheds will talk to you with pride of the richness
of their soil, of the excellence and abundance of their country,
of the healthiness of their climate, and the purity of their wa-
ters; while the only bread you find among them is of Indian
corn, coarsely ground in a horse-mill, with half of the grains
unbroken; even their cattle are destitute of stables and hay,

LIFE OF WILSON. cxiii

and look like moving skeletons; their own houses worse than
pig-sties; their clothes an assemblage of rags; their faces yel-
low, and lank with disease; and their persons covered with
filth, and frequently garnished with the humours of the
Scotch fiddle; from which dreadful disease, by the mercy
of God, I have been most miraculously preserved. All this is
the effect of laziness. The corn is thrown into the ground in
the Spring, and the pigs turned into the woods, where they
multiply like rabbits. The labour of the squatter is now over
till Autumn, and he spends the Winter in eating pork, cabbage
and hoe-cakes. What a contrast to the neat farm, and snug
cleanly habitation, of the industrious settler, that opens his
green fields, his stately barns, gardens and orchards, to the
gladdened eye of the delighted stranger!

" At a place called Salt Lick I went ashore to see the salt
works, and to learn whether the people had found any further
remains of an animal of the ox kind, one of whose horns, of a
prodigious size, was discovered here some years ago, and is in
the possession of Mr. Peale. They make here about one thou-
sand bushels weekly, which sells at one dollar and seventy-
five cents per bushel. The wells are from thirty to fifty feet
deep, but nothing curious has lately been dug up. I landed at
Maysville, or Limestone, where a considerable deal of business
is done in importation for the interior of Kentucky. It stands
on a high narrow plain between the mountains and the river,
which is fast devouring the bank, and encroaching on the town;
part of the front street is gone already, and unless some ef-
fectual means are soon taken, the whole must go by piecemeal.
This town contains about one hundred houses, chiefly log and
frames. From this place I set out on foot for Washington.
On the road, at the height of several hundred feet above the
present surface of the river, I found prodigious quantities of
petrified shells, of the small cockle and fan-shaped kind, but
whether marine remains or not am uncertain. I have since
found these petrified concretions of shells universal all over
Kentucky, wherever I have been. The rocks look as if one

VOL. i. — p

CXlV LIFE OF WILSON.

had collected heaps of broken shells, and wrought them up
among clay, then hardened it into stone. These rocks lie uni-
versally in horizontal strata. A farmer in the neighbourhood
of Washington assured me, that from seven acres he reaped at
once eight thousand weight of excellent hemp, fit for market.

" Amidst very tempestuous weather I reached the town of
Cincinnati, which does honour to the name of the old Roman,
and is the neatest and handsomest situated place I have seen
since I left Philadelphia. You must know that during an un-
known series of ages, the river Ohio has gradually sunk seve-
ral hundred feet below its former bed, and has left on both
sides, occasionally, what are called the first or nearest, and the
second or next, high bank, the latter of which is never over-
flowed.

" The town of Cincinnati occupies two beautiful plains, one
on the first, and the other on the second bank, and contains up-
wards of five hundred houses, the greater proportion of which
are of brick. One block house is all that remains of Fort
Washington. The river Licking comes in from the opposite
shore, where the town of Newport, of forty or fifty houses,
and a large arsenal and barracks, are lately erected. Here I
met with judge Turner, a man of extraordinary talents, well
known to the literati of Philadelphia. He exerted himself in
my behalf with all the ardour of an old friend. A large Indian
mound in the vicinity of this town has been lately opened by
Doctor Drake, who showed me the collection of curiosities
which he had found in that and others. In the centre of this
mound he also found a large fragment of earthen ware, such as
I found at the Big Grave, which is a pretty strong proof that
these works had been erected by a people, if not the same, dif-
fering little from the present race of Indians, whose fragments
of earthen ware, dug up about their late towns, correspond ex-
actly with these. Twenty miles below this I passed the mouth
of the Great Miami, which rushes in from the north, and is a
large and stately river, preserving its pure waters uncontami-
nated for many miles with those of the Ohio, each keeping

LIFE OF WILSON. CXV

their respective sides of the channel. I rambled up the hanks
of this river for four or five miles, and in my return shot a
turkey. I also saw five or six deer in a drove, but they were
too light-heeled for me.

" In the afternoon of the 15th I entered Big-Bone Creek,
which being passable only about a quarter of a mile, I secured
my boat, and left my baggage under the care of a decent fami-
ly near, and set out on foot five miles through the woods for
the Big-Bone Lick, that great antediluvian rendezvous of the
American elephants. This place, which lies " far in the wind-
ings of a sheltered vale," afforded me a fund of amusement in
shooting ducks and paroquets, (of which last I skinned twelve,
and brought off two slightly wounded,) and in examining the an-
cient buffalo roads to this great licking-place. Mr. Colquhoun,
the proprietor, was not at home, but his agent and manager
entertained me as well as he was able, and was much amused
with my enthusiasm. This place is a low valley, everywhere
surrounded by high hills; in the centre, by the side of the
creek, is a quagmire of near an acre, from which, and another
smaller one below, the chief part of these large bones have
been taken; at the latter places I found numerous fragments of
large bones lying scattered about. In pursuing a wounded
duck across this quagmire, I had nearly deposited my carcass
among the grand congregation of mammoths below, having
sunk up to the middle, and had hard struggling to get out. As
the proprietor intends to dig in various places this season for
brine, and is a gentleman of education and intelligence, I have
strong hopes that a more complete skeleton of that animal call-
ed the mammoth, than has yet been found, will be procured.
I laid the strongest injunctions on the manager to be on the
look out, and to preserve every thing; I also left a letter for
Mr. Colquhoun to the same purport, and am persuaded that
these will not be neglected. In this neighbourhood I found
the Columbo plant in great abundance, and collected some of
the seeds. Many of the old stalks were more than five feet
high. I have since found it in various other parts of this coun-

cxvi LIFE OF WILSON.

try. In the afternoon of the next day I returned to my boat,
replaced my baggage, and rowed twenty miles to the Swiss
settlement, where I spent the night. These hardy and indus-
trious people have now twelve acres closely and cleanly plant-
ed with vines from the Cape of Good Hope. They last year
made seven hundred gallons of wine, and expect to make three
times as much the ensuing season. Their houses are neat and
comfortable, they have orchards of peach and apple trees, be-
sides a great number of figs, cherries, and other fruit trees, of
which they are very curious. They are of opinion that this
part of the Indiana Territory is as well suited as any part of
France to the cultivation of the vine, but the vines they say
require different management here from what they were ac-
customed to in Switzerland. I purchased a bottle of their last
vintage, and drank to all your healths as long as it lasted, in
going down the river. Seven miles below this I passed the
mouth of Kentucky river, which has a formidable appearance.
I observed twenty or thirty scattered houses on its upper side,
and a few below, many of the former seemingly in a state of
decay. It rained on me almost the whole of this day, and I
was obliged to row hard and drink healths to keep myself com-
fortable. My birds' skins were wrapt up in my great coat,
and my own skin had to sustain a complete drenching, which,
however, had no bad effects. This evening I lodged at the
most wretched hovel I had yet seen. The owner, a meagre
diminutive wretch, soon began to let me know of how much
consequence he had formerly been; that he had gone through
all the war with general Washington — had become one of his
life-guards, and had sent many a British soldier to his long
home. As I answered him with indifference, to interest me
the more he began to detail anecdotes of his wonderful exploits;
" One grenadier," said he, " had the impudence to get up on
the works, and to wave his cap in defiance; my commander
[general Washington I suppose] says to me, " Dick, says he,
can't you pepper that there fellow for me?" says he. " Please
your honour, says I, I'll try at it; so I took a fair, cool and

LIFE OF WILSON. CXvii

steady aim, and touched my trigger. Up went his heels like
a turkey ! down he tumbled ! one buckshot had entered here,
and another here, [laying a finger on each breast] and the bul-
let found the way to his brains right through his forehead. By
God he was a noble looking fellow!" Though I believed every
word of this to be a lie, yet I could not but look with disgust
on the being who uttered it. This same miscreant pronounced
a long prayer before supper, and immediately after called out,
in a splutter of oaths, for the pine splinters to be held to let
the gentleman see. Such a farrago of lies, oaths, prayers, and
politeness, put me in a good humour in spite of myself. The
whole herd of this filthy kennel were in perpetual motion with
the itch; so having procured a large fire to be made, under pre-
tence of habit I sought for the softest plank, placed my trunk
and great coat at my head, and stretched myself there till morn-
ing. I set out early and passed several arks. A number of
turkies which I observed from time to time on the Indiana
shore, made me lose half the morning in search of them. On
the Kentucky shore I was also decoyed by the same tempta-
tions, but never could approach near enough to shoot one of
them. These affairs detained me so, that I was dubious whether
I should be able to reach Louisville that night. Night came
on, and I could hear nothing of the Falls; about eight I first
heard the roaring of the Rapids, and as it increased I was every
moment in hopes of seeing the lights of Louisville; but no
lights appeared, and the noise seemed now within less than
half a mile of me. Seriously alarmed, lest I might be drawn
into the suction of the Falls, I cautiously coasted along shore,
which was full of snags and sawyers, and at length, with great
satisfaction, opened Bear-Grass Creek, where I secured my
skiff to a Kentucky boat, and loading myself with my bag-
gage, I groped my way through a swamp up to the town.
The next day I sold my skiff for exactly half what it cost me;
and the man who bought it wondered why I gave it such a
droll Indian name, (the Ornithologist) " some old chief or
warrior I suppose," said he. This day I walked down along

CXViii . LIFE OF WILSON.

shore to Shippingport, to take a view of these celebrated Ra-
pids, but they fell far short of my expectation. I should have
no hesitation in going down them in a skiff. The Falls of
Oswego, in the state of New York, though on a smaller scale,
are far more dangerous and formidable in appearance. Though
the river was not high, I observed two arks and a barge run
them with great ease and rapidity. The Ohio here is some-
thing more than a mile wide, with several islands interspersed;
the channel rocky, and the islands heaped with drift wood.
The whole fall in two miles is less than twenty-four feet. The
town of Louisville stands on a high second bank, and is about
as large as Frankford, having a number of good brick build-
ings and valuable shops. The situation would be as healthy as
any on the river, but for the numerous swamps and ponds that
intersect the woods in its neighbourhood. These from their
height above the river might all be drained and turned into
cultivation; but every man here is so intent on the immediate
making of money, that they have neither time nor disposition
for improvements, even where the article health is at stake.
A man here told me that last fall he had fourteen sick in his
own family. On Friday the 24th, I left my baggage with a
merchant of the place to be forwarded by the first wagon, and
set out on foot for Lexington, seventy-two miles distant. I
passed through Middletown and Shelby ville, both inconsidera-
ble places. Nine-tenths of the country is in forest; the surface
undulating into gentle eminences and declivities, between each
of which generally runs a brook, over loose flags of limestone.
The soil, by appearance, is of the richest sort. I observed im-
mense fields of Indian corn, high excellent fences, few grain
fields, many log houses, and those of the meaner sort. I took
notice of few apple orchards, but several very thriving peach
ones. An appearance of slovenliness is but too general about
their houses, barns, and barn-yards. Negroes are numerous;
cattle and horses lean, particularly the former, who appear as if
struggling with starvation for their existence. The woods are
swarming with pigs, pigeons, squirrels and woodpeckers. The

LIFE OF WILSON. cxix

pigs are universally fat, owing to the great quantity of mast
this year. Walking here in wet weather is most execrable,
and is like travelling on soft soap ; a few days of warm weather
hardens this again almost into stone. Want of bridges is the
greatest inconvenience to a foot traveller here. Between Shel-
byville and Frankfort, having gone out of my way to see a
pigeon roost, (which by the by is the greatest curiosity I have
seen since leaving home) I waded a deep creek called Benson,
nine or ten times. I spent several days in Frankfort, and in
rambling among the stupendous cliffs of Kentucky river. On
Thursday evening I entered Lexington. But I cannot do
justice to these subjects at the conclusion of a letter, which, in
spite of all my abridgments, has far exceeded in length what I
first intended. My next will be from Nashville. I shall then
have seen a large range of Kentucky, and be more able to give
you a correct delineation of the country and its inhabitants. In
descending the Ohio, I amused myself with a poetical narrative
of my expedition, which I have called " The Pilgrim," an
extract from which shall close this long and I am afraid tire-
some letter."

TO MR. ALEXANDER LAWSON.

Nashville, Tennessee, April 28th, 1810.
" My dear Sir,

" Before setting out on my journey through the wilderness
to Natchez, I sit down to give you, according to promise, some
account of Lexington, and of my adventures through the state
of Kentucky. These I shall be obliged to sketch as rapidly as
possible. Neither my time nor my situation enables me to de-
tail particulars with any degree of regularity; and you must
condescend to receive them in the same random manner in
which they occur, altogether destitute of fanciful embellish-
ment; with nothing but their novelty, and the simplicity of
truth, to recommend them.

" I saw nothing of Lexington till I had approached within
half a mile of the place, when the woods opening, I beheld the

cxx LIFE OF WILSON.

town before me, on an irregular plain, ornamented with a small
white spire, and consisting of several parallel streets, crossed
by some others; many of the houses built of brick; others of
frame, neatly painted; but a great proportion wore a more
humble and inferior appearance. The fields around looked
clean and well fenced; gently undulating, but no hills in view.
In a hollow between two of these parallel streets, ran a consi-
derable brook, that, uniting with a larger a little below the
town, drives several mills. A large quarry of excellent build-
ing stone also attracted my notice as I entered the town. The
main street was paved with large masses from this quarry, the
foot path neat, and guarded by wooden posts. The numerous
shops piled with goods, and the many well dressed females I
passed in the streets; the sound of social industry, and the gay
scenery of " the busy haunts of men," had a most exhilarating
effect on my spirits, after being so long immured in the forest.
My own appearance, I believe, was to many equally interest-
ing; and the shopkeepers and other loungers interrogated me
with their eyes as I passed, with symptoms of eager and inqui-
sitive curiosity. After fixing my quarters, disposing of my
arms, and burnishing myself a little, I walked out to have a
more particular view of the place.

" This little metropolis of the western country is nearly as
large as Lancaster in Pennsylvania. In the centre of the town
is a public square, partly occupied by the court-house and mar-
ket place, and distinguished by the additional ornament of the
pillory and stocks. The former of these is so constructed as
to serve well enough, if need be, occasionally for a gallows,
which is not a bad thought; for as nothing contributes more to
make hardened villains than the pillory, so nothing so effectu-
ally rids society of them as the gallows; and every knave may
here exclaim,

" My bane and antidote are both before me."

I peeped into the court-house as I passed, and though it was
court day, I was struck with the appearance its interior exhi-

LIFE OF WILSON. cxxi

bited; for, though only a plain square brick building, it has all
the gloom of the Gothic, so much admired of late, by our mo-
dern architects. The exterior walls, having, on experiment,
been found too feeble for the superincumbent honours of the
roof and steeple, it was found necessary to erect, from the floor,
a number of large, circular, and unplastered brick pillars, in a
new order of architecture, (the thick end uppermost,) which,
while they serve to impress the spectators with the perpetual
dread that they will tumble about their ears, contribute also,
by their number and bulk, to shut out the light, and to spread
around a reverential gloom, producing a melancholy and chill-
ing effect; a very good disposition of mind, certainly, for a
man to enter a court of justice in. One or two solitary indivi-
duals stole along the damp and silent floor; and I could just de-
scry, elevated at the opposite extremity of the building, the
judges sitting, like spiders in a window corner, dimly distin-
guishable through the intermediate gloom. The market place,
which stands a little to the westward of this, and stretches over
the whole breadth of the square, is built of brick, something
like that of Philadelphia, but is unpaved and unfinished. In
wet weather you sink over the shoes in mud at every step; and
here again the wisdom of the police is manifest; as nobody at
such times will wade in there unless forced by business or
absolute necessity; by which means a great number of idle
loungers are, very properly, kept out of the way of the market
folks.

" I shall say nothing of the nature or quantity of the commo-
dities which I saw exhibited there for sale, as the season was
unfavourable to a display of their productions; otherwise some-
thing better than a few cakes of black maple sugar, wrapt up
in greasy saddle-bags, some cabbage, chewing tobacco, catmint
and turnip tops, a few bags of meal, sassafras-roots, and skin-
ned squirrels cut up into quarters — something better than all
this, I say, in the proper season, certainly covers the stalls of

VOL. i. — o

cxxii LIFE OF WILSON.

this market place, in the metropolis of the fertile country of
Kentucky. *

* This letter, it should seem, gave offence to some of the inhabitants of
Lexington; and a gentleman residing in that town, solicitous about its repu-
tation, undertook, in a letter to the editor of the Port Folio, to vindicate it
from strictures which he plainly insinuated were the offspring of ignorance,
and unsupported by fact.

After a feeble attempt at sarcasm and irony, the letter-writer thus
proceeds: " I have too great a respect for Mr. Wilson, as your friend, not to
believe he had in mind some other market house than that of Lexington,
when he speaks of it as *unpaved and unfinished!' But the people of Lex-
ington would be gratified to learn what your ornithologist means by * skinned
squirrels cut up into quarters,' which curious anatomical preparations he enu-
merates among the articles he saw in the Lexington market. Does Mr. Wil-
son mean to joke upon us? If this is wit we must confess that, however abun-
dant our country may be in good substantial matter-of-fact salt, the attic tart
is unknown among us.

" I hope, howerer, soon to see this gentleman's American Ornithology.
Its elegance of execution, and descriptive propriety, may assuage the little
pique we have taken from the author."

The editor of the Port Folio having transmitted this letter to Wilson, pre-
vious to sending it to press, it was returned with the following note:

" TO THE EDITOU OF THE POUT FOLIO.

Bartram's Guldens, July 16, 1811.
" Deal- Sir,

" No man can have a more respectful opinion of the people of Kentucky,
particularly those of Lexington, than myself; because I have traversed near-
ly the whole extent of their country, and witnessed the effects of their
bravery, their active industry, and daring spirit for enterprise. But they
would be gods, and not men, were they/aw///ess.

" I am sony that truth will not permit me to retract, as mere jofces, the
few disagreeable things alluded to. I certainly had no other market place
in view, than that of Lexington, in the passage above mentioned. As to the
circumstance of ' skinned squirrels, cut up into quarters,' which seems to
have excited so much sensibility, I candidly acknowledge myself to have
been incorrect in that statement, and I owe an apology for the same. On
referring to my notes taken at the time, I find the word * halves,' not quar-
ters; that is, those * curious anatomical preparations,' (skinned squirrels)
were brought to market in the form of a saddle of venison; not in that of a
leg or shoulder of mutton.

" With this correction, I beg leave to assure your very sensible corres-

LIFE OF WILSON. CXxiii

" The horses of Kentucky are the hardiest in the world, not
so much by nature as by education and habit. From the com-
mencement of their existence they are habituated to every ex-
treme of starvation and gluttony, idleness and excessive fatigue,
In Summer they fare sumptuously every day. In Winter,
when not a blade of grass is to be seen, and when the cows
have deprived them of the very bark and buds of every fallen
tree, they are ridden into town, fifteen or twenty miles, through
roads and sloughs that would become the graves of any com-
mon animal, with a fury and celerity incomprehensible by you
folks on the other side of the Alleghany. They are there fas-
tened to the posts on the sides of the streets, and around the
public square, where hundreds of them may be seen, on a court
day, hanging their heads from morning to night, in deep cogi-
tation, ruminating perhaps on the long expected return of spring
and green herbage. The country people, to their credit be it
spoken, are universally clad in plain homespun; soap, however,
appears to be a scarce article; and Hopkins's double cutters
would find here a rich harvest, and produce a very improving
effect. Though religion here has its zealous votaries; yet none
can accuse the inhabitants of this flourishing place of bigotry,
in shutting out from the pale of the church or church yard any
human being, or animal whatever. Some of these sanctuaries
are open at all hours, and to every visiter. The birds of heaven
find a hundred passages through the broken panes; and the
cows and hogs a ready access on all sides. The wall of sepa-
ration is broken down between the living and the dead; and
dogs tug at the carcass of the horse, on the grave of his mas-
ter. Lexington, however, with all its faults, which a few years
will gradually correct, is an honourable monument of the en-

pondent, that the thing1 itself was no joke, nor meant for one; but, like all
the rest of the particulars of that sketch, * good substantial matter of fact.'

*' If these explanations, or the perusal of my American Ornithology,
should assuage the ' little pique* in the minds of the good people of Lexing-
ton, it will be no less honourable to their own good sense, than agreeable to
your humble servant." &c. Port Folio for Jlvgwt, 181 1.

cxxiv LIFE OF WILSON.

terprise, courage and industry of its inhabitants. Within the
memory of a middle aged man, who gave me the information,
there were only two log huts on the spot where this city is
now erected; while the surrounding country was a wilderness,
rendered hideous by skulking bands of bloody and ferocious In-
dians. Now numerous excellent institutions for the education
of youth, a public library, and a well endowed university, un-
der the superintendence of men of learning and piety, are in
successful operation. Trade and manufactures are also rapidly
increasing. Two manufactories for spinning cotton have lately
been erected; one for woollen ; several extensive ones for weav-
ing sail cloth and bagging; and seven ropewalks, which, ac-
cording to one of the proprietors, export, annually, ropeyarn to
the amount of 150,000 dollars. A taste for neat, and even ele-
gant, buildings is fast gaining ground; and Lexington, at pre-
sent, can boast of men who do honour to science, and of fe-
males whose beauty and amiable manners would grace the first
circles of society. On Saturday, April 14th, I left this place
for Nashville, distant about 200 miles. I passed through Ni-
cholasville, the capital of Jessamine county, a small village be-
gun about ten years ago, consisting of about twenty houses,
with three shops and four taverns. The woods were scarcely
beginning to look green, which to me was surprising, having
been led by common report to believe, that spring here is much
earlier than in the lower parts of Pennsylvania. I must further
observe, that instead of finding the woods of Kentucky covered
with a profusion of flowers, they were, at this time, covered
with rotten leaves and dead timber, in every stage of decay
and confusion; and I could see no difference between them and
our own, but in the magnitude of the timber, and superior rich-
ness of the soil. Here and there the white blossoms of the
Sanguinaria canadensis, or red root, were peeping through
the withered leaves: and the buds of the buckeye, or horse
chesnut, and one or two more, were beginning to expand.
Wherever the hackberry had fallen, or been cut down, the cat-

LIFE OF WILSON. CXXV

tie had eaten the whole bark from the trunk, even to that of
the roots.

" Nineteen miles from Lexington I descended a long, steep
and rocky declivity, to the banks of Kentucky river, which is
here about as wide as the Schuylkill ; and winds away between
prodigious perpendicular cliffs of solid limestone. In this deep
and romantic valley the sound of the boat horns, from several
Kentucky arks, which were at that instant passing, produced a
most charming effect. The river, I was told, had already fallen
fifteen feet; but was still high. I observed great numbers of
uncommon plants and flowers, growing among the cliffs; and
a few solitary bank swallows were skimming along the surface.
Reascending from this, and travelling for a few miles, I again
descended a vast depth to another stream called Dick's river,
engulfed among the same perpendicular masses of rock.
Though it was nearly dark I found some curious petrifactions,
and some beautiful specimens of mother of pearl on the shore.
The roaring of a mill-dam, and the rattling of the mill, pre-
vented the ferryman from hearing me till it was quite night;
and I passed the rest of the road in the dark, over a rocky
country, abounding with springs, to Danville. This place
stands on a slight eminence, and contains about eighty houses,
chiefly log and frame buildings, disposed in two parallel streets,
crossed by several others. It has two ropewalks and a woollen
manufactory; also nine shops and three taverns. I observed a
great many sheep feeding about here, amidst fields of excellent
pasture. It is, however, but a dull place. A Roman Catholic
chapel has been erected here, at the expense of one or two in-
dividuals. The shopkeepers trade from the mouth of Dick's
river down to New Orleans, with the common productions of
the country, flour, hemp, tobacco, pork, corn, and whiskey. I
was now one hundred and eighty miles from Nashville, and,
as I was informed, not a town or village on the whole route.
Every day, however, was producing wonders in the woods, by
the progress of vegetation. The blossoms of the sassafras, dog-
wood, and red bud, contrasted with the deep green of the pop-

LIFE OF WILSON.

lar and buckeye, enriched the scenery on every side; while
the voices of the feathered tribes, many of which were to me
new and unknown, were continually engaging me in the pur-
suit. Emerging from the deep solitude of the forest, the rich
green of the grain fields, the farm house and cabins embosomed
amidst orchards of glowing purple and white, gave the sweet-
est relief to the eye. Not far from the foot of a high moun-
tain, called Mulders Hill, I overtook one of those family cara-
vans so common in this country, moving to the westward.
The procession occupied a length of road, and had a formidable
appearance, though, as I afterwards understood, it was com-
posed of the individuals of only a single family. In the front
went a wagon drawn by four horses, driven by a negro, and
filled with implements of agriculture; another heavy loaded
wagon, with six horses, followed, attended by two persons; af-
ter which came a numerous and mingled group of horses,
steers, cows, sheep, hogs, and calves with their bells; next fol-
lowed eight boys mounted double, also a negro wench with a
white child before her; then the mother with one child behind
her, and another at the breast; ten or twelve colts brought up
the rear, now and then picking herbage, and trotting ahead.
The father, a fresh good looking man, informed me, that he
was from Washington county in Kentucky, and was going as
far as Cumberland river; he had two ropes fixed to the top of
the wagon, one of which he guided himself, and the other was
entrusted to his eldest son, to keep it from oversetting in as-
cending the mountain. The singular appearance of this moving
group, the mingled music of the bells, and the shoutings of the
drivers, mixed with the echoes of the mountains, joined to the
picturesque solitude of the place, and various reflections that
hurried through my mind, interested me greatly; and I kept
company with them for some time, to lend my assistance if ne-
cessary. The country now became mountainous, perpetually
ascending and descending; and about forty-nine miles from
Danville I passed through a pigeon roost, or rather breeding
place, which continued for three miles, and, from information

LIFE OF WILSON. CXXVli

extended in fength for more than forty miles. The timber was
chiefly beech; every tree was loaded with nests, and I counted,
in different places, more than ninety nests on a single tree.
Beyond this I passed a large company of people engaged in
erecting a horse-mill for grinding grain. The few cabins I
passed were generally poor; but much superior in appearance
to those I met with on the shores of the Ohio. In the evening
I lodged near the banks of Green river. This stream, like all
the rest, is sunk in a deep gulf, between high perpendicular
walls of limestone; is about thirty yards wide at this place, and
runs with great rapidity; but, as it had fallen considerably, I
was just able to ford it without swimming. The water was of
a pale greenish colour, like that of the Licking, and some other
streams, from which circumstance I suppose it has its name.
The rocky banks of this river are hollowed out in many places
into caves of enormous size, and of great extent. These rocks
abound with the same masses of petrified shells so universal in
Kentucky. In the woods, a little beyond this, I met a soldier,
on foot, from New Orleans, who had been robbed and plunder-
ed by the Choctaws as he passed through their nation. " Thir-
teen or fourteen Indians," said he, " surrounded me before I
was aware, cut away my canteen, tore off my hat, took the
handkerchief from my neck, and the shoes from my feet, and
all the money I had from me, which was about forty-five dol-
lars." Such was his story. He was going to Chilicothe, and
seemed pretty nearly done, up. In the afternoon I crossed an-
other stream of about twenty-five yards in width, called Little
Barren; after which the country began to assume a new and
very singular appearance. The woods, which had hitherto
been stately, now degenerated into mere scrubby saplings, on
which not a bud was beginning to unfold, and grew so open
that I could see for a mile through them. No dead timber or
rotting leaves were to be seen, but the whole face of the ground
was covered with rich verdure, interspersed with a variety of
very beautiful flowers, altogether new to me. It seemed as if
the whole country had once been one general level; but that

LIFE OF WILSON.

from some unknown cause, the ground had been undermined)
and had fallen in, in innumerable places, forming regular,
funnel-shaped, concavities of all dimensions, from twenty feet
in diameter, and six feet in depth, to five hundred by fifty,
the surface or verdure generally unbroken. In some tracts
the surface was entirely destitute of trees, and the eye was pre-
sented with nothing but one general neighbourhood of these
concavities, or, as they are usually called, sink-holes. At the
centre, or bottom of some of these, openings had been made
for water. In several places these holes had broken in, on the
sides, and even middle of the road, to an unknown depth; pre-
senting their grim mouths as if to ewallow up the unwary tra-
veller. At the bottom of one of those declivities, at least fifty
feet below the general level, a large rivulet of pure water issu-
ed at once from the mouth of a cave about twelve feet wide
and seven high. A number of very singular sweet smelling
lichens grew over the entrance, and a pewee had fixed her
nest, like a little sentry-box, on a projecting shelf of the rock
above the water. The height and dimensions of the cave con-
tinued the same as far as I waded in, which might be thirty or
forty yards, but the darkness became so great that I was forced
to return. I observed numbers of small fish sporting about,
and I doubt not but these abound even in its utmost subterra-
nean recesses. The whole of this country from Green to Red
river, is hollowed out into these enormous caves, one of which,
lately discovered in Warren county, about eight miles from
the Dripping Spring, has been explored for upwards of six
miles, extending under the bed of the Green river. The en-
trance to these caves generally commences at the bottom of a
sinkhole; and many of them are used by the inhabitants as cel-
lars or spring-houses, having generally a spring or brook of
clear water running through them. I descended into one of
these belonging to a Mr. Wood, accompanied by the proprie-
tor, who carried the light. At first the darkness was so intense
that I could scarcely see a few feet beyond the circumference
of the candle; but, after being in for five or six minutes, the

LIFE OF WILSON. cxxix

objects around me began to make their appearance more dis-
tinctly. The bottom, for fifteen or twenty yards at first, was
so irregular, that we had constantly to climb over large masses
of wet and slippery rocks; the roof rose in many places to the
height of twenty or thirty feet, presenting all the most irregu-
lar projections of surface, and hanging in gloomy and silent
horror. We passed numerous chambers, or offsetts, which we
did not explore; and after three hours wandering in these pro-
found regions of glooms and silence, the particulars of which
would detain me too long, I emerged with a handkerchief fill-
ed with bats, including one which I have never seen described;
and a number of extraordinary insects of the Gryllus tribe,
with antennae upwards of six inches long, and which I am per-
suaded had never before seen the light of day, as they fled from
it with seeming terror, and I believe were as blind in it as
their companions the bats. Great quantities of native glaubcr
salts are found in these caves, and are used by the country
people in the same manner, and with equal effect, as those of
the shops. But the principal production is saltpetre, which is
procured from the earth in great abundance. The cave in
Warren county abovementioned, has lately been sold for three
thousand dollars, to a saltpetre company, an individual of
which informed me that, from every appearance, this cave had
been known to the Indians many ages ago; and had evidently
been used for the same purposes. At the distance of more
than a mile from the entrance, the exploring party, on their
first visit, found the roof blackened by smoke, and bundles of
half burnt canes scattered about. A bark mockasin, of cu-
rious construction, besides several other Indian articles, were
found among the rubbish. The earth, also, lay piled in heaps,
with great regularity, as if in preparation for extracting the
saltpetre.

" Notwithstanding the miserable appearance of the timber
on these barrens, the soil, to my astonishment, produced the
most luxuriant fields of corn and wheat I had ever before met
with. But one great disadvantage is the want of water, for

VOL i. — R

CXXX LIFE OF WILSON.

the whole running streams, with which the surface of this
country evidently once abounded, have been drained off to a
great depth, and now murmur among these lower regions, se-
cluded from the day. One forenoon I rode nineteen miles
without seeing water; while my faithful horse looked round,
but in vain, at every hollow, with a wishful and languishing
eye, for that precious element. These barrens furnished me
with excellent sport in shooting grous, which abound here in
great numbers; and in the delightful groves that here and there
rise majestically from these plains, I found many new subjects
for my Ornithology. I observed all this day, far to the right,
a range of high rocky detached hills, or knobs, as they are
called, that skirt the barrens, as if they had been once the
boundaries of the great lake that formerly covered this vast
plain. These, I was told, abound with stone coal and cop-
peras. I crossed Big Barren river in a ferry boat, where it
was about one hundred yards wide; and passed a small village
called Bowling Green, near which I rode my horse up to the
summit of one of these high insulated rocky hills, or knobs,
which overlooked an immense circumference of country,
spreading around bare and leafless, except where the groves
appeared, in which there is usually water. Fifteen miles from
this, induced by the novel character of the country, I put up
for several days, at the house of a pious and worthy presbyte-
rian, whence I made excursions, in all directions, through the
surrounding country. Between this and Red river the coun-
try had a bare and desolate appearance. Caves continued to
be numerous; and report made some of them places of conceal-
ment for the dead bodies of certain strangers who had disap-
peared there. One of these lies near the banks of the Red ri-
ver, and belongs to a person of the name of , a man

of notoriously bad character, and strongly suspected, even by
his neighbours, of having committed a foul murder of this kind,
which was related to me with all its minutiae of horrors. As
this man's house stands by the road side, I was induced, by
motives of curiosity, to stop and take a peep of him. On my

LIFE OF WILSON. cxxxi

arrival I found two persons in conversation under the piazza,
one of whom informed me that he was the landlord. He was
a dark mulatto, rather above the common size, inclining to cor-
pulency, with legs small in proportion to his size, and walked
lame. His countenance bespoke a soul capable of deeds of
darkness. I had not been three minutes in company when he
invited the other man, (who I understood was a traveller) and
myself, to walk back and see his cave, to which I immediately
consented. The entrance is in the perpendicular front of a
rock, behind the house; has a door with a lock and key to it,
and was crowded with pots of milk, placed near the running
stream. The roof and sides of solid rock, were wet and drop-
ping with water. Desiring to walk before with the

lights, I followed with my hand on my pistol, reconnoitering
on every side, and listening to his description of its length and
extent. After examining this horrible vault for forty or fifty
yards, he declined going any farther, complaining of a rheu-
matism; and I now first perceived that the other person had
staid behind, and that we two were alone together. Confident
in my means of self-defence, whatever mischief the devil might
suggest to him, I fixed my eye steadily on his, and observed
to him, that he could not be ignorant of the reports circulated
about the country relative to this cave. " I suppose," said I,
i < you know what I mean?" " Yes, I understand you," return-
ed he, without appearing the least embarrassed, " that I killed
somebody and threw them into this cave — I can tell you the
whole beginning of that damned lie," said he; and, without
moving from the spot, he detailed to me a long story, which
would fill half my letter, to little purpose, and which, with
other particulars, I shall reserve for your amusement when we
meet. I asked him why he did not get the cave examined by
three or four reputable neighbours, whose report might rescue
his character from the suspicion of having committed so horrid
a crime. He acknowledged it would be well enough to do so;
but did not seem to think it worth the trouble; and we return-
ed as we advanced, • — walking before with the lights,

cxxxii LIFE OF WILSON.

Whether this man be guilty or not of the transaction laid to his
charge I know not; but his manners and aspect are such as by
no means to allay suspicion.

" After crossing Red river, which is here scarce twenty
yards broad, I found no more barrens. The timber was large,
and the woods fast thickening with green leaves. As I enter-
ed the state of Tennessee, the face of the country became hilly,
and even mountainous. After descending an immense decli-
vity, and coursing along the rich valley of Manskers creek,
where I again met with large flocks of paroquets, I stopt at a
small tavern, to examine, for three or four days, this part of
the country. Here I made some interesting additions to my
stock of new subjects for the Ornithology. On the fourth day
I crossed the Cumberland, where it is about two hundred and
fifty yards wide, and of great depth, bounded as usual with
High precipitous banks, and reached the town of Nashville,
which towers like a fortress above the river. Here I have
been busily employed these eight days; and send you the en-
closed parcel of drawings, the result of every moment of leisure
and convenience I could obtain. Many of the birds are alto-
gether new; and you will find along with them every explana-
tion necessary for your purpose.

" You may rest assured of hearing from me by the first op-
portunity after my arrival at Natchez. In the meantime I re-
ceive with much pleasure the accounts you give me of the kind
inquiries of my friends. To me nothing could be more wel-
come; for whether journeying in this world, or journeying to
that which is to come, there is something of desolation and
despair in the idea of being forever forgotten in our absence,
by those whom we sincerely esteem and regard."

TO MR. ALEXANDER LAWSON.

Natchez, Mississippi Territory, May 18M, 1810.
" Dear Sir,

" About three weeks ago I wrote to you from Nashville
enclosing; three sheets of drawings, which I hope you have re-

LIFE OF WILSON. cxxxiii

ceived.* I was at that time on the point of setting out for St.
Louis; but being detained a week by constant and heavy rains,
and considering that it would add four hundred miles to my
journey, and detain me at least a month; and the season being
already far advanced, and no subscribers to be expected there,
I abandoned the idea, and prepared for a journey through the
wilderness. I was advised by many not to attempt it alone;
that the Indians were dangerous, the swamps and rivers almost
impassable without assistance, and a thousand other hobgoblins
were conjured up to dissuade me from going alone. But I
weighed all these matters in my own mind; and attributing a
great deal of this to vulgar fears and exaggerated reports, I
equipt myself for the attempt. I rode an excellent horse, on
which I could depend; I had a loaded pistol in each pocket, a
loaded fowling piece belted across my shoulder, a pound of
gunpowder in my flask, and five pounds of shot in my belt. I
bought some biscuit and dried beef, and on Friday morning,
May 4th, I left Nashville. About half a mile from town I ob-
served a poor negro with two wooden legs, building himself a
cabin in the woods. Supposing that this journey might afford
you and my friends some amusement, I kept a particular ac-
count of the various occurrences, and shall transcribe some of
the most interesting, omitting every thing relative to my Or-
nithological excursions and discoveries, as more suitable for
another occasion. Eleven miles from Nashville I came to the
Great Harpath, a stream of about fifty yards wide, which was
running with great violence. I could not discover the en-
trance of the ford, owing to the rains and inundations. There
was no time to be lost, I plunged in, and almost immediately
my horse was swimming. I set his head aslant the current,
and being strong, he soon landed me on the other side. As
the weather was warm, I rode in my wet clothes without any
inconvenience. The country to-day was a perpetual succes-
sion of steep hills and low bottoms; I crossed ten or twelve
large creeks, one of which I swam with my horse, where he
* These drawing's never came to hand.

CXXxiv LIFE OF WILSON.

was near being entangled among some bad drift wood. Now
and then a solitary farm opened from the woods, where the
negro children were running naked about the yards. I also
passed along the north side of a high hill, where the whole
timber had been prostrated by some terrible hurricane. I
lodged this night in a miner's, who told me he had been engaged
in forming no less than thirteen companies for hunting mines,
all of whom had left him. I advised him to follow his farm,
as the surest vein of ore he could work. Next day (Saturday)
I first observed the cane growing, which increased until the
whole woods were full of it. The road this day winded along
the high ridges of mountains that divide the waters of the Cum-
berland from those of the Tennessee. I passed few houses to-
day; but met several parties of boatmen returning from Natchez
and New Orleans; who gave me such an account of the road,
and the difficulties they had met with, as served to stiffen my
resolution to be prepared for every thing. These men were
as dirty as Hottentots; their dress a shirt and trowsers of can-
vass, black, greasy, and sometimes in tatters; the skin burnt
wherever exposed to the sun; each with a budget, wrapt up in
an old blanket; their beards, eighteen days old, added to the
singularity of their appearance, which was altogether savage.
These people came from the various tributary streams of the
Ohio, hired at forty or fifty dollars a trip, to return balk on
their own expenses. Some had upwards of eight hundred
miles to travel. When they come to a stream that is unforda-
ble, they coast it for a fallen tree: if that cannot be had, they
enter with their budget on their head, and when they lose
bottom, drop it on their shoulders, and take to swimming.
They have sometimes fourteen or fifteen of such streams to
pass in a day, and morasses of several miles in length, that I
have never seen equalled in any country. I lodged this night
at one Dobbins's, where ten or twelve of these men lay on the
floor. As they scrambled up in the morning, they very gene-
rally complained of being unwell, for which they gave an odd
reason, lying within doors, it being the first of fifteen nights

LIFE OF WILSON. CXXXV

they had been so indulged. Next morning (Sunday) I rode
six miles to a man's, of the name of Grinder, where our poor
friend Lewis perished. * In the same room where he expired,
I took down from Mrs. Grinder the particulars of that melan-
choly event, which affected me extremely. This house or ca-
bin is seventy-two miles from Nashville, and is the last white
man's as you enter the Indian country. Governor Lewis, she
said, came hither about sunset, alone, and inquired if he could
stay for the night; and, alighting, brought his saddle into the
house. He was dressed in a loose gown, white, striped with
blue. On being asked if he came alone, he replied that there
were two servants behind, who would soon be up. He called
for some spirits, and drank a very little. When the servants
arrived, one of whom was a negro, he inquired for his powder,
saying he was sure he had some powder in a canister. The
servant gave no distinct reply, and Lewis, in the mean while,
walked backwards and forwards before the door, talking to him-
self. Sometimes, she said, he would seem as if he were walk-
ing up to her; and would suddenly wheel round, and walk
back as fast as ho could. Supper being ready he sat down,
but had eaten only a few mouthfuls when he started up, speak-
ing to himself in a violent manner. At these times, she says,
she observed his face to flush as if it had come on him in a fit.
He lighted his pipe, and drawing a chair to the door sat down,
saying to Mrs. Grinder, in a kind tone of voice, " Madam,
this is a very pleasant evening." He smoked for some time,
but quitted his seat and traversed the yard as before. He
again sat down to his pipe, seemed again composed, and cast-
ing his eyes wistfully towards the west, observed what a sweet
evening it was. Mrs. Grinder was preparing a bed for him;

* It is hardly necessary to state, that this was the brave and enterprising
traveller, whose journey across the Rocky Mountains, to the Pacific Ocean,
has obtained for him well-merited celebrity. The true cause of his commit-
ting the rash deed, so feelingly detailed above, is not yet known to the pub-
lic; but his friends will not soon forget the base imputations and cruel neglect,
which the honourable mind of the gallant soldier knew not how to brook.

CXXXvi LIFE OF WILSON.

but he said he would sleep on the floor, and desired the ser-
vant to bring the bear skins and buffalo robe, which were im-
mediately spread out for him; and it being now dusk the wo-
man went off to the kitchen, and the two men to the barn,
which stands about two hundred yards off. The kitchen is
only a few paces from the room where Lewis was, and the wo-
man being considerably alarmed by the behaviour of her guest
could not sleep, but listened to him walking backwards and
forwards, she thinks, for several hours, and talking aloud, as
she said, " like a lawyer." She then heard the report of a
pistol, and something fall heavily on the floor, and the words
" O Lord/" Immediately afterwards she heard another pistol,
and in a few minutes she heard him at her door calling out
" O madam! give me some water, and heal my wounds.''
The logs being open, and unplastered,. she saw him stagger
back and fall against a stump that stands between the kitchen
and room. He crawled for some distance, and raised himself by
the side of a tree, where he sat about a minute. He once more
got to the room; afterwards he came to the kitchen door, but
did not speak; she then heard him scraping the bucket with a
gourd for water; but it appears that this cooling element was
denied the dying man! As soon as day broke and not before,
the terror of the woman having permitted him to remain for
two hours in this most deplorable situation, she sent two of her
children to the barn, her husband not being at home, to bring
the servants; and on going in they found him lying on the bed;
he uncovered his side, and showed them where the bullet had
entered; a piece of the forehead was blown off, and had ex-
posed the brains, without having bled much. He begged they
would take his rifle and blow out his brains, and he would
give them all the money he had in his trunk. He often said,
" I am no coward; but I am so strong, so hard to die." He
begged the servant not to be afraid of him, for that he would
not hurt him. He expired in about two hours, or just as the
sun rose above the trees. He lies buried close by the common
path, with a few loose rails thrown over his grave. I gave

LIFE OF WILSON. CXXXvii

Grinder money to put a post fence round it, to shelter it from
the hogs, and from the wolves; and he gave me his written
promise he would do it. I left this place in a very melancholy
mood, which was not much allayed by the prospect of the

gloomy and savage wilderness which I was just entering alone.

* * * •*

" I was roused from this melancholy reverie by the roaring
of Buffalo river, which I forded with considerable difficulty.
I passed two or three solitary Indian huts in the course of the
day, with a few acres of open land at each; but so wretchedly
cultivated, that they just make out to raise maize enough to
keep in existence. They pointed me out the distances by
holding up their fingers. This is the country of the Chicka-
saws, though erroneously laid down in some maps as that of
the Cherokees. I slept this night in one of their huts; the In-
dians spread a deer skin for me on the floor, I made a pillow
of my portmanteau, and slept tolerably well; an old Indian
laid himself down near me. On Monday morning I rode fif-
teen miles, and stopt at an Indian's to feed my horse. The
sight of my paroquet brought the whole family around me.
The women are generally naked from the middle upwards;
and their heads, in many instances, being rarely combed, look
like a large mop; they have a yard or two of blue cloth wrapt
round by way of petticoat, that reaches to their knees — the
boys were generally naked; except a kind of bag of blue cloth,
by way of jig-leaf. Some of the women have a short jacket,
with sleeves, drawn over their naked body, and the rag of a
blanket is a general appendage. I met to-day two officers of
the United States army, who gave me a better account of the
road than I had received. I passed through many bad swamps
to-day; and at about five in the evening came to the banks of
the Tennessee, which was swelled by the rains, and is about
half a mile wide thirty miles below the Muscle shoals, and just
below a long island laid down in your small map. A growth
of canes, of twenty and thirty feet high, covers the low bot-
toms; and these cane swamps are the gloomiest and most deso-
VOL. i. — s

CXXXViii LIFE OF WILSON.

late looking places imaginable. I hailed for the boat as long
as it was light, without effect; I then sought out a place to en-
camp, kindled a large fire, stript the canes for my horse, eat a
bit of supper, and lay down to sleep; listening to the owls, and
the Chuck-Wills-Widow, a kind of Whip-poor-Will, that is
very numerous here. I got up several times during the night
to recruit my fire, and see how my horse did; and, but for the
gnats, would have slept tolerably well. These gigantic woods
have a singular effect by the light of a large fire; the whole
scene being circumscribed by impenetrable darkness, except
that in front, where every leaf is strongly defined, and deeply
shaded. In the morning I hunted until about six, when I
again renewed my shoutings for the boat, and it was not until
near eleven that it made its appearance. I was so enraged at
this delay, that, had I not been cumbered with baggage, I be-
lieve I should have ventured to swim the river. I vented my
indignation on the owner of the boat, who is a half-breed,
threatening to publish him in the papers, and advise every tra-
veller I met to take the upper-ferry. This man charges
one dollar for man and horse, and thinks, because he is a chief,
he may do in this way what he pleases. The country now as-
sumed a new appearance; no brushwood — no fallen or rotten
timber; one could see a mile through the woods, which were
covered with high grass fit for mowing. These woods are
burnt every spring, and thus are kept so remarkably clean,
that they look like the most elegant noblemen's parks. A pro-
fusion of flowers, altogether new to me, and some of them very
elegant, presented themselves to my view as I rode along.
This must be a heavenly place for the botanist. The most ob-
servable of these flowers was a kind of Sweet William, of all
tints, from white, to the deepest crimson. A superb Thistle,
the most beautiful I had ever seen. A species of Passion flow-
er, very beautiful. A stately plant of the Sunflower family —
the button of the deepest orange, and the radiating petals bright
carmine, the breadth of the flower about four inches. A large
white flower like a deer's tail. Great quantities of the Sensi-

LIFE OF WILSON. CXXxix

tive plant, that shrunk instantly on being touched, covered the
ground in some places. Almost every flower was new to me,
except the Carolina Pink-root, and Columbo, which grew in
abundance on every side. At Bear creek, which is a large
and rapid stream, I first observed the Indian boys with their
blow-guns. These are tubes of cane seven feet long, and per-
fectly straight, when well made. The arrows are made of
slender slips of cane, twisted, and straightened before the fire,
and covered for several inches at one end with the down of
thistles, in a spiral form, so as just to enter the tube. By a
puif they can send these with such violence as to enter the body
of a partridge, twenty yards off. I set several of them a hunt-
ing birds by promises of reward, but not one of them could
succeed. I also tried some of the blow-guns myself, but found
them generally defective in straightness. I met six parties of
boatmen to-day, and many straggling Indians, and encamped
about sunset near a small brook, where I shot a turkey, and
on returning to my fire found four boatmen, who stayed with
me all night, and helped to pick the bones of the turkey. In
the morning I heard the turkies gobbling all round me, but
not wishing to leave my horse, having no great faith in my
guests' honesty, I proceeded on my journey. This day
(Wednesday) I passed through the most horrid swamps I had
ever seen. These are covered with a prodigious growth of
canes, and high woods, which together, shut out almost the
whole light of day for miles. The banks of the deep and slug-
gish creeks, that occupy the centre, are precipitous, where I
had often to plunge my horse seven feet down, into a bed of
deep clay up to his belly; from which nothing but great
strength and exertion could have rescued him; the opposite
shore was equally bad, and beggars all description. For an
extent of several miles, on both sides of these creeks, the dark-
ness of night obscures every object around. On emerging
from one of the worst of these, I met General Wade Hampton,
with two servants, and a pack-horse, going, as he said, towards
Nashville. I told him of the mud campaign immediately be-

cxl LIFE OF WILSON.

fore him; I was covered with mire and wet, and I thought he
looked somewhat serious at the difficulties he was about to en-
gage. He has been very sick lately. About half an hour be-
fore sunset, being within sight of the Indian's where I intended
to lodge, the evening being perfectly clear and calm, I laid the
reins on my horse's neck, to listen to a Mocking-bird, the
first I had heard in the Western country, which, perched on
the top of a dead tree before the door, was pouring out a tor-
rent of melody. I think I never heard so excellent a performer.
I had alighted, and was fastening my horse, when hearing the
report of a rifle immediately beside me, I looked up and saw
the poor Mocking-bird fluttering to the ground. One of the
savages had marked his elevation, and barbarously shot him.
I hastened over into the yard, and walking up to him, told
him that was bad, very bad ! That this poor bird had come
from a far distant country to sing to him, and that in return he
had cruelly killed him. I told him the Great Spirit was of-
fended at such cruelty, and that he would lose many a deer for
doing so. The old Indian, father-in-law to the bird-killer, un-
derstanding by the negro interpreter what I said, replied, that
when these birds come singing and making a noise all day
near the house, somebody will surely die — which is exactly
what an old superstitious German, near Hampton in Virginia,
once told me. This fellow had married the two eldest daugh-
ters of the old Indian, and presented one of them with the bird
he had killed. The next day I passed through the Chickasaw
Big-town, which stands on the high open plain, that extends
through their country, three or four miles in breadth, by fif-
teen in length. Here and there you perceive little groups of
miserable huts, formed of saplings, and plastered with mud and
clay; about these are generally a few peach and plum trees.
Many ruins of others stand scattered about, and I question
whether there were twenty inhabited huts within the whole
range of view. The ground was red with strawberries; and
the boatmen were seen in straggling parties feasting on them.
Now and then a solitary Indian, wrapt in his blanket, passed

LIFE OF WILSON. cxli

sullen and silent On this plain are beds of shells, of a large
species of clam, some of which are almost entire. I this day
stopt at the house of a white man, who had two Indian wives,
and a hopeful string of young savages, all in their fig-leaves;
not one of them could speak a word of English. This man
was by birth a Virginian, and had been forty years among the
Chickasaws. His countenance and manners were savage and
worse than Indian. I met many parties of boatmen to-day,
and crossed a number of bad swamps. The woods continued
to exhibit the same open luxuriant appearance, and at night I
lodged at a white man's, who has also two wives, and a nume-
rous progeny of young savages. Here I met with a lieutenant
of the United States army, anxiously inquiring for General
Hampton. On Friday the same open woods continued; I met
several parties of Indians, and passed two or three of their
hamlets. At one of these were two fires in the yard, and at
each, eight or ten Indians, men and women, squat on the
ground. In these hamlets there is generally one house built of
a circular form, and plastered thickly all over without and
within with clay. This they call a hot house, and it is the
general winter quarters of the hamlet in cold weather. Here
they all kennel, and having neither window nor place for the
smoke to escape, it must be a sweet place while forty or fifty
of them have it in occupancy. Round some of these hamlets
were great droves of cattle, horses, and hogs. I lodged this
night on the top of a hill far from water, and suffered severely
for thirst. On Saturday I passed a number of most execrable
swamps, the weather was extremely warm, and I had been at-
tacked by something like the dysentery, which occasioned a
constant burning thirst, and weakened me greatly. I stopt
this day. frequently to wash my head and throat in the water,
to allay the burning thirst, and putting on my hat, without
wiping, received considerable relief from it. Since crossing
the Tennessee the woods have been interspersed with pine,
and the soil has become more sandy. This day I met a Cap-
tain Hughes, a traveller, on his return from Santa Fee. My

cxlii LIFE OF WILSON.

complaint increased so much that I could scarcely sit on horse-
back, and all night my mouth and throat were parched with a
burning thirst and fever. On Sunday I bought some raw eggs
which I ate. I repeated the dose at mid-day, and towards
evening, and found great benefit from this simple remedy. I
inquired all along the road for fresh eggs, and for nearly a
week made them almost my sole food, till I completed my
cure. The water in these cane swamps is little better than
poison; and under the heat of a burning sun, and the fatigues
of travelling, it is difficult to repress the urgent calls of thirst
On the Wednesday following, I was assailed by a tremendous
storm of rain, wind, and lightning, until I and my horse were
both blinded by the deluge, and unable to go on. I sought the
first most open place, and dismounting stood for half an hour
under the most profuse heavenly shower-bath I ever enjoyed.
The roaring of the storm was terrible; several trees around me
were broken off, and torn up by the roots, and those that stood
were bent almost to the ground: limbs of trees of several hun-
dred weight flew past within a few yards of me, and I was as-
tonished how I escaped. I would rather take my chance in a
field of battle, than in such a tornado again.

" On the fourteenth day of my journey, at noon, I arrived
at this place, having overcome every obstacle, alone, and with-
out being acquainted with the country; and what surprised the
boatmen more, without whisky. On an average I met from
forty to sixty boatmen every day, returning from this place
and New Orleans. The Chickasaws are a friendly, inoffensive
people, and the Choctaws, though more reserved, are equally
harmless. Both of them treated me with civility, though I
several times had occasion to pass through their camps, where
many of them were drunk. The paroquet which I carried
with me was a continual fund of amusement to all ages of these
people; and as they crowded around to look at it, gave me an
opportunity of studying their physiognomies, without breach
of good manners.

" In thus hastily running over the particulars of this jour-

LIFE OF WILSON. cxliii

ney, I am obliged to omit much that would amuse and interest
you; but my present situation, a noisy tavern, crowded in eve-
ry corner, even in the room where I write, with the sons of
riot and dissipation, prevents me from enlarging on particulars.
I could also have wished to give you some account of this place,
and of the celebrated Mississippi, of which you have heard so
much. On these subjects, however, I can at present only of-
fer you the following slight sketch, taken the morning after my
arrival here.

" The best view of this place and surrounding scenery, is
from the old Spanish fort on the south side of the town, about
a quarter of a mile distant. From this high point, looking up
the river, Natchez lies on your right, a mingled group of green
trees, and white and red houses, occupying an uneven plain,
much washed into ravines, rising as it recedes from the bluff
or high precipitous bank of the river. There is, however,
neither steeple, cupola, nor distinguished object to add interest
to its appearance. The country beyond it to the right is thrown
up into the same irregular knolls; and at the distance of a mile,
in the same direction, you have a peep of some cultivated farms,
bounded by the general forest. On your left you look down,
at a depth of two or three hundred feet, on the river, winding
majestically to the south; the intermediate space exhibiting wild
perpendicular precipices of brown earth. This part of the ri-
ver and shore is the general rendezvous of all the arks or Ken-
tucky boats, several hundreds of which are at present lying
moored there, loaded with the produce of the thousand shores
of this noble river. The busy multitudes below present a per-
petually varying picture of industry; and the noise and uproar,
softened by the distance, with the continual crowing of the
poultry with which many of these arks are filled, produce
cheerful and exhilirating ideas. The majestic Mississippi,
swelled by his ten thousand tributary streams, of a pale brown
colour, half a mile wide, and spotted with trunks of trees, that
show the different threads of the current and its numerous ed-
dies, bears his depth of water past in silent grandeur. Seven

cxliv LIFE OF WILSON.

gun-boats, anchored at equal distances along the stream, with
their ensigns displayed, add to the effect. A few scattered
houses are seen on the low opposite shore, where a narrow
strip of cleared land exposes the high gigantic trunks of some
deadened timber that bound the woods. The whole country
beyond the Mississippi, from south round to west, and north,
presents to the eye one universal level ocean of forest, bounded
only by the horizon. So perfect is this vast level, that not a
leaf seems to rise above the plain, as if shorn by the hands of
heaven. At this moment, while I write, a terrific thunder
storm, with all its towering assemblage of black alpine clouds,
discharging lightning in every direction, overhangs this vast le-
vel, and gives a magnificence and sublime effect to the whole."
The foregoing letters present us with an interesting ac-
count of our author's journey, until his arrival at Natchez, on
the seventeenth of May. In his diary he says — " This jour-
ney, four hundred and seventy-eight miles from Nashville, I
have performed alone, through difficulties, which those who
have never passed the road could not have a conception of. "
We may readily suppose that he had not only difficulties to
encounter, encumbered as he necessarily was with his shoot-
ing apparatus, and bulky baggage, but also dangers, in journey-
ing through a frightful wilderness, where almost impenetrable
cane-swamps and morasses present obstacles to the progress of
the traveller, which require all his resolution and activity to
overcome. Superadded to which, as we are informed, he had
a severe attack of the dysentery, when remote from any situa-
tion which could be productive of either comfort or relief; and
he was under the painful necessity of trudging on, debilitated
and dispirited with a disease, which threatened to put a period
to his existence. An Indian, having been made acquainted
with his situation, recommended the eating of strawberries,
which were then fully ripe, and in great abundance. On this
delightful fruit, and newly laid eggs, taken raw, he wholly
lived for several days; and he attributed his restoration to health
to these simple remedies.

LIFE OF WILSON. cxlv

On the sixth of June our traveller reached New Orleans, dis-
tant from Natchez two hundred and fifty-two miles. As the
sickly season was fast approaching, it was deemed advisable
not to tarry long in this place; and his affairs being despatched,
he sailed on the twenty-fourth in a ship bound to New York,
at which place he arrived on the thirtieth of July; and soon
reached Philadelphia, enriched with a copious stock of materials
for his work, including several beautiful and hitherto unknown
birds.*

In the newly settled country through which Wilson had to
pass, in his last journey, it was reasonable not to expect much
encouragement in the way of subscriptions. Yet he was not
only honoured with the names of some respectable individuals;
but also received hospitable treatment from several persons,
and those, too, to whom he had not been introduced. It is a
singular fact, that from those to whom he had letters of intro-
duction, and from whom most had beefl expected, he received
the fewest acts of civility.

The principal events of his journey have been given in his
letters; but I might select from his diary many interesting pas-
sages, if the limits allotted to this memoir would admit of co-
piousness of detail.

* The editor of Wilson's Poems, which were published at Paisley in 1816,
gives what he states to be an extract from one of our author's letters to his
father, wherein it is said that he had travelled through West Florida to New
Orleans, and had " sailed thence to East Florida, furnished with a letter to
the Spanish Governor." This passage needs explanation. Wilson was ne-
ver either in East or West Florida; (except a small part of the latter pro-
vince, through which the road to New Orleans passed,) but, in the event of
his going thither, had provided himself with a letter of introduction from
Don Luis de Onis, the Spanish ambassador to the United States, to Don En-
rique White, governor of East Florida, and another to Don Vincente Folch,
governor of West Florida. In his passage from New Orleans to New York,
he merely landed, for a few minutes, upon one or two desert islands lying in
the Florida Gulf.

He departed from Philadelphia on the thirtieth of January, 1810; and re-
turned on the second of August, of the same year. It is stated in his diary
that the total amount of his expenses, until his arrival in New York, was the
sum of four hundred and fifty-five dollars. This particular is given as a proof
of how much may be performed, by a good economist, with slender means

VOL. I. — T

clxvi LIFE OF WILSON.

It is not unusual for scholars to keep diaries when they tra-
vel. These writings are commonly the objects of great curi-
osity, as we are all anxious to know what were the impressions
which the incidents of a journey made upon the mind, when it
was in the fitest state to receive them.

For the gratification of the reader, I will make a few short
extracts from Wilson's Journal, as specimens of his mode of
writing these unstudied narratives.

" March 9. — Visited a number of the literati and wealthy
of Cincinnati, who all told me that they would think of it, viz.
of subscribing: they are a very thoughtful people.

" March 17. — Rained and hailed all last night, set off at
eight o'clock, after emptying my boat of the deluge of water.
Rowed hard all day; at noon recruited myself with some bis-
cuits, cheese and American wine. Reach the falls — night sets
in — hear the roaring of the rapids. After excessive hard work
arrive at Beargrass creek, and fasten my boat to a Kentucky
one. Take my baggage and grope my way to Louisville — put
up at the Indian Queen tavern, and gladly sit down to rest my-
self.

" March 18. — Rose quite refreshed. Found a number of
land speculators here. Titles to lands in Kentucky subject to
great disputes.

" March 1 9. — Rambling round the town with my gun. Exa-
mined Mr. 's drawings in crayons — very good. Saw

two new birds he had, both Motacillse.

" March 20. — Set out this afternoon with the gun —killed
nothing new. People in taverns here devour their meals.
Many shopkeepers board in taverns — also boatmen, land specu-
lators, merchants, &c. No naturalist to keep me company.

" March 21. — Went out this afternoon shooting with Mr.
A. Saw a number of Sandhill cranes. Pigeons numerous.

" March 23. — Packed up my things which I left in the care
of a merchant here, to be sent on to Lexington; and having
parted, with great regret, with my paroquet, to the gentlemen
of the tavern, I bade adieu to Louisville, to which place I had

LIFE OF WILSON. cxlvii

four letters of recommendation, and was taught to expect much
of every thing there; but neither received one act of civility
from those to whom I was recommended, one subscriber, nor
one new bird; though I delivered my letters, ransacked the
woods repeatedly, and visited all the characters likely to sub-
scribe. Science or literature has not one friend in this place.
Every one is so intent on making money that they can talk of
nothing else; and they absolutely devour their meals that they
may return the sooner to their business. Their manners cor-
respond with their features.

" Good country this for lazy fellows: they plant corn, turn
their pigs into the woods, and in the autumn feed upon corn
and pork — they lounge about the rest of the year.

" March 24. — Weather cool. Walked to Shelby ville to
breakfast. Passed some miserable log-houses in the midst of
rich fields. Called at a 'Squire C.'s, who was rolling logs. Sat
down beside him, but was not invited in, though it was about
noon.

" March 29. — Finding my baggage not likely to come on, I
set out from Frankfort for Lexington. The woods swarm with
pigs, squirrels and woodpeckers- Arrive exceedingly fatigued.

" Wherever you go you hear people talking of buying and
selling land; no readers, all traders. The Yankees, wherever
you find them, are all traders. Found one here, a house car-
penter, who came from Massachusetts, and brought some bar-
rels of apples down the river from Pennsylvania to this town,
where he employs the negro women to hawk them about the
streets, at thirty-seven and a half cents per dozen.

" Restless, speculating set of mortals here, full of lawsuits,
no great readers, even of politics or newspapers.

" The sweet courtesies of life, the innumerable civilities in
deeds and conversation, which cost one so little, are seldom
found here. Every man you meet with has either some land
to buy or sell,j3ome law-suit, some coarse hemp or corn to dis-
pose of; and if the conversation do not lead to any of these he
will force it. Strangers here receive less civilities than in any

Cxlviii LIFE OF WILSON.

•

place I have ever been in. The respect due to the fatigues and
privations of travellers is no where given, because every one
has met with as much, and thinks he has seen more than any
other. No one listens to the adventures of another, without
interrupting the narrative with his own ; so that, instead of an
auditor, he becomes a competitor in adventure-telling. So
many adventurers, also, continually wandering about here, in-
jure the manners of the people, for avarice and knavery prey
most freely and safely upon passengers whom they may never
meet again.

" These few observations are written in Salter White's gar-
ret, with little or no fire, wood being a scarce article here — the
forests being a full half mile distant.

" April 9. — Court held to-day, large concourse of people; not
less than one thousand horses in town, hitched to the side-posts
— no food for them all day. Horses selling by auction. Ne-
gro woman sold same way: my reflections while standing by
and hearing her cried: ' three hundred and twenty-five dol-
lars for this woman and boy! going! going!' Woman and boy
afterwards weep. Damned damned slavery! this is one infer-
nal custom which the Virginians have brought into this coun-
try. Rude and barbarous appearance of the crowd. Hopkins's
double cutters much wanted here.

" April 10. — Was introduced to several young ladies this af-
ternoon, whose agreeable society formed a most welcome con-
trast to that of the lower orders of the other sex. Mrs. * * *,
an amiable, excellent lady; think that savage ignorance, rude-
ness and boorishnes.s, were never so contrasted by female sweet-
ness, affability and intelligence.

" April 12. — Went this evening to drink tea with Mr.
* * *; was introduced to Mrs. * * *, a most lovely, accom-
plished and interesting woman. Her good sense and lively in-
telligence of a cast far superior to that of almost any woman I
have ever seen. She is most unfortunately unwell with a ner-
vous complaint, which affects her head. She told me, most

LIFE OF WILSON. cxlix

feelingly, that the spring, which brings joy to every other be-
ing, brings sorrow to her, for in winter she is always well.

" April 25. Breakfasted at Walton's, thirteen miles from
Nashville. This place is a fine rich hollow, watered by a charm-
ing, clear creek, that never fails. Went up to Madison's Lick,
where I shot three paroquets and some small birds.

66 April 26. Set out early, the hospitable landlord, ISAAC
WALTON, refusing to take any thing for my fare, or that of my
horse, saying — " You seem to be travelling for the good of
the world; and I cannot, I will not charge you any thing.
Whenever you come this way, call and stay with me, you
shall be welcome!" This is the first instance of such* hospi-
tality which I have met with in the United States. "

" Wednesday, May 23. Left Natchez, after procuring
twelve subscribers; and having received a kind letter of invi-
tation from William Dunbar, Esq., I availed myself of his good-
ness, and rode nine miles along the usual road to his house;
where, though confined to his bed by a severe indisposition, I
was received with great hospitality and kindness; had a neat
bed-room assigned me; and was requested to consider myself
as at home during the time I should find it convenient to stay
in exploring this part of the country. "

The letter above mentioned, which is now before me, is wor-
thy of transcription:

" Forest, 20th May, 1810.
" Sir,

" It is very unfortunate that I should be so much indisposed
as to be confined to my bed-room; nevertheless, I cannot give
up the idea of having the pleasure of seeing you as soon as you
find it convenient; the perusal of your first volume of Orni-
thology, lent me by General Wilkinson, has produced in me a
very great desire of making your acquaintance.

* The editor of Wilson's Poems, in quoting this paragraph, omitted the
word such, thereby intending to convey a charge of the want of hospitality
in the American character, which our author rarely experienced. Wilson's
meaning is sufficiently obvious, without comment.

cl LIFE OF WILSON.

" I understand, from my boy, that you propose going in a
few days to New Orleans, where you will see some small cabi-
nets of natural history that may interest you. But, as I pre-
sume it is your intention to prosecute your inquiries into the
interior of our country, this cannot be done better than from
my house, as your head quarters; where every thing will be
made convenient to your wishes. My house stands literally
in the forest, and your beautiful Orioles, with other elegant
birds, are our court-yard companions.

" The bearer attends you with a couple of horses, on the
supposition that it may be convenient for you to visit us to-day;
otherwise he shall wait upon you any other day that you shall
appoint.

" I am respectfully, &c.

" WILLIAM DUNBAR."

This excellent gentleman, whose hospitality was thus prompt-
ly excited, has since paid the debt of nature; and his grateful
guest fondly cherished, to the last hour of his existence, the re-
membrance of those happy moments which had been passed in
his society, and that of his amiable and accomplished family.

TO MR. WILLIAM BARTRAM.

Philadelphia, September 2, 1810.

" Incessant labour since my return, to make up my loss of
drawings, which were sent by post from Nashville, has hither-
to prevented me from paying you a visit. I am closely en-
gaged on my third volume. Any particulars relative to the
history of the meadow lark, crow black-bird, snow bunting,
cuckoo, paroquet, nonpareil, pinnated grous, or blue grosbeak,
if interesting, would be received by me with much pleasure.
I have lately received from Michaux a number of rich speci-
mens of birds, printed in colours. I have since made some at-
tempts at this kind of printing, and have succeeded tolerably
well.

u Michaux has published several numbers of his American

LIFE OF WILSON. cli

Sylva, in Paris, with coloured plates. I expect them here
soon.

" I collected a number of entire new species in my south-
western tour; and in my return I visited several of the islands
off the Florida shore, where I met with some very curious land
birds.

" Mr. Dunbar, of Natchez, remembered you very well, and
desired me to carry his good wishes to you."

TO MR. WM. DUNCAN, FRANKFORD, PENN.

Philadelphia, February 12, 1811.

" So you have once more ascended the preceptor's rostrum,
to wield the terrors of the taws and hickory. Trying as this
situation is, and various and distracting as its avocations some-
times undoubtedly are, it is elysium to the scenes which you
have lately emerged from; and as far transcends these latter, as
honourable independence towers above despised and insulted
servitude. You wish me to suggest any hints I may think
proper for your present situation. Your own experience and
prudence render any thing I could advise unnecessary, as it is
all included in the two resolutions which you have already ta-
ken; first, to distinguish, as clearly as possible, the whole ex-
tent of your duty; and, secondly, to fulfil every item of that to
the best of your abilities. Accordingly, the more extensive
and powerful these are, the greater good you will be capable
of doing; the higher and more dignified will your reputation
be; and the easier and calmer will your deportment be, under
every circumstance of duty. You have but these two things
to surmount, and the whole routine of teaching will become an
agreeable amusement; and every closing day will shed over
your mind that blissful tranquillity, " which nothing earthly
gives or can destroy."

" Devote your whole time, except what is proper for need-
ful exercise, to rendering yourself completely master of your
business. For this purpose rise by the peep of dawn; take
your regular walk; and then commence your stated studies.

clii MFE OF WILSON.

Be under no anxiety to hear what people think of you, or of
your tutorship; but study the improvement, and watch over
the good conduct, of their children consigned to your care, as
if they were your own. Mingle respect and affability with
your orders and arrangements. Never show yourself feverish
or irritated; but preserve a firm and dignified, a just and ener-
getic deportment, in every emergency. To be completely
master of one's business, and ever anxious to discharge it with
fidelity and honour, is to be great, beloved, respectable and
happy.

" I could have wished that you had been accommodated with
a room and boarding in a more private and retired situation,
where your time and reflections would have been more your
own; and perhaps these may be obtained hereafter. Try to
discover your own defects, and labour with all your energy to
supply them. Respect yourself, and fear nothing but vice and
idleness. If one had no other reward for doing one's duty,
but the grateful sensations arising therefrom on the retrospec-
tion, the recompense would be abundant, as these alone are

able to bear us up amidst every reverse.

# * # *

" At present I cannot enlarge further, my own mind being
harrassed with difficulties relative to my publication. I have
now no farther dependence on Murray; and I mean to make it
consistent both with the fame, and the interest, of Lawson to
do his best for me. I hope you will continue to let me hear
from you, from time to time. I anticipate much pleasure from
the improvements which I have no doubt you will now make
in the several necessary departments of your business. Wish-
ing you every success in your endeavours to excel, I remain,
with sincere regard, &c."

In the early part of the year 1812, Wilson published his fifth
volume; and as the preface is interesting, we here insert an ex-
tract from it, for the gratification of the reader.

LIFE OP WILSON. cliii

" The fifth volume of this extensive work is submitted to the
public with all due deference and respect; and the author hav-
ing now, as he conjectures, reached the middle stage of his
journey, or in traveller's phrase, the ' half- way house,' may be
permitted to indulge himself with a slight retrospect of the
ground he has already traversed, and a glimpse of that which
still lies before him.

" The whole of our Land Birds (those of the sixth volume
included, which are nearly ready for the press) have now been
figured and described, probably a very few excepted, which, it
is, hoped will also shortly be obtained. These have been gleaned
up from an extensive territory of woods and fields, unfrequen-
ted forests, solitary ranges of mountains, swamps and morasses,
by successive journies and excursions of more than ten thousand
miles. With all the industry which a single individual could
possibly exert, several species have doubtless escaped him.
These, future expeditions may enable him to procure; or the
kindness of his distant literary friends obligingly supply him
with.

" In endeavouring to collect materials for describing truly
and fully our feathered tribes, he has frequently had recourse
to the works of those European naturalists who have written
on the subject; he has examined their pages with an eager and
inquisitive eye; but his researches in that quarter have been but
too frequently repaid with disappointment, and often with dis-
gust. On the subject of the manners and migrations of our
birds, which in fact constitute almost the only instructive and
interesting parts of their history, all is a barren and a dreary
waste. A few vague and formal particulars of their size, speci-
fic marks, &c. accompanied sometimes with figured represen-
tations that would seem rather intended to caricature than to il-
lustrate their originals, is all that the greater part of them can
boast of. Nor are these the most exceptionable parts of their
performances; the novelty of fable, and the wildness of fanci-
ful theory, are frequently substituted for realities; and conjec-
tures instead of facts called up for their support. Prejudice,

VOL. i — u

I

LIFE OF WILSON.

as usual, has in numerous instances united with its parent, ig-
norance, to depreciate and treat with contempt what neither of
them understood; and the whole interesting assemblage of the
feathered tribes of this vast continent, which in richness of plu-
mage, and in strength, sweetness and variety of song, will be
found to exceed those of any other quarter of the globe, are
little known save in the stuffed cabinets of the curious, and
among the abstruse pages and technical catalogues of dry syste-
matic writers.

" From these barren and musty records, the author of the
present work has a thousand times turned with a delight bor-
dering on adoration, to the magnificent repository of the woods
and fields — the Grand Aviary of Nature. In this divine school
he has studied from no vulgar copy, but from the works of the
GREAT MASTER OF CREATION himself; and has read with rap-
ture the lessons of his wisdom, his goodness and his love, in the
conformation, the habitudes, melody and migrations of this
beautiful portion of the work of his hands. To communicate
as correct ideas of these as his feeble powers were capable of,
and thus, from objects, that, in our rural walks, almost every
where present themselves, to deduce not only amusement and
instruction, but the highest incitements to virtue and piety,
have been the author's most anxious and ardent wish. On many
of his subjects, indeed, it has not been in his power to say much.
The recent discovery of some, and the solitary and secluded
habits of others, have opposed great obstacles to his endeavours
in this respect. But a time is approaching when these obstacles
will no longer exist. When the population of this immense
western Republic will have diffused itself over every acre of
ground fit for the comfortable habitation of man — when farms,
villages, towns and glittering cities, thick as the stars in a win-
ter's evening, overspread the face of our beloved country, and
every hill, valley and stream has its favourite name, its native
flocks and rural inhabitants; then, not a warbler shall flit through
our thickets, but its name, its notes and habits will be familiar
to all; repeated in their sayings, and celebrated in their village

LIFE OF WILSON. civ

songs. At that happy period, should any vestige or memory of
the present publication exist, be it known to our more enlight-
ened posterity, as some apology for the deficiencies of its author,
that in the period in which he wrote, three-fourths of our feath-
ered tribes were altogether unknown even to the proprietors of
the woods which they frequented — that without patron, fortune
or recompense, he brought the greater part of these from the
obscurity of ages, gave to each " a local habitation and a name"
— collected from personal observation whatever of their char-
acters and manners seemed deserving of attention; and delineated
their forms and features, in their native colours, as faithfully as
he could, as records, at least, of their existence.

" In treating of those birds more generally known, I have
endeavoured to do impartial justice to their respective charac-
ters. Ignorance and stubborn-rooted opinions, even in this coun-
try, have rendered some odious that are eminently useful; and
involved the manners of others in fable and mystery, which in
themselves are plain and open as day. To remove prejudices
when they oppose themselves to the influence of humanity is a
difficult, but when effected, a most pleasing employment. If
therefore, in devesting this part of the natural history of our
country of many of its fables and most forbidding features, and
thus enabling our youth to become more intimately acquainted
with this charming portion of the feathered creation, I should
have succeeded in multiplying their virtuous enjoyments, and
in rendering them more humane to those little choristers, how
gratifying to my heart would be the reflection ! For to me it ap-
pears, that of all inferior creatures Heaven seems to have inten-
ded birds as the most cheerful associates of man; to sooth and
exhilarate him in his labours by their varied melody, of which
no other creature, but man, is capable; to prevent the increase
of those supernumerary hosts of insects that would soon con-
sume the products of his industry; to glean up the refuse of his
fields, 'that nothing be lost,' and, what is of much more inter-
est, to be to him the most endearing examples of the tenderest
connubial love and parental affection."

OF WILSON.
TO MR. F. A. MICHAUX.

Philadelphia^ June, 6th, 1812.
" My dear friend,

" I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from you, dated
April 10, 1812; but living at Mr. Bartram's, I have not yet
seen Mr. Correa, the gentleman who brought it over. I have
also had the great satisfaction of examining the plates of your
four numbers of Forest Trees, which are beautifully executed;
and I regret most sincerely that my little knowledge of the
French language! prevents me from perusing with equal satis-
faction, the interesting particulars you relate of their history. I
expected long before this to be able to congratulate you on the
publication of a translation of your work here, and I announced
the same in the preface to one of my volumes; but sorry I am
to inform you, that no steps have yet been taken to put that
design in execution, and I fear none will be taken for many
months to come. Unless there be an evident certainty of profit,
booksellers, in general, are very indifferent to publish works
of any kind, however great their merits may be; and the poor
author's feelings are little regarded. Few men have known
this more experimentally than myself. I have sacrificed every
thing to publish my Ornithology — have written six volumes
and am engaged on the seventh. * * *

" I have frequently conversed with Mr. Bradford about pub-
lishing a translation of your Forest Trees; and you may rest as-
sured that, should it be undertaken, I will use all my influence
in its favour. Were you here yourself, I have no doubt but it
would be undertaken, and I think with success, for all who
have seen it admire it. I procured our good friend, Mr. Wm.

•}• Wilson's ignorance of French was a great disadvantage to him; and he
never ceased to regret his want of instruction in a tongue, which is con-
sidered not only important to the scholar, but indispensable to the naturalist.
The number of works, in the various departments of Natural History, which
France annually produces, is truly astonishing; and fortunate is that student
whose acquirements in her language enable him to profit of the knowledge
of this illustrious nation.

LIFE OF WILSON. clvii

Bartram, a sight of it, and he was greatly delighted with its ap-
pearance. One of my friends read a great part of it in English
to him, and he was highly satisfied. * * * *

"Dr. Barton has not yet published his General Zoology J
which he has been announcing, from time to time, for so many
years. It is much easier to say these things than do them. * *

" Mr. Wm. Bartram is still as you left him, and you are fre-
quently the subject of our conversation at table. I have made
many extensive excursions lately, and have discovered, in all,
about forty new species of Land Birds, never taken notice of
by any other writer. I am now engaged on the Water Birds;
and had just returned yesterday from the seashore when your
letter was presented to me. Dr. H. and Mr. P. have both pub-
licly announced your work, but as no translation has been yet
made, it has not been reviewed by any of our writers. * *

" Wishing you all the success which is justly due to the la-
bours, journies, and investigations, you have made in behalf of
Natural History, I remain, &c."

In September, 1812, Wilson undertook a journey into the
eastern states, for the purpose of visiting his subscribers, and
settling accounts with his agents.

TO MR. GEORGE ORD.

Boston, October 13, 1812.
" Dear Sir,

" It is not in my power at present to give you any thing
more than a slight sketch of my rambles since leaving Philadel-

•j- This work, which it was the intention of the late learned professor to en-
title " Elements of Zoology," after being- fen years in the press, was advanced
no further than fifty-six pages, in octavo, at the death of the author. It does
not appear that he left much manuscript matter in continuation, consequent-
ly the public will derive no benefit from a work, which is too incomplete for
publication. The printed sheets I have read, not only with satisfaction, but
instruction; and cannot forbear expressing my regret that an undertaking,
which Dr. Barton certainly knew how to perform, and to which his learning
was adequate, should have been suffered to perish in embryo. The art of
concentrating his talents, was one for which the professor was not greatly
distinguished.

OF WILSON.

phia. My route up the Hudson afforded great pleasure, mingled
with frequent regret that you were not along with me, to share
the enjoyment. About thirty miles south of Albany we passed
within ten miles of the celebrated Catskill mountains, a gigan-
tic group, clothed with forest to the summits. In the river here
I found our common reed (Zizania aquatica) growing in great
abundance in shoals extending along the middle of the river. I
saw flocks of Red-wings, and some Black Ducks, but no Rail,

or Reed-birds.

* * * *

"From this place my journey led me over a rugged, moun-
tainous country, to Lake Champlain, along which I coasted as
far as Burlington in Vermont. Here I found the little Coot-foot-
ed Tringa or Phalarope* that you sent to Mr. Peale; a new and
elegantly marked Hawk; and observed some Black Ducks.
The shores are alternate sandy bays, and rocky headlands run-
ning into the lake. Every tavern was crowded with officers,
soldiers and travellers. Eight of us were left without a bed ;
but having an excellent great coat, I laid myself down in a cor-
ner, with a determination of sleeping in defiance of the uproar
of the house, and the rage of my companions, who would not

disgrace themselves by a prostration of this sort.

* * * *

" From Lake Champlain I traversed a rude mountainous re-
gion to Connecticut river, one hundred miles above Dartmouth
College. I spent several days with the gun in Groton, and Rye-
gate townships, and made some discoveries. From this I coast-
ed along the Connecticut to a place called Haverhill, ten miles
from the foot of Moose-hillock, one of the highest of the White
Mountains of New Hampshire. I spent the greater part of a day
in ascending to the peak of one of these majestic mountains,
whence I had the most sublime and astonishing view that was
ever afforded me. One immensity of forest lay below, extended
on all sides to the farthest verge of the horizon; while the only
prominent objects were the columns of smoke from burning

* P. Fulicarius.

LIFE OF WILSON.

woods, that rose from various parts of the earth beneath to the
heavens; for the day was beautiful and serene. Hence I travel-
led to Dartmouth, and thence in a direct course to Boston.
From Boston I passed through Portsmouth to Portland, and
got some things new; my return was by a different route. I
have procured three new and beautiful Hawks; and have glean-
ed up a stock of remarks that will be useful to me hereafter.

" I hope, my dear sir, that you have been well since I left
you. I have myself been several times afflicted with a violent
palpitation of the heart,* and want to try whether a short voy-
age by sea will not be beneficial.

" In New England the rage of war, the virulence of politics,
and the pursuit of commercial speculations, engross every fa-
culty. The voice of Science, and the charms of Nature, un-
less these last present themselves in the form of prize sugars,
coffee, or rum, are treated with contempt."

The excursion to the White Mountains, above mentioned,
was succeeded by rather an unpleasant occurrence. The good
people of Haverhill perceiving a stranger among them of very
inquisitive habits, and who evinced great zeal in exploring the
country, sagaciously concluded that he was a spy from Canada,
employed in taking sketches of the place, to facilitate the in-
vasion of the enemy. Under these impressions it was thought
conducive to the public safety that Wilson should be appre-
hended; and he was accordingly taken into the custody of a
magistrate, who, on being made acquainted with his character,
and the nature of his visit, politely dismissed him, with many
apologies for the mistake.

The publication of the Ornithology now advanced as rapidly
as a due regard to correctness and elegance would admit. In
order to become better acquainted with the feathered tribes,
and to observe their migrations with more accuracy, as well
as to enjoy the important advantages of a rural retirement,
Wilson resided the better part of the years 1811-12 at the Bo-

* Tliis distressing- disease, so well known to the literary student, Wilson
was often afflicted with.

dx LIFE OF WILSON.

tanic Garden of his friend, Mr. Bartram. There removed from
the noise, bustle, and interruption of the metropolis, he was
enabled to dispose of his time to the best advantage; for when
fatigued with close application within doors, to recruit his mind
and body he had only to cross the threshold of his abode, and
he at once found himself surrounded with those acquaintance,
the observing of whose simple manners not only afforded the
most agreeable recreation, but who were perpetually contri-
buting to the great undertaking which he was earnestly labour-
ing to complete.

In the month of March, 1812, Wilson was chosen a member
of the Society of Artists of the United States; but in the spring
of the succeeding year, a greater honour was conferred upon
him, by his being elected a member of the American Philoso-
phical Society of Philadelphia.

TO MR. WM. BARTRAM.

Philadelphia, April 21, 1813.
" My dear friend,

" I have been extremely busy these several months, my
colourists having all left me; so I have been obliged to do ex-
tra duty this last winter. Next week I shall publish my
seventh volume; and shall send you your copy with the earliest
opportunity. I am now engaged with the ducks, all of which,
that I am acquainted with, will be comprehended in the eighth
volume.

" Since I had the pleasure of seeing you, I have hardly left
the house half an hour; and I long most ardently to breathe once
more the fresh air of the country, and gaze on the lovely face
of Nature. Will it be convenient for the family to accommo-
date me (as I shall be alone) this summer? Please to let me
know.

" I lately received from the celebrated Mr. West, a proof
impression of his grand historical picture of the death of Admi-
ral Nelson — a present which I highly value.

" The Philosophical Society of Philadelphia have done me

LIFE OF WILSON. clxi

the honour to elect me a member, for which I must certainly,
in gratitude, make them a communication on some subject,
this summer. I long very much to hear from you; and, with
my best wishes for your health and happiness, am very truly

Your sincere friend."

As soon as the seventh volume of the Ornithology was pub-
lished, its author, and the writer of this sketch, set out on their
last expedition to Great Egg-harbour. * There they remained
for nearly four weeks, constantly occupied in collecting mate-
rials for the eighth volume, which Wilson had resolved should
in no respects fall short of the preceding; but which should, if
possible, enhance his reputation, by the value of its details,
and the beauty of its embellishments.

Immediately on his return to Philadelphia, he engaged anew
in his arduous avocation; and by the month of August he had
succeeded in completing the letter-press of the eighth volume,
though the whole of the plates were not finished. But unfor-
tunately his great anxiety to conclude the work, condemned
him to an excess of toil, which, inflexible as was his mind, his
bodily frame was unable to bear. He was likewise, by this
flood of business, prevented from residing in the country,
where hours of mental lassitude might have been beguiled by a
rural walk, or the rough but invigorating exercise of the
gun. At length he was attacked by a disease, which, perhaps,
at another period of his life might not have been attended with
fatal effects, but which now, in his debilitated state of body,
and harassed mind, proved a mighty foe, whose assaults all the
combined efforts of friendship, science and skill, could not re-
pel. The Dysentery, after a sickness of ten days, closed the
mortal career of Alexander Wilson, on the twenty-third of
August, 1813.

It may not be going too far to maintain, that in no age or na-
tion has there ever arisen one more eminently qualified for a
naturalist than the subject of these memoirs. Pie was not only

* Wilson made six journies to the coast of New Jersey, in pursuit of wa-
ter birds, which abound in the neighbourhood of Great Egg-Harbour.
VOL. I. X

dxii LIFE OF WILSON.

an enthusiastic admirer of the works of creation, but he was
consistent in research; and permitted no dangers or fatigues to
abate his ardour, or relax his exertions. He inured himself to
hardships by frequent and laborious exercise; and was never
more happy than when employed in some enterprise, which
promised from its difficulties the novelties of discovery. What-
ever was obtained with ease, to him appeared to be attended,
comparatively speaking, with small interest: the acquisitions
of labour alone seemed worthy of his ambition. He was no
closet philosopher — exchanging the frock of activity for the
night-gown and slippers. He was indebted for his ideas, not
to books, which err, but to Nature which is infallible; and the
inestimable transcript of her works, which he has bequeathed
to us, possesses a charm which affects us the more, the better
acquainted we become with the delightful original. His in-
quisitive habits procured him from others a vast heterogeneous
mass of information; but he had the happy talent of selecting
from this rubbish whatever was valuable. His perseverance
was uncommon; and when engaged in pursuit of a particular
object, he would never relinquish it, while there was a chance
of success. His powers of observation were very acute, and
he seldom erred in judgment, when favoured with a fair op-
portunity of investigation.

Credulity has been aptly termed " the vice of naturalists;"
but it may be said, to the honour of our author, that it would
be difficult to find one less infected with this vice than himself.
His mind, strongly imbued with common sense, and familiar
with the general laws of nature, could not be imposed upon by
appearances; and marvellous narratives, in that science which
he had so much at heart, were the objects of his decided dis-
approbation. The ridicule and scorn with which he treated
the hypothesis of the annual torpidity of swallows are well
known; and he regarded with equal contempt those tales of the
fascinating faculty attributed to serpents, which are yet but too
well adapted to the taste of the multitude to be effectively dis-
credited.

LIFE OF WILSON.

Having been " something of a traveller," it would be rea-
sonable to conclude that Wilson had been familiar with " novel
sights;" but we no where find that he ever beheld a toad leap-
ing into day, from its rocky domicil of five thousand years, or
a mermaid " sleeking her soft alluring locks" in the sun. That
wonder of the " vasty deep," the Sea Serpent of Gloucester, had
not attracted the attention of the public in his time; but if it
had, there is little doubt that he would have promptly exerted
himself to expose one of the grossest fictions that was ever
palmed upon the credulity of mankind.

That the industry of Wilson was great, his work will for
ever testify. And our admiration is excited, that so much
should have been performed in so short a time. When we
take into consideration the state of our country, as respects the
cultivation of the physical sciences; and that in the walk of
Ornithology, particularly, no one, deserving the title of a Na-
turalist, had yet presumed to tread; when we view the labours
of foreigners, who had interested themselves in our natural pro-
ductions, and find how incompetent they were, through a de-
ficiency of correct information, to instruct; and then when we
reflect that a single individual, " without patron, fortune, or
recompense,77 accomplished, in the space of seven years, as
much as the combined body of European naturalists took a cen-
tury to achieve, we feel almost inclined to doubt the evidence
upon which this conclusion is founded. But it is a fact, which
we feel a pride in asserting, that we have as faithful, complete,
and interesting, an account of our birds, in the volumes of the
American Ornithology, as the Europeans can at this moment
boast of possessing of theirs. Let those who question the cor-
rectness of this opinion examine for themselves, and determine
according to the dictates of an unbiassed judgment.

We need no other evidence of the unparalleled industry of
our author, than the fact, that of two hundred and seventy-
eight species, which have been figured and described in his
Ornithology,* fifty -six had not been taken notice of by any
* The whole number of birds figured is three hundred and twenty.

clxiv LIFE OF WILSON.

former naturalist;* and several of the latter number are so ex-
tremely rare, that the specimens, from which the figures were
taken, were the only ones that he was ever enabled to obtain.
This expensive collection of birds was the result of many
months of unwearied research, amongst forests, swamps and
morasses, exposed to all the dangers, privations and fatigues,
incident to such an undertaking. What but a remarkable pas-
sion for the pursuit, joined with the desire of fame, could have
supported a solitary individual, in labours of body and mind,
compared to which the bustling avocations of common life are
mere holy-day activity or recreation!

Independent on that part of his work which was Wilson's
particular province, viz. the drawing and describing of his sub-
jects, he was necessitated to occupy much of his time in colour-
ing the plates; his sole resource for support being in this em-
ployment, as he had been compelled to relinquish the superin-
tendence of the Cyclopaedia. This drudgery of colouring the
plates, is a circumstance much to be regretted, as the work
would have proceeded more rapidly if he could have avoided
it. One of his principal difficulties, in effect, and that which
caused him no small uneasiness, was the process of colouring.
If this could have been done solely by himself; or, as he was
obliged to seek assistance therein, if it could have been per-
formed immediately under his eye, he would have been re-
lieved of much anxiety; and would have better maintained a

* In this statement of the number of new species, I followed Wilson's own
catalogue, wherein they are indicated. But it is proper to observe, that
Vieillot's " Oiseaux de UAmtriqut Septentrionale" were never seen by our
author; otherwise he would have taken notice that some of his supposed non-
descripts were figured and described in the above-mentioned costly work,
which was published in Paris in the year 1807. Vieillot travelled in the Uni-
ted States, with the view of giving an account of our birds? he published
only two folio volumes, with coloured plates; his publisher failed; and the
copper-plates of the work, including those intended for the third volume,
were sold at public sale for old copper; and are now (1825) in Philadelphia,
and the property of William Maclure, Esq., the President of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

LIFE OF WILSON. clxv

due equanimity; his mind being daily ruffled by the negligence
of his assistants, who too often, through a deplorable want of
skill and taste, made disgusting caricatures of what were in-
tended to be modest imitations of simple nature. * Hence much
of his precious time was spent in the irksome employment of
inspecting and correcting the imperfections of others. This
waste of his stated periods of labour, he felt himself constrain-
ed to compensate, by encroachments on those hours which
Nature, tenacious of her rights, claims as her own: hours which
she consecrates to rest — which she will not forego without
a struggle; and which all those, who would preserve unimpair-
ed the vigour of their mind and body, must respect. Of this
intense and destructive application his friends failed not to ad-
monish him; but to their kind remonstrances he would reply,
that " life is short, and without exertion nothing can be per-
formed." But the true cause of this extraordinary toil was his
poverty. By the terms of agreement with his publisher, he
was to furnish, at his own cost, all the drawings and literary
matter for the work; and to have the whole under his control
and superintendence. The publisher stipulated to find funds
for the completion of the volumes. To support the heavy ex-

* In the preface to the third volume, Wilson states the anxiety which he
had suffered on account of the colouring1 of the plates; and of his having
made an arrangement, whereby his difficulties on that score had been sur-
mounted. This arrangement proved in the end of greater injury than benefit.

The art of printing in colours is but little known in our country, and sel-
dom practised; and the few attempts that have been made have only partial-
ly succeeded. An experiment of this nature was undertaken upon several
plates of this work, but with a success by no means satisfactory. When
Wilson commenced his labours, every thing relating to them was new to
him; and the difficulty of fixing the proper tints, upon an uniform black
ground, was the greater, inasmuch as he had to experiment himself, unaided
by the counsel or example of those to whom the process was familiar.

The writer of this narrative has thought it his duty to state so.ne of the
embarrassments under which Wilson laboured, in the department of colour-
ing the plates, in order to obviate criticisms, which too many are disposed to
make, on supposed faults; but if all the difficulties were made known, there
would be no fear for the result, among readers of candour and understanding-

Clxvi LIFE OF WILSON.

pense of procuring materials, and other unavoidable expendi-
tures, Wilson's only resource, as has been stated, was in co-
louring the plates.

In the preface to the fifth volume he observes: " The publi-
cation of an original work of this kind, in this country, has
been attended with difficulties, great, and, it must be confessed,
sometimes discouraging to the author, whose only reward
hitherto has been the favourable opinion of his fellow-citizens,
and the pleasure of the pursuit.

" Let but the generous hand of patriotism be stretched forth
to assist and cherish the rising arts and literature of our coun-
try, and both will most assuredly, and that at no remote peri-
od, shoot forth, increase and flourish, with a vigour, a splen-
dour and usefulness, inferior to no other on earth."

We have here an affirmation that the author had laboured
without reward, except what was conferred by inefficient praise;
and an eloquent appeal to the generosity and patriotism of his
fellow-citizens. Seven illustrious cities disputed the honour
of having given birth to the Prince of Epic song. Philadel-
phia first beheld that phenomenon, the " American Ornitholo-
gy," rising amidst her boasted opulence, to vindicate the claims
of a calumniated portion of creation; and to furnish her literary
pride with a subject of exultation for ages to come. Yet duty
calls upon us to record a fact, which may cause our native city
to feel the glow of shame. Of all her literati, her men of be-
nevolence, taste and riches, SEVENTY only, to the period of the
author's decease, had the liberality to countenance him by a
subscription, more than half of whom were tradesmen, artists,
and persons of the middle class of society; whilst the little city
of New Orleans, in the short space of seventeen days, furnish-
ed SIXTY subscribers to the " American Ornithology!"

Wilson was possessed of the nicest sense of honour. In all
his dealings he was not only scrupulously just, but highly ge-
nerous. His veneration for truth was exemplary. His dispo-
sition was social and affectionate. His benevolence was exten-
sive. He was remarkably temperate in eating and drinking,

LIFE OF WILSON. clxvii

his love of study and retirement preserving him from the con-
taminating influence of the convivial circle. But as no one is
perfect, Wilson in a small degree partook of the weakness of
humanity. He was of the Genus irritabile, and was obstinate
in opinion. It ever gave him pleasure to acknowledge error,
when the conviction resulted from his own judgment alone,
but he could not endure to be told of his mistakes. Hence his
associates had to be sparing of their criticisms, through a fear
of forfeiting his friendship. With almost all his friends he had
occasionally, arising from a collision of opinion, some slight
misunderstanding, which was soon passed over, leaving no dis-
agreeable impression. But an act of disrespect he could ill
brook, and a wilful injury he would seldom forgive.

In his person he was of a middle stature, of a thin habit of
body; his cheek-bones projected, and his eyes, though hollow,
displayed considerable vivacity and intelligence; his complex-
ion was sallow, his mien thoughtful; his features were coarse,
and there was a dash of vulgarity in his physiognomy, which
struck the observer at the first view, but which failed to im-
press one on acquaintance. His walk was quick when travel-
ling, so much so that it was difficult for a companion to keep
pace with him ; but when in the forests, in pursuit of birds, he
was deliberate and attentive — he was, as it were, all eyes, and
all ears.

Such was Alexander Wilson. When the writer of this hum-
ble biography indulges in retrospection, he again finds himself
in the society of that individual, whose life was a series of those
virtues which dignify human nature; he attends him in his
wild-wood rambles, and listens to those pleasing observations,
which the magnificence of creation was wont to give birth to;
he sits at his feet, and receives the instructions of one, in sci-
ence, so competent to teach; he beholds him in the social cir-
cle, and notes the complacency which he inspired in all around.
But the transition from the past to the present quickens that
anguish with which his heart must be filled, who casts a me-
lancholy look on those scenes, a few years since endeared by

clxviii LIFE OF WILSON.

the presence of one, united to him by a conformity of taste,
disposition and pursuit, and who reflects that that beloved
friend can revisit them no more.

It was the intention of Wilson, on the completion of his Or-
nithology, to publish an edition in four volumes octavo; the
figures to be engraved in wood, somewhat after the manner of
Bewick's British Birds; and coloured with all the care that had
been bestowed on the original plates. If he had lived to effect
this scheme, the public would have been put in possession of a
work of considerable elegance, as respects typography and il-
lustrations; wherein the subjects would have been arranged in
systematical order; and the whole at the cost of not more than
one-fifth part of the quarto edition.

He likewise meditated a work on the quadrupeds of the Uni-
ted States; to be printed in the same splendid style of the Or-
nithology; the figures to be engraved with the highest finish,
and by the best artists of our country. How much has science
lost in the death of this ingenious and indefatigable naturalist!

His remains were deposited in the cemetery of the Swedish
church, in the district of Southwark, Philadelphia. While in
the enjoyment of health, he had conversed with a friend on the
subject of his death, and expressed a wish to be buried in some
rural spot, sacred to peace and solitude, whither the charms of
nature might invite the steps of the votary of the Muses, and
the lover of science, and where the birds might sing over his
grave.

It has been an occasion of regret to those of his friends, to
whom was confided the mournful duty of ordering his funeral,
that his desire had not been made known to them, otherwise it
should have been piously observed.

A plain marble tomb marks the spot where lie the ashes of
this celebrated man; it bears the following inscription:

LIFE OF WILSON. clxix

" This Monument

Covers the Remains of

ALEXANDER WILSON,

Author of the

AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
He was Born in Renfrewshire, Scotland,

On the 6 July, 1766;
Emigrated to the United States

In the Year 1794;
And Died in Philadelphia

Of the Dysentery,

On the 23 August, 1813,

Aged 47."

I shall now offer some brief remarks upon those writings of
Wilson, which have fallen under my notice; and in the per-
formance of this task, it will become my duty to speak of a
work, which I had hoped would be permitted to lie in obli-
vion, but which either the indiscreet partiality of friends, or
the avarice of a publisher, has lately dragged forth to the view
of the public. From the volume which the author published
himself, in the year 1791, and which is entitled, " Poems, Hu-
morous, Satirical and Serious," a selection was made, and pub-
lished, in 1816, at Paisley and at London, under the title of
" Poems chiefly in the Scottish dialect; by Alexander Wilson,
author of American Ornithology. " When I commenced reading
this selection, it was my intention to note its beauties and de-
fects; but when I found how greatly the latter predominated,
it occurred to me that no good could result from a critical ex-
amination of a work which few would read, which contains
nothing deserving of applause; and which, if it has hitherto es-
caped criticism, it is because it has been deemed unworthy of
a deliberate investigation.

The early writings of but few authors are worthy of being
read, except for the purpose of tracing the progress of the mind.
When one surveys the work in question with this view, one
is astonished to find no indication of that genius which is so

VOL. i. — Y

clxx LIFE OF WILSON.

conspicuous in after life; a barrenness of invention, a poverty
of expression, a deficiency of taste and judgment, are its cha-
racteristics.

The author of the t( Biographical Sketch/' appended to the
Selection* above mentioned, says, " We have it from Wilson's
acquaintance, that many of the poems he had written were
committed to the flames, without a moment's consideration,
because the subject had lost its interest with himself." The
writer thus gravely accounts for this conduct: " This instabili-
ty of conduct was, no doubt, the result of untoward circum-
stances, operating upon a mind ardent in the pursuit of some-

* It appears by the advertisement affixed to this selection, that it " was-
made and printed under the direction of a gentleman who has since paid the
debt of nature;" and that " it was his intention to give the life of Wilson."
If one were allowed to form a conjecture of the abilities of this editor, by the
judgment displayed in his choice, one would have no reason to regret that
his task was never accomplished. How he could admit such productions as
" The Wasp's Revenge," and the " Verses on the Death of a Favourite
Spaniel," one may well inquire.

That Wilson himself entertained a mean opinion of his boyish publication,
I am authorised to assert from the circumstance, that, though possessing a
copy, he would never allow me to read it, notwithstanding I frequently urg-
ed him to grant me this favour.

An itinerant Scotchman once called upon Wilson's executors, with a re-
quest that he might be allowed the privilege of printing an edition of his poems,
urging, in justification of the proposition, his peculiar fitness, by his know-
ledge of the Scottish dialect, for extending the fame of the author of the Ame-
rican Ornithology! It is nev ^ss to add that this poor schemer was dismissed
\vith the reply, that the fame o, Wilson did not stand in need of his assistance

It is much to the honour of the American press, that it has abstained from
re-printing the work which, with unfeigned sorrow, I have been compelled,
by a sense of duty, to animadvert so severely upon. But I must confess, that
when a brother weaver, Robert Tannahill, was introduced to our notice, I
trembled for the fate of Wilson.

As has been stated, Wilson's poem of the " Foresters" was first publish-
ed in the Port Folio. Shortly after the decease of its author, a very modest
and honest gentleman, living in Pennsylvania, undertook its republication;
and actually took out a copy-right for the same. That the poem was re -print-
ed needs not excite our wonder; but that its sale should have been monopo-
lized by a patent, is a trick of trade well worthy of remark.

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxi

thing yet undefined, or uncertain of the path it should follow,
to attain that eminence and independence after which it so ar-
dently aspired. " Would it not be a more rational supposition,
that, as he advanced in knowledge, he was taught to reject
what he could not but be convinced was unworthy of the pub-
lic eye? If we may form a conjecture of what was destroyed,
by what was sanctioned by his own act of publication, there is
certainly no cause to mourn the loss; and one can hardly for-
bear wishing that the whole had met a similar fate.

Of all the poetical productions of Wilson, written while in
Scotland, his tale of " Watty and Meg" is the only one that
has obtained popularity. In Cromek's (f Select Scottish Songs"
it is thus introduced: " The reader is here presented with an
exquisite picture from low life, drawn with all the fidelity and
exactness of Teniers, or Ostade, and enlivened with the hu-
mour of Hogarth. The story excites as much interest as if it
had been written in a dramatic form, and really represented.
The interest heightens as it proceeds, and is supported with
wonderful spirit to the close of the poem.

66 It must have been in no small degree gratifying to the feel-
ings of the author, who published it anonymously, that, during
a rapid sale of seven or eight editions, the public, universally,
ascribed it to the pen of Burns. The author of < Will and
Jean, or Scotland's Scaith,' had the candour to acknowledge
to the editor that he was indebted to this exquisite poem for
the foundation of that popular performance. "

This tale is certainly told in a spirited manner; but whether
it is entitled to all the encomiums which have been lavished
upon it or not, may admit of a question. The incidents are all
common-place: a dram-drinking husband seeking refuge, in an
ale-house, from a scolding-wife, who pursues him thither, and
upbraids him, in no gentle terms, for deserting his home and
family, and spending his time and substance among drunken
blackguards. A pot companion had advised him to try the ex-
periment of threatening to abandon her, in order to bring her
into subjection: a scheme which had had a happy effect in

LIFE OF WILSON.

taming his own wife, who had given evidence of a shrewish
disposition. The experiment being made by Watty, Meg is
brought to terms. She solemnly promises to keep her temper
— never again to scold her husband — never to follow him to
the beer-house — never to put drunken to his name — never to
look sad when he shall come home late — never to kick his
shins, or pull his hair; and lastly she consents, with tears, that
their hard earnings shall be kept solely by himself. The hus-
band, rejoiced at this evidence of her humility and contrition,
kisses her, and so the story ends.

In the management of this tale there is little art displayed;
there is some natural description, it is true; but the laws of po-
etical justice are but ill observed, when misconduct so glaring
as that of Watty's is passed over without censure; and he is
allowed to triumph over the subjection of a poor woman, whose
temper had become soured by his idleness and debauchery.

Such stories are not calculated to do good; on the contrary
they may promote vice; and surely the vice of intemperance is
no trifling evil in society. To blend instruction with amuse-
ment, we are told, should be the aim of all writers of fiction,
particularly poets, whose influence over the mind has always
been predominant. It is justly remarked, by an elegant wri-
ter,* that " there seems to be something in poetry that raises
the possessors of that very singular talent far higher in the es-
timation of the world in general, than those who excel in any
other of the refined arts. " Then let poets take heed lest they
misapply those talents, which, if properly directed, may be
made subservient to the best interests of society.

In justice to our author I would remark, that though fond of
describing scenes of low life, with which his education and ha-
bits had rendered him familiar, yet he appeared to have es-
caped the contaminating influence of vulgar associates, when
arrived at manhood. His conduct, in this country, was truly
exemplary. This observation, though out of place, I here

* Melmoth's Fitzosborne, letter 53.

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxiii

make, as it seems to belong, incidentally, to the subject upon
which I have been commenting.

The last edition of Watty and Meg, published under the in-
spection of the author, and by him corrected, was that given in
the Port Folio for October, 1810.

The poetic effusions of Wilson, after he came to America,
afford evidence of an improved taste. He acquired a facility of
versification by practice; as his mind expanded with knowledge,
his judgment received an accession of strength; and he displays
a fancy which we look for in vain in his juvenile essays. But
we must be understood as comparing him only with himself,
at different periods of his life. Whether or not he ever attain-
ed to positive excellence in poetry, may be a subject of dispute.

In his " Solitary Tutor," we are presented with a picture of
himself, while occupied in teaching a country school. The de-
scription of his place of residence, his schoolhouse, the adjoin-
ing forest, where many of his leisure hours were passed, and
where he first commenced studying the manners of those birds,
which he subsequently immortalized in his splendid work, is
animated and graphical. The fabric of these verses reminds
us of the Minstrel; and that he had this delightful poem in his
eye, we are convinced by some of the descriptions and senti-
ments. The stanza beginning,

" In these green solitudes, one favourite spot,"

is accurately descriptive of a place, in Bartram's woods, whith-
er he used to retire for the purposes of reading and contempla-
tion, and where he planned his Ornithology. Of the faults of
this little poem I will merely remark, that the initial quatrain
is prosaic; and that the last line betrays an unaccountable defi-
ciency of taste.

The lovers of rural scenery will learn with regret, that this
fine piece of forest, consecrated to the Muses of poetry and na-
tural history, by Wilson, is fast disappearing beneath the ax of
the husbandman. Already is the brook, which was " o'erhung
with alders and mantling vines," exposed to the glare of day;

clxxiv LIFE OF WILSON.

the favourite haunts of the Wood Thrush are invaded; and, ere
long, like his lamented historian, his place will be known there
no more.

His poetical description of the Blue-bird, which originally
appeared in the first volume of the Ornithology, has been copi-
ed into many publications, and still maintains its popularity.
It contains some ill-constructed lines, and some rhymes so
grossly defective, that we wonder how he could have tolerated
them in a production of only half a dozen stanzas. The last
quatrain of the fourth stanza contains false syntax; the construc-
tion is not regular and dependent, the adverb so being out of
place. In the third stanza there is a grammatical error. Yet in
this little poem, Wilson's happy talent of describing rural scene-
ry, and the habits of birds, is conspicuous. The picture is
charming, and more so to an American, who knows how beau-
tifully accurate are its outlines. We see the disappearing of
the snows of Winter; the busy labours of the fishermen; the
wild geese labouring their airy way to the north; the lone but-
terfly fluttering over the meadows; the red maple buds bursting
into life; and, finally, " the " herald of Spring,'7 the well-
known blue-bird, hailing " with his warblings the charms of
the season." The warm sunshine brings out the frogs from
their retreats, and their piping is heard throughout the marshes;
the woodland flowers unfold their charms to the eye; and the
industrious housewives repair to their gardens. The useful
bird is beheld flitting through the orchard in search of noxious
insects, he drags the devouring grub from the newly planted
maize, and the caterpillars from their webs. The ploughman
is pleased to behold him gleaning in his furrows, and the gar-
dener suspends his labours to listen to his simple song. " When
all the gay scenes of the summer are o'er," we observe him
lingering about his native home, like a solitary outcast; we
hear his melancholy adieu from the leafless branch, and mourn
his departure as that of a beloved friend.

Of all Wilson's minor effusions this pleases me the most. Its
imagery is derived from objects that are familiar to us, but yet

LIFE OF WILSON. clxXV

it is not trite; none but an attentive observer of nature could
have conceived it, and expressed it so naturally.

It appears to have been his intention to concentrate all his
poetical powers in his "Foresters," resting his hope of fame
chiefly upon this production. That the time spent in construct-
ing it, might have been better employed in writing a simple
prose narrative of a journey, which was fruitful of interesting
events, must be obvious to many of the readers of this poem,
who are acquainted with the author's talents for description,
and his appropriate diction, of which we are presented with ex-
amples in his letters and his Ornithology. On first reading this
production such was my impression, and a re-perusal has not
induced me to change my opinion.

In his exordium he is not very happy:

" Sons of the city! ye whom crowds and noise
" Bereave of peace, and Nature's rural joys."

The noise of a crowded city may bereave its inhabitants of
peace, but it is difficult to conceive how it can have a tendency
to deprive them of the delights of the country.

In the account of his companions and himself he is too cir-
cumstantial, details of this kind correspond not well with the
dignity of poetry :

" An oilskin covering glittered round his head.'*

" A knapsack crammed by Friendship's generous care

" With cakes and cordials, drams and dainty fare;

" Flasks filled with powder, leathern belts with shot,

** Clothes, colours, paper, pencils, — and what not."

Also in another place:

" Full loaded peach trees drooping hung around,
" Their mellow fruit thick scattered o'er the ground;
" Six cents procured us a sufficient store,
" Our napkins crammed and pockets running o'er.

Many of his rhymes are bad, particularly in the latter part
of the poem, from the carelessness of the composition of which,

dxxvi LIFE OF WILSON.

one is led to conjecture that he was weary of his protracted la-
bour. We have tale, and smile; sent and want; blest and past;
bespread and clad; and many other similar imperfections.

The conclusion of the poem is a specimen of slovenly and
inaccurate composition:

" And when some short and broken slumbers came
" Still round us roaring- swept th' outrageous stream;
" Whelm'd in the deep we sunk engulf 'd, forlorn;
" Or down the dreadful rapids helpless borne;
" Groaning we start! and, at the loudening tear,
Ask our bewildered senses where we ore."

In common with those who are ignorant of naval affairs, he
commits a blunder in the use of the technical term main-sheet,
mistaking it for a sail:

" They trim their thundering sail,

" The boom and main-sheet bending to the gale."

The main-sheet is the rope by means of which the boom is
governed, either eased off, or drawn in, as suits the state of the
wind.

In a poem consisting of more than two thousand lines, it
would be strange if some touches of excellence could not be
found, some passages which prove that the author not only
possessed poetical ideas, but also was familiar with the art of
poetical expression. In his description of the calm, smoky, au-
tumnal weather, which, in America, is usually denominated the
Indian Summer, we are presented with a beautiful image,
which I do not recollect to have seen elsewhere:

" Slow sailed the thistle-down along the lawn."

The description of the Dutch farmer, and his habitation, would
not disgrace the author of Rip Van Winkle.

In the enumeration of the miseries of a country schoolmaster
there is much truth; and the picture is vividly and feelingly
drawn from nature. Few had more experience than Wilson of
the degraded condition of a teacher, when under the control

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxvii

of the vulgar and ignorant; a state, compared with which the
lot of the hewer of wood, and drawer of water, is truly enviable.

The account of daddy Squares, the settler, and that of Pat
Dougherty, the shopkeeper and publican, contain some humour.
The latter is a disgusting exhibition of one of those barbarians,
whom the traveller often meets with in the interior of our coun-
try; and whose ignorance, bestiality and vice, have the tenden-
cy to disabuse one on the subject of the virtue and happiness
usually attributed to the inhabitants remote from our large cities,
which, instead of being the only nurseries of corruption, as is
believed and affirmed, are the great schools wherein science, li-
terature, piety and manners, are most effectively taught, and
most beneficially practised.

The sketch of the Indian hunter is entitled to praise, as being
vigorous and picturesque; and the description of the Bald or
Gray Eagles, sailing amid the mist of the Cataract of Niagara,
is a picture drawn with fidelity — it is poetical and sublime.

After this superficial review of the poems of Wilson, the
question will naturally arise, ought we to consider him as one
endued with those requisites, which entitle his productions to
rank with the works of the poets, properly so called? To write
smooth and agreeable verses is an art of no very difficult pur-
chase; we see it daily exemplified by persons of education,
whose leisure permits them to beguile a lonely hour with an
employment at once delightful and instructive. But when one
considers the temporary nature of the great mass of these fugitive
essays, that they are read and remembered just so long as is
the ephemeral sheet, or magazine, the columns of which they
adorn; one can form no high expectations of the long life of that
poetry which seldom rises beyond mediocrity, which some-
times sinks greatly below it; and which is indebted, in no small
degree, to the adventitious aid of a name, resplendent in anoth-
er walk of literature, for that countenance and support, which
its own intrinsic merits, singly, could never claim.

I am aware that these brief observations on the poetry of
Wilson, are not calculated to give pleasure to those of his

VOL. i. — z

LIFE OFVILSON.

friends, who have been in the habit of regarding him as one
possessing no small claim to the inspiration of the Muses. But
let such remember the determination of a profound critic, that
"no question can be more innocently discussed than a dead
poet's pretensions to renown; and little regard is due to that
bigotry which sets candour higher than truth."*

When Wilson commenced the publication of his History of
the Birds of the United States, he was quite a novice in the
study of the Science of Ornithology. This arose from two causes:
his poverty, which prevented him from owning the works of
those authors, who had particularly attended to the classification
and nomenclature of birds; and his contempt of the labours of
closet naturalists, whose dry descriptions convey any thing but
pleasure to that mind, which has been disciplined in the school
of Nature. But the difficulties under which he laboured soon
convinced him of the necessity of those helps, which only books
can supply; and his repugnance to systems, as repulsive as they
are at the first view, gradually gave place to more enlarged no-
tions, on the course to be pursued by him, who would not only
attain to knowledge, by the readiest means, but who would im-
part that knowledge, in the most effective manner, to others.

As far as I can learn, he had access but to two systems of Or-
nithology— that of Linneus, as translated by Dr. Turton, and
the " General Synopsis" of Dr. Latham, t The arrangement of
the latter he adopted in his " General Index" of Land Birds,
appended to the sixth volume; and he intended to pursue the
same system for the Water Birds, at the conclusion of his work.

The nature of his plan prevented him from proceeding in re-
gular order, according to the system adopted, it being his inten-

* Johnson's Preface to Shakspeare.

f The library of Wilson occupied but a small space. On casting my eyes,
after his decease, over the ten or a dozen volumes of which it was composed,
I was grieved to find that he had been the owner of only one work on Ornitho-
logy, and that was Bewick's British Birds. For the use of the first volume of
Turton's Linneus, he was indebted to the friendship of Mr. Thomas Say; the
Philadelphia Library supplied liim with Latham.

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxix

tion to publish as fast as the materials accumulated; and he being
in some measure compelled, by motives of economy, to appor-
tion his figures to the space they would occupy in the plates,
he thereby brings to our view, birds not only of different genera,
but of different habits, associated in a manner not wholly unnat-
ural, but abhorrent from the views of those systematists, who
account every deviation from method an inexcusable fault.

With the art of perspective, it would appear, he was imper-
fectly acquainted; hence there are errors in his drawings, which
the rigid critic cannot overlook. These errors occur most fre-
quently in the feet and the tails of his birds, the latter of which,
with the view of being characteristically displayed, are frequent-
ly distorted in a manner, which no expediency can justify. One
can hardly forbear smiling at the want of correspondence be-
tween the figure of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, and the fence
upon which it is mounted, the former, instead of appearing of
the size of nature, for which the author intended it, absolutely
assuming the bulk of an elephant.

But notwithstanding these defects, there is a spirit in some
of his drawings which is admirable. Having been taught draw-
ing from natural models, he of course became familiar with na-
tural attitudes: hence his superiority, in this respect, to all au-
thors extant. Among his figures most worthy of notice, I
would particularize the Shore Lark, Brown Creeper, House
and Winter Wrens, Mocking-Bird, Cardinal Grosbeak, Cow
Buntings, Mottled Owl, Meadow Lark, Barn Swallows, Snipe
and Partridge, Rail and Woodcock, and the Ruffed Grous.

The introduction of appropriate scenery, into a work of this
kind, can have no good effect, unless it be made to harmonize,
both as to design and execution, with the leading subjects; hence
Wilson's landscapes, in the eye of taste, must always be viewed
as a blemish, as he was not skilful in this branch of the art of
delineation; and, even if he had been dexterous, he was not au-
thorized to increase the expenditures of a work, which, long
before its termination, its publisher discovered to be inconve
niently burdensome.

dxxx LIFE OF WILSON.

The principal objections which I have heard urged against
the Ornithology, relate to the colouring; but as the difficulties
to which its author was subjected, on this score, have been al-
ready detailed, I will merely observe, that he found them too
great to be surmounted. Hence a generous critic will not impute
to him as a fault, what, in truth, ought to be viewed in the light
of a misfortune.

In his specific definitions he is loose and unsystematic. He
does not appear to have been convinced of the necessity of pre-
cision on this head; his essential and natural characters are not
discriminated; and, in some instances, he confounds generic and
specific characters, which the laws of methodical science do not
authorize.

There is a peculiarity in his orthography, which it is proper
that I should take notice of, for the purpose of explaining his
motive for an anomaly, at once inelegant and injudicious. I
have his own authority for stating, that he adopted this mode
of spelling, at the particular instance of the late Joel Barlow,
who vainly hoped to give currency, in his heavy Epic, to an
innovation, which greater names than his own had been unable
to effect.

" Some ingenious men," says Johnson, "have endeavoured
to deserve well of their country by writing honor and labor for
honour and labour, red for read in the preter-tense, sais for
says, repete for repeat, explane for explain, or declame for
declaim. Of these it may be said, that as they have done no
good, they have done little harm; both because they have inno-
vated little, and because few have followed them."

The recommendation* of the learned lexicographer, above
cited, ought to be laid to heart by all those whose " vanity seeks
praise by petty reformation. " " I hope I may be allowed," says
he, " to recommend to those, whose thoughts have been per-
haps employed too anxiously on verbal singularities, not to dis-
turb upon narrow views, or for minute propriety, the orthogra-
phy of their fathers. There is in constancy and stability a gen-

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxxi

eral and lasting advantage, which will always overbalance the
slow improvements of gradual correction."

As it must be obvious that, without books, it would be im-
possible to avoid error in synonymes and nomenclature, so we
find that our author, in these respects, has rendered himself ob-
noxious to reproach.

That he was not ambitious of the honour of forming new ge-
nera, appears from the circumstance, that, although he found the
system of Latham needed reformation, yet he ventured to pro-
pose but one genus, the Curvirostra, the characters of which
are so obvious, that one is astonished that so learned an orni-
thologist as Latham, should have contented himself with arrang-
ing the species appertaining to it with others, the conformation
of whose bills are so dissimilar. It may be necessary to state
that the Crossbills had been erected into a separate genus, un-
der the denomination of Crucirostra, by an author whose works
Wilson had no knowledge of; and I have reason to believe that
even the generic appellation of Curvirostra had been anticipa-
ted, by a writer on the ornithology of the northern parts of Eu-
rope. Brisson limited his genus Loxia to the Crossbills, and
this judicious restriction appears to be now sanctioned by all
naturalists of authority.

There is a species of learning, which is greatly affected by
puny minds, and for which our author entertained the most
hearty contempt: this is the names by which certain nations
of Indians designated natural objects. Hence we no where find
his work disfigured by those " uncouth and unmanageable
words," which some writers have recorded with a solemnity,
which should seem to prove a conviction of their importance;
but which, in almost every instance, are a reproach to their
vanity and their ignorance. Can any thing be more preposte-
rous than for one to give a catalogue of names in a language,
the grammatical construction of which has never been ascer-
tained, and with the idiom of which one is totally unacquaint-
ed? Among literate nations it is a rule, which has received the
sanction of prescription, that when one would write upon a

clxxxii LIFE OF WILSON.

tongue, it is indispensable that one should qualify one's self for
the task, by a careful investigation of its principles. But when
the language of barbarians becomes the subject of attention, the
rule is reversed, and, provided a copious list of names be given,
it is not required of the collector, that he should have explored
the sources whence they are derived: his learning is estimated
by the measure of his labour, and our applause is taxed in pro-
portion to his verbosity.

The style of Wilson appears to be well adapted to the sub-
jects upon which he wrote. It is seldom feeble, it is sometimes
vigorous, and it is generally neat. He appears to have " un-
derstood himself, and his readers always understand him."
That he was capable of graceful writing, he has given us, in the
preface to his first volume, which we here insert, a remarkable
instance; which is one of the happiest, and most appropriate,
compositions that our literature can boast of.

" The whole use of a preface seems to be, either to elucidate
the nature and origin of the work, or to invoke the clemency
of the reader. Such observations as have been thought neces-
sary for the former, will be found in the Introduction ; extreme-
ly solicitous to obtain the latter, I beg leave to relate the fol-
lowing anecdote.

" In one of my late visits to a friend's in the country, I found
their youngest son, a fine boy of eight or nine years of age, who
usually resides in town for his education, just returning from a
ramble through the neighbouring woods and fields, where he had
collected a large and very handsome bunch of wild flowers, of
a great many different colours; and presenting them to his mo-
ther, said, with much animation in his countenance, * Look,
< my dear 'ma, what beautiful flowers I have found growing

* on our place ! Why all the woods are full of them ! red, orange,
6 blue, and 'most every colour. 0, I can gather you a whole
6 parcel of them, much handsomer than these, all growing in

* our own woods! Shall I, 'ma? Shall I go and bring you more?'
The good woman received the bunch of flowers with a smile of
affectionate complacency; and after admiring for some time the

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxxiii

beautiful simplicity of nature, gave her willing consent ; and
the little fellow went off, on the wings of ecstasy, to execute
his delightful commission.

" The similitude of this little boy's enthusiasm to my own,
struck me; and the reader will need no explanations of mine to
make the application. Should my country receive with the
same gracious indulgence the specimens which I here humbly
present her; should she express a desire for me to go and bring
her more, the highest wishes of my ambition will be gratified ;
for, in the language of my little friend, our whole woods are
full of them! and I can collect hundreds more, much hand-
somer than these.'7

In a work abounding with so many excellencies, it would
not be difficult to point out passages of merit, any one of which
would give the author a just claim to the title of a describer of
no ordinary powers.

We select the following description, from the history of the
Wood Thrush: " At whatever time the wood thrush may ar-
rive, he soon announces his presence in the woods. With the
dawn of the succeeding morning, mounting to the top of some
tall tree, that rises from a low thick-shaded part of the woodsr
he pipes his few, but clear and musical, notes in a kind of ec-
stasy; the prelude or symphony to which strongly resembles
the double-tongueing of a German flute, and sometimes the
tinkling of a small bell. The whole song consists of five or
six parts, the last note of each of which is in such a tone,
as to leave the conclusion evidently suspended; the finale
is finely managed, and with such charming effect, as to sooth
and tranquillize the mind, and to seem sweeter and mellower
at each successive repetition. Rival songsters, of the same spe-
cies, challenge each other from different parts of the wood,
seeming to vie for softer tones, and more exquisite responses^
During the burning heat of the day they are comparatively
mute; but in the evening the same melody is renewed, and
continued long after sunset. Even in dark, wet and gloomy

clxxxiv LIFE OF WILSON.

weather, when scarce a single chirp is heard from any other
bird, the clear notes of the wood thrush thrill through the
dropping woods, from morning to night; and it may truly be
said that the sadder the day the sweeter is his song. "

Perhaps my admiration of this passage may be dependent,
in some measure, upon the association of ideas, having been
accustomed to frequent the favourite haunts of this exquisite
musician, which are " low thick-shaded hollows, through which
a small brook or rill meanders, overhung with alder bushes
that are mantled with vines." But I can truly declare that I
could never read it in an audible voice, the intenseness of my
feelings always overpowering me.

He thus delightfully introduces his history of the Barn Swal-
low: u There are but few persons in the United States unac-
quainted with this gay, innocent, and active little bird. Indeed
the whole tribe are so distinguished from the rest of small birds
by their sweeping rapidity of flight, their peculiar aerial evolu-
tions of wing over our fields and rivers, and through our very
streets, from morning to night, that the light of heaven itself,
the sky, the trees, or any other common objects of nature, are
not better known than the swallows. We welcome their first
appearance with delight, as the faithful harbingers and compa-
nions of flowery spring, and ruddy summer; and when, after a
long, frost-bound and boisterous winter, we hear it announced
that the " Siva Hows are come!" what a train of charming ideas

o

are associated with the simple tidings!'7

The following remarks on the current doctrine of the hyber-
nation of Swallows are worthy of note. My object in intro-
ducing them into this place is twofold: to exemplify our author's
talent for copious and equable composition; and to afford my-
self an opportunity of adding my feeble testimony to his, on a
subject which one should suppose would have been long ago
definitively ascertained.

" The wonderful activity displayed by these birds, forms a
striking contrast to the slow habits of most other animals. It

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxxv

may be fairly questioned whether among the whole feathered
tribes, which heaven has formed to adorn this part of creation,
there be any that, in the same space of time, pass over an equal
extent of surface with the Swallow. Let a person take his
stand on a fine summer evening, by a new-mown field, meadow
or river shore, for a short time, and among the numerous indi-
viduals of this tribe that flit before him, fix his eye on a parti-
cular one, and follow, for a while, all its circuitous labyrinths
— its extensive sweeps — its sudden, rapidly reiterated, zigzag
excursions, and then attempt, by the powers of mathematics,
to calculate the length of the various lines it describes; alas!
even his omnipotent fluxions would avail him little here, and
he would soon abandon the task in despair. Yet, that some
conception may be formed of this extent, let us suppose that
this little bird flies, in his usual way, at the rate of one mile in
a minute, which, from the many experiments that I have made,
I believe to be within the truth; and that he is so engaged for
ten hours every day; and further, that this active life is extend-
ed to ten years (many of our small birds being known to live
much longer, even in a state of domestication,) the amount of
all these, allowing three hundred and sixty-five days to a year,
would give us two millions one hundred and ninety thousand
miles: upwards of eighty-seven times the circumference of the
globe ! Yet this winged seraph, if I may so speak, who, in a
few days, and at will, can pass from the borders of the arctic
regions to the torrid zone, is forced, when winter approaches,
to descend to the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and millponds, to
bury itself in the mud with eels and snapping turtles; or to
creep ingloriously into a cavern, a rat hole, or a hollow tree,
there to doze with snakes, toads, and other reptiles, until the
return of spring! Is not this true ye wise men of Europe and
America, who have published so many credible narratives upon
this subject? The geese, the ducks, the catbird, and even the wren,
which creeps about our outhouses in summer like a mouse, arc
all acknowledged to be migratory, and to pass into southern

regions at the approach of winter; — the swallow alone, on
VOL. i. — A a

clxxxvi LIFE OF WILSON.

whom heaven has conferred superior powers of wing, must
sink into torpidity at the bottom of our rivers, or doze all win-
ter in the caverns of the earth. I am myself something of a
traveller, and foreign countries afford many novel sights: should
I assert, that in some of my peregrinations I had met with a
nation of Indians, all of whom, old and young, at the com-
mencement of cold weather, descend to the bottom of their
lakes and rivers, and there remain until the breaking up of
frost; nay, should I affirm, that thousands of people in the
neighbourhood of this city, regularly undergo the same semi-
annual submersion — that I myself had fished up a whole family
of these from the bottom of the Schuylkill, where they had lain
torpid all winter, carried them home, and brought them all
comfortably to themselves again; — should I even publish this
in the learned pages of the Transactions of our Philosophical
Society,* who would believe me? Is then the organization of a
swallow less delicate than that of a man? Can a bird, whose vi-
tal functions are destroyed by a short privation of pure air, and
its usual food, sustain, for six months, a situation where the
most robust man would perish in a few hours, or minutes, t

* Here there is a palpable allusion to a paper on the hybernation of swallows,
which was published in the sixth volume of the Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society. This paper was written by one Frederick Antes, and
was communicated to the Society by the late professor Barton. It is probable
that Wilson had also read the " letter on the retreat of house-swallows in win-
ter, from the honourable Samuel Dexter, Esq. to the honourable James Bow-
doin, Esq. ;" and that ** from the Reverend Mr. Packard to the honourable
Samuel Dexter, Esq.," both of them published in the Memoirs of the Ameri-
can Academy of Arts and Sciences of Boston, vols. 1 and 2.

Such communications are not calculated to do honour to any learned institu-
tion; and they ought to be rejected with scorn and reprehension.

f Carlisle, in his lecture on muscular motion, observes, that, " animals of
the class Mammalia, which hybernate and become torpid in the winter, have at
all times a power of subsisting1 under a confined respiration, which would de-
stroy other animals not having this peculiar habit. In all the hybernating
.Mammalia there is a peculiar structure of the heart and its principal veins. "
Philosophical Transactions for 1805, p. 17.

" If all birds, except swallows," says Reeve, " are able to survive the win-

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxxvii

Away with such absurdities! they are unworthy of a serious
refutation. I should be pleased to meet with a man who has
been personally more conversant with birds than myself, who
has followed them in their wide and devious routes — studied
their various manners — mingled with them, and marked their
peculiarities more than I have done ; yet the miracle of a resus-
citated Swallow, in the depth of winter, from the bottom of a
millpond, is, I confess, a phenomenon in ornithology that I
have never met with. "

The subject of the supposed torpidity of swallows has em-
ployed many writers, but unfortunately too few of those, whose
practical knowledge enabled them to speak with that certainty,
which should always give authority to writings on natural his-
tory. Reasoning a priori ought to have taught mankind a
more rational opinion, than that which the advocates of hyber-
nation have unthinkingly promulgated. And is it not sur-
prising that as experiments are so easy to be instituted, they
should have been so seldom resorted to, in order to determine
a problem which many may suppose to be intricate, but which,
in effect, is one of the simplest, or most easy to be ascertained,
of any in the whole animal kingdom? It is a fact, that all the
experiments which have been made, on the subject of the hy-
bernation of birds, have failed to give countenance, in the most
remote degree, to this irrational doctrine.

From my personal experience, and from my earliest youth I
have been conversant with the habits of birds, I feel myself
justified in asserting, that, in the whole class Jives, there has

ter, and they alone are so overcome by the cold as to be rendered torpid, the
difference must be found in their anatomical structure, and in their habits of life.
" Now, in the first place, it is certain that they have, in common with other
birds, the three great functions of respiration, circulation, and assimilation: the
similarity of their organs, and every circumstance in their mode of living,
prove that they are subject to the same laws: they have also a very high tem-
perature; and are peculiarly organized for rapid and long flight. The size of
their lungs, the lightness of their bones, and the buoyancy of their feathers,
render it absolutely impossible to sink them in water without a considerable
weight; and they die instantly for want of air," Reeve on Torpidity, p. 43,

clxxXViii LIFE OF WILSON.

never been an authenticated instance known of a single indivi-
dual capable of entering into that peculiar state denominated
torpidity. Be it observed, that the narratives of credulous tra-
vellers, and superficial observers, and newspaper tales, on this
subject, are of no authority, and must be utterly rejected. And
yet these are the only sources whence naturalists have drawn
their opinions on the question of torpidity. It is to be regret-
ted that the authority of Linnaeus himself should have given
credit and currency to this opinion, and the more so since his
example of sanctioning vulgar narratives by his acquiescence,
without examination, has been followed by the majority of wri-
ters on ornithology, particularly those of Sweden, in which
country, if we may place reliance on the transactions of the
Academy of Upsal, the submersion of swallows is received as
an acknowledged fact.

Linnaeus no where tells us that he had ever seen a torpid
swallow; but what shall we say of the English translator of
Kalm's Travels, the learned John Reinhold Forster, who posi-
tively asserts that he himself had been an eye witness to the
fact of swallows being fished up out of the lake of Lybshau, in
Prussia, in the winter, and being restored to animation ! a cir-
cumstance as impossible, if we are allowed to consider anato-
mical structure as having any influence on animal existence, as
that a human being could be resuscitated after such a submer-
sion.*

* I am unwilling to object falsehood to this accomplished traveller, and
therefore must conclude that, in trusting to his memory, after a considerable
lapse of time, he must have given that which he had received of another, as
the result of his own experience. Mental hallucinations of this kind are not
of rare occurrence.

That persons of the strictest veracity are frequently deceived by appear-
ances, there can be no doubt; and therefore it becomes a source of regret
when such individuals, in recording their remarks upon the phenomena of na-
ture, omit those considerations, which, if observed, could hardly fail to guard
them from error. Had our illustrious countryman, Franklin, when he thought
he had succeeded in resuscitating a fly, after it had been, for several months,
or perhaps years, embalmed in a bottle of Madeira wine, but exercised that
common sense, of which he possessed so large a share, and bethought him to

LIFE OF WILSON. clxxxix

Dr. Reeve, in treating of the migration of birds, makes the
following judicious observations: " It is singular that this sub-
ject should still admit of doubt, when it seems so easy to be de-
cided; yet every month we see queries and answers about the
migration of swallows; and every year our curiosity is tempted
to be amused with marvellous histories of a party of these birds
diving under water in some remote quarter of America. No
species of birds, except the swallow, the cuckoo, and the wood-
cock, have been supposed to remain torpid during the winter
months. And what is the evidence in favour of so strange
and monstrous a supposition? Nothing but the most vague tes-
timonies, and histories repugnant to reason and experience.

" Other birds are admitted to migrate, and why should swal-
lows be exempt from the general law of their nature? When
food fails in one quarter of the world, their instinct prompts
them to seek it in another. We know, in fact, that such is their

repeat the experiment, he would have soon discovered, that when the vital
juices of an animal become decomposed by an acid, and their place supplied
by a spirituous fluid, something- more than the influence of solar heat will be
requisite to re -animate a fabric, which has, in effect, lost that upon which ex-
istence mainly depends.

The writer of this sketch has made several experiments upon flies, with
the view of ascertaining the possibility of their being- resuscitated after having
been drowned in Madeira wine; but in every instance his experiments had a
different result from Dr. Franklin's. He submerged them in the wine for dif-
ferent periods, viz. six months, eighteen hours, six hours, one hour; and in
the last instance they showed signs of life until ten minutes before they were
removed for the benefit of the air and sun. Of three flies used in the last ex-
periment, only one was reanimated, but after a few convulsive struggles it ex-
pired.

Three flies were afterwards drowned in pure water? and after having been
kept in that state for seventeen hours, they were exposed to the sun for several
hours, but they gave no signs of life.

Upon a re-perusal of Franklin's " Observations upon the Prevailing Doc-
trines of Life and Death," in which the story of the flies is inserted, it appears
obvious to me, that the flies which " fell into the first glass that was filled,"
were either accidentally thrown into it, or had been in it unperceived, and on
this supposition a recovery from suspended animation would have nothing in
it which might be thought marvellous.

Cxc LIFE OF WILSON.

natural habit: we have the most unexceptionable proofs that
swallows do migrate; they have been seen at sea on the rigging
of ships; and Adanson, the celebrated naturalist, is said to have
caught four European swallows fifty leagues from land, be-
tween the coast of Goree and Senegal, in the month of October.

" Spallanzani saw swallows in October on the island of Li-
pari, and he was told that when a warm southerly breeze blows
in winter they are frequently seen skimming along the streets
in the city. He concludes that they do not pass into Africa at
the approach of winter, but remain in the island, and issue
from their retreat on warm days in quest of food."*

The late professor Barton of Philadelphia, in a letter to the
editor of the Philosophical Magazine, thus comments upon the
first paragraph of the above remarks of Dr. Reeve: " It ap-
pears somewhat surprising to me, that an author who had so
long had the subject of the torpidity of animals under his con-
sideration, should have hazarded the assertion contained in the
preceding paragraph. Dr. Reeve has certainly read of other
birds besides the swallow, the cuckoo, and the woodcock,
which are said to have been found in a torpid state. And ought
he not to have mentioned these birds?

66 In my i Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylva-
nia,' I have mentioned the common humming-bird ( Trochilus
colubris) as one of those American birds which do occasionally
become torpid.

" In regard to the swallows, I shall say but little at present.

* An Essay on the Torpidity of Animals, by Henry Reeve, M. D. p. 40.

The author of this narrative, in the middle of December, 1820, was at
Nice, on the Mediterranean; and had the gratification of beholding the com-
mon European Swallow (Hirundo rustica) flying1 through the streets in con-
siderable numbers. M. Risso, a well-known naturalist, and a resident of the
place, informed him that swallows remained there all winter.

On the 20th February, 1818, being at the mouth of the river St. John, in
East Florida, I observed several swallows of the species viridis of Wilson; and,
on the 26th, a flight of them, consisting of several hundreds, coming from the
sea. They are the first which reach us in the spring from the south. They
commonly arrive in Pennsylvania in the early part of March.

LIFE OF WILSON. CXci

I have, at this time, in the press, a memoir on the migration
and torpidity of these birds. I am confident that I shall be
able to convince every candid philosopher, that great num-
bers of swallows, of different species, do occasionally pass
into a state of torpidity, more or less profound, not merely
' in some remote quarter of America,' but in the vicinity of
our capital cities, where there are some men of genuine obser-
vation and inquiry, and who are as little propense to believe
the marvellous in natural history, as any philosophers elsewhere.

" I do not suppose that all the swallows of North America
become torpid. It is my present opinion, and it was my opinion
when I published the * Fragments' in 1799, that the swallows,
in general, are migratory birds. But subsequent and very ex-
tensive inquiries have convinced me, that the instances of tor-
pid swallows are much more frequent than I formerly supposed
they were; and that there are two species of the genus Hirun-
do, which are peculiarly disposed to pass the brumal season in
the cavities of rocks, in the hollows of trees, and in other simi-
lar situations, where they have often -been found in a soporose
state. These species are the Hirundo riparia, or sand swal-
low; and the H. pelasgia, which we call chimney swallow.
There is no fact in ornithology better established, than THE
FACT of the occasional torpidity of these two species of Hi-
rundo!"*

It is not strange that the " very extensive" inquiries of our
learned professor should have had a result so different from
those of Wilson, an ornithologist infinitely better qualified than
himself to investigate a question of this kind, by his zeal, his
capacity, and his experience. Who those men of genuine ob-

* Tilloch's Philosophical Magazine, vol. 35, p. 241.

"Naturalists," says Dr. Barton in another place, " have not always been
philosophers. The slight and superficial manner in which they have examined
many of the subjects of their science; the credulity which has accompanied
them in their researches after truth; and the precipitancy with which they have
decided upon many questions of importance; are proofs of this assertion." Me-
moir concerning the fascinating faculty of serpents.

cxcu* LIFE OF WILSON.

servation and inquiry were, who resided in the vicinity of
our capital cities, he did not condescend to inform us; if he had
done so, we should be enabled to determine, whether or not
they were capacitated to give an opinion on a subject, which
requires qualifications of a peculiar kind.

At the time in which the professor wrote the above cited
letter, I know of but two naturalists in the United States whose
opinions ought to have any weight on the question before us,
and these were William Bartram and Alexander Wilson, both
of whom have recorded their testimony, in the most positive
manner, against torpidity.

The " Memoir on the Migration and Torpidity of Swallows,"
wherein Dr. Barton was confident he should be able to convince
every candid philosopher of the truth of his hypothesis con-
cerning these birds, never issued from the press, although so
publicly announced. And who will venture to say that he did
not, by this suppression, manifest his discretion? When Wil-
son's volume, wherein the swallows are given, appeared, it is
probable that the author of the " Fragments" was made sensi-
ble that he had been writing upon subjects of which he had lit-
tle personal knowledge; and therefore he wisely relinquished
the task of instructing philosophers, in these matters, to those
more capable than himself of such discussions.

Naturalists have not been sufficiently precise when they have
had occasion to speak of torpidity. They have employed the
term to express that torpor or numbness, which is induced by a
sudden change from heat to cold, such as is annually experienced
in our climate in the month of March, and which frequently
affects swallows to so great a degree as to render them incapa-
ble of flight. From the number of instances on record of these
birds having been found in this state, the presumption has been
that they were capable of passing into a state of torpidity, simi-
lar to that of the Marmots, and other hybernating animals.

Smellie, though an advocate for migration, yet admits that
swallows may become torpid. " That swallows," says he, " in
the winter months, have sometimes, though very rarely, been

LIFE OF WILSON. cxciii

found in a torpid state, is unquestionably true. Mr. Collinson
gives the evidence of three gentlemen who were eye-witnesses
to a number of sand-martins being drawn out of a cliff on the
Rhine, in the month of March, 1762."* One should suppose
that Smellie was too good a logician to infer that, because swal-
lows had been found in the state described, they had remained
in that state all winter. A little more knowledge of the sub-
ject would have taught the three gentlemen observers, that the
poor swallows had been driven to their retreat by cold weather,
which had surprised them in their vernal migration; and that
this state of numbness, falsely called torpidity ', if continued
for a few days, would for ever have destroyed them.

It is now time to resume the subject of Wilson's Ornitholo-
gy, as the reader will, probably, consider that we have trans-
gressed the limits which our digression required.

Dr. Drake, in his observations upon the descriptive abilities
of the poet Bloomfield, thus expresses himself: " Milton and
Thomson have both introduced the flight of the sky-lark, the
first with his accustomed spirit and sublimity; but proba-
bly no poet has surpassed, either in fancy or expression, the
following prose narrative of Dr. Goldsmith. " Nothing," ob-
serves he, " can be more pleasing than to see the Lark warbling
upon the wing; raising its note as it soars, until it seems lost
in the immense heights above us; the note continuing, the bird
itself unseen; to see it then descending with a swell as it comes
from the clouds, yet sinking by degrees as it approaches its
nest; the spot where all its affections are centred; the spot
that has prompted all this joy." This description of the de-
scent of the bird, and of the pleasures of its little nest, is con-
ceived in a strain of the most exquisite delicacy and feeling, "t

I am not disposed to dispute the beauty of the imagery of the
above, or the delicacy of its expression; but I should wish the
reader to compare it with Wilson's description of the Mocking-

* Philosophy of Natural History, chap. 20.
I Drake's Literary Hours, No. 39, Edition of 1820,
VOL. I. — B b

CXciv LIFE OF WILSON.

bird, unquestionably the most accomplished songster of the
feathered race.

"The plumage of the Mocking-bird, though none of the
homeliest, has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it; and, had he noth-
ing else to recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to no-
tice; but his figure is well proportioned, and even handsome.
The ease, elegance and rapidity of his movements, the anima-
tion of his eye,* and the intelligence he displays in listening,
and laying up lessons from almost every species of the feathered
creation within his hearing, are really surprising, and mark the
peculiarity of his genius. To these qualities we may add that of
a voice full, strong, and musical, and capable of almost every
modulation, from the clear mellow tones of the Wood Thrush,
to the savage scream of the Bald Eagle. In measure and accent
he faithfully follows his originals. In force and sweetness of ex-
pression he greatly improves upon them. In his native groves,
mounted upon the top of a tall bush or half-grown tree, in the
dawn of dewy morning, while the woods are already vocal
with a multitude of warblers, his admirable song rises pre-emi-
nent over every competitor. The ear can listen to his music
alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere accompani-
ment. Neither is this strain altogether imitative. His own na-
tive notes, which are easily distinguishable by such as are well
acquainted with those of our various song birds, are bold and
full, and varied seemingly beyond all limits. They consist
of short expressions of two, three, or at the most five or six
syllables; generally interspersed with imitations, and all of them
uttered wi.th great emphasis and rapidity; and continued, with
undiminished ardour, for half an hour, or an hour at a time.
His expanded wings and tail, glistening with white, and the
buoyant gayety of his action, arresting the eye, as his song most
irresistibly does the ear. He sweeps round with enthusiastic
ecstasy — he mounts and descends as his song swells or dies
away; and, as my friend Mr. Bartram has beautifully expressed
it, < He bounds aloft with the celerity of an arrow, as if to

* The reader is referred to our author's figure of this bird, which is one of
the most spirited drawings that the records of natural history can produce.

LIFE OF WILSON. CXCV

recover his very soul, which expired in the last elevated strain. ?
While thus exerting himself, a bystander, destitute of sight,
would suppose that the whole feathered tribes had assembled
together, on a trial of skill, each striving to produce his utmost
effect, so perfect are his imitations. He many times deceives
the sportsman, and sends him in search of birds that perhaps are
not within miles of him; but whose notes he exactly imitates.
Even birds themselves are frequently imposed on by this admi-
rable mimick, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their
mates; or dive, with precipitation, into the depths of thickets,
at the scream of what they suppose to be the Sparrow Hawk.
"The Mocking-bird loses little of the power and energy of
his song by confinement. In his domesticated state, when he
commences his career of song, it is impossible to stand by un-
interested. He whistles for the dog: Caesar starts up, wags his
tail, and runs to meet his master. He squeaks out like a hurt
chicken, and the hen hurries about with hanging wings, and
bristled feathers, clucking to protect her injured brood. He runs
over the quiverings of the Canary, and the clear whistlings of
the Virginia Nightingale or Red-bird, with such superior exe-
cution and effect, that the mortified songsters feel their own
inferiority, and become altogether silent; while he seems to
triumph in their defeat by redoubling his exertions.

"This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opi-
nion of some, injures his song. His elevated imitations of the
Brown Thrush are frequently interrupted by the crowing of
cocks; and the warblings of the Blue-bird, which he exquisitely
manages, are mingled with the screaming of Swallows, or the
cackling of hens; amidst the simple melody of the Robin we
are suddenly surprised by the shrill reiterations of the Whip-
poorwill, while the notes of the Kildeer, Blue Jay, Martin, Bal-
timore, and twenty others, succeed, with such imposing reality,
that we look round for the originals, and discover, with aston-
ishment, that the sole performer in this singular concert is the
admirable bird now before us. During this exhibition of his
powers, he spreads his wings, expands his tail, and throws him-

CXCVi LIFE OF WILSON.

self around the cage in all the ecstasy of enthusiasm, seeming
not only to sing, but to dance, keeping time to the measure of
his own music. Both in his native and domesticated state, du-
ring the solemn stillness of night, as soon as the moon rises in
silent majesty, he begins his delightful solo ; and serenades us
with a full display of his vocal powers, making the whole neigh-
bourhood ring with his inimitable medley."

I will give but one example more of our author's descriptive
powers, and that will be found in his history of the Bald Eagle.
As a specimen of nervous writing, it is excellent; in its imagery,
it is unsurpassed; and in the accuracy of its detail, it transcends
all praise.

" This distinguished bird, as he is the most beautiful of his
tribe in this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our
country, is entitled to particular notice. He has been long
known to naturalists, being common to both continents, and oc-
casionally met with from a very high northern latitude, to the
borders of the torrid zone, but chiefly in the vicinity of the sea,
and along the shores and cliffs of our lakes and large rivers.
Formed by nature for braving the severest cold; feeding equal-
ly on the produce of the sea, and of the land; possessing pow-
ers of flight capable of outstripping even the tempests them-
selves; unawed by any thing but man; and from the ethereal
heights to which he soars, looking abroad, at one glance, on an
immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes and ocean, deep
below him; he appears indifferent to the little localities of change
of seasons; as in a few minutes he can pass from summer to
winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere,
the abode of eternal cold; and thence descend at will to the
torrid or the arctic regions of the earth. He is therefore found
at all seasons in the countries which he inhabits; but prefers
such places as have been mentioned above, from the great par-
tiality he has for fish.

" In procuring these he displays, in a very singular manner,
the genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contem-
plative, daring and tyrannical: attributes not exerted but on

LIFE OF WILSON. CXCvii

particular occasions; but when put forth, overpowering all op-
position. Elevated upon a high dead limb of some gigantic
tree, that commands a wide view of the neighbouring shore
and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the
various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below:
the snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air; the busy Trin-
gae coursing along the sands; trains of ducks streaming over the
surface; silent and watchful Cranes, intent and wading; clamo-
rous Crows, and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the
bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. High over all
these hovers one, whose action instantly arrests all his atten-
tion. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension
in air, he knows him to be the Fish-hawk settling over some
devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and
balancing himself, with half-opened wings, on the branch, he
watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, de-
scends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings
reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges
foam around. At this moment the looks of the Eagle are all
ardour; and levelling his neck for flight, he sees the Fish-hawk
emerge, struggling with his prey, and mounting into the air
with screams of exultation. These are the signal for our hero,
who, lanching into the air, instantly gives chace, soon gains
on the Fish-hawk, each exerts his utmost to mount above the
other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and sub-
lime aerial evolutions. The unincumbered Eagle rapidly ad-
vances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when
with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest execra-
tion, the latter drops his fish; the Eagle poising himself for a
moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirl-
wind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears
his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods. "

Perhaps there is no similar work extant, which can so justly
lay claim to the merit of originality as Wilson's Ornithology.
In books on natural history, in general, we rarely meet with
much that is new; and it is not unusual to behold laboured per-

cxcviii LIFE OF WILSON.

formances, which are undistinguished by any fact, which might
prove that their authors are entitled to any other praise than
that of diligent compilers. But in the work before us, we are
presented with a fund of information of so uncommon a kind,
so various, and so interesting, that we are at no loss to perceive
that the whole is the result of personal application, directed to
the only legitimate source of knowledge — Nature, not as she
appears in the cabinet of the collector, but as she reveals her-
self in all the grace and loveliness of animated existence.

Independent of those pleasing descriptions, which will al-
ways ensure the work a favourable reception, it has higher
claims to our regard, by the philosophical view which it takes
of those birds which mankind had, with one consent, proscribed
as noxious, but which now we are induced to consider as aux-
iliaries in agriculture, whose labours could not be dispensed
with without detriment. A vagrant chicken, now and then,
may well be spared to the hawk or owl who clears our fields
of swarms of destructive mice; the woodpecker, whose taste
induces him to appropriate to himself the first ripe apple or
cherry, has well earned the delicacy, by the myriads of pesti-
lential worms of which he has rid our orchards, and whose
ravages, if not counteracted, would soon deprive us of all fruit;
if the crow and the black-bird be not too greedy, we may sure-
ly spare them a part of what they have preserved to us, since
it is questionable, if their fondness for grubs or cut-worms did
not induce them to destroy these enemies of the maize, whether
or not a single stalk of this inestimable corn would be allowed
to greet the view of the American farmer.

The beauties of this work are so transcendent, that its faults,
which are, in truth, mere peccadillos, are hardly perceptible;
they may be corrected by one of ordinary application, who
needs not invoke to his aid either much learning or much in-
telligence. A book superior in its typographical execution,
and graphical illustrations, it would be no difficult matter to
produce, since the ingenuity of man has advanced the fine arts
to a state of perfection, sufficient to gratify the most fastidious

LIFE OF WILSON. cxcix

choice; but who could rival it in those essentials which distin-
guish it from all other similar undertakings, and which consti-
tute it one of the most valuable offerings to natural science
which taste and genius has ever produced?

INTRODUCTION.

IN the commencement of a work of such magnitude, and so
novel in this country, some account will necessarily be expect-
ed of the motives of the author, and of the nature and intended
execution of the work. As to the former of these, it is respect-
fully submitted, that, amusement blended with instruction, the
correction of numerous errors which have been introduced into
this part of the natural history of our country, and a wish to
draw the attention of my fellow-citizens, occasionally, from
the discordant jarrings of politics, to a contemplation of the
grandeur, harmony, and wonderful variety of Nature, exhibit-
ed in this beautiful portion of the animal creation, are my prin-
cipal, and almost only, motives, in the present undertaking. I
will not deny that there may also be other incitements. Bias-
sed, almost from infancy, by a fondness for birds, and little less
than an enthusiast in my researches after them, I feel happy to
communicate my observations to others, probably from the
mere principle of self-gratification, that source of so many even
of our most virtuous actions; but I candidly declare, that lu-
crative views have nothing to do in the business. In all my
wild-wood rambles these never were sufficient either to allure
me to a single excursion, to discourage me from one, or to en-
gage my pen or pencil in the present publication. My hopes
on this head are humble enough; I ask only support equal to
my merits, and to the laudability of my intentions. I expect
no more; I am not altogether certain even of this. But leaving
the issue of these matters to futurity, I shall, in the mean time,
comfort myself with the good old adage: " Happy are they
who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed."

As to the nature of the work, it is intended to comprehend
a description and representation of every species of our native

VOL. i. — cc

2 INTRODUCTION.

birds, from the shores of St. Lawrence to the mouths of the
Mississippi, and from the Atlantic ocean to the interior of Lou-
isiana: these will be engraved in a style superior to any thing
of the kind hitherto published; and coloured from nature with
the most scrupulous adherence to the true tints of the original.
The bare account of scientific names, colour of bills, claws,
feathers, &c. would form but a dry detail; neither, in a publi-
cation of the present kind, where every species is faithfully
figured and coloured, is a long and minute description of the
form, and feathers, absolutely necessary. — This would, in the
opinion of some, be like introducing a gentleman to company,

with " ladies and gentlemen, " Mr. . He has on a blue

coat — white pantaloons — hussar boots," fyc. fyc. while a single
glance of the eye, over the person himself, told us all this be-
fore the orator had time to open his mouth; so infinitely more
rapidly do ideas reach us through the medium of the eye, than
by that of the ear. But as time may prey on the best of colours,
what is necessary in this respect will by no means be omitted,
that the figures and descriptions may mutually corroborate
each other. It is also my design to enter more largely than
usual into the manners and disposition of each respective spe-
cies; to become, as it were, their faithful biographer, and to
delineate their various peculiarities, in character, song, build-
ing, economy, &c. as far as my own observations have extend-
ed, or the kindness of others may furnish me with materials.

The ORNITHOLOGY of the United States exhibits a rich dis-
play of the most splendid colours, from the green, silky, gold-
bespangled down of the minute humming bird, scarce three
inches in extent, to the black coppery wings of the gloomy
Condor, of sixteen feet, who sometimes visits our northern re-
gions— a numerous and powerful band of songsters, that for
sweetness, variety, and melody, are surpassed by no country
on earth — an ever-changing scene of migration, from torrid to
temperate and from northern to southern regions, in quest of
suitable seasons, food, and climate; and such an amazing diver-
sity in habit, economy, form, disposition and faculties, so uni-

INTRODUCTION. 3

formly hereditary in each species, and so completely adequate
to their peculiar wants and convenience, as to overwhelm us
with astonishment at the power, wisdom and beneficence of the
Creator!

In proportion as we become acquainted with these particu-
lars, our visits to, and residence in the country, become more
and more agreeable. Formerly, on such occasions, we found
ourselves in solitude, or with respect to the feathered tribes, as
it were in a strange country, where the manners, language and
faces of all were either totally overlooked, or utterly unknown
to us: now, we find ourselves among interesting and well-
known neighbours and acquaintance; and, in the notes of eve-
ry songster, recognize with satisfaction the voice of an old
friend and companion. A study thus tending to multiply our
enjoyments at so cheap a rate, and to lead us, by such pleasing
gradations, to the contemplation and worship of the Great
First Cause, the Father and Preserver of all, can neither be
idle nor useless, but is worthy of rational beings, and doubtless
agreeable to the Deity.

In order to attain a more perfect knowledge of birds, natu-
ralists have divided them into orders, genera, species, and
varieties; but in doing this, scarcely two have agreed on
the same mode of arrangement, and this has indeed proved a
source of great perplexity to the student. Some have increas-
ed the number of orders to an unnecessary extent, multiplied
the genera, and, out of mere varieties, produced what they
supposed to be entire new species. Others, sensible of the im-
propriety of this, and wishing to simplify the science, as much
as possible, have reduced the orders and genera to a few, and
have thus thrown birds, whose food, habits and other charac-
teristical features are widely different, into one and the same
tribe, and thereby confounded our perception of that beautiful
gradation of affinity and resemblance, which Nature herself
seems to have been studious of preserving throughout the whole.
One principal cause of the great diversity of classifications, ap-
pears to be owing to the neglect, or want of opportunity, in

4 INTRODUCTION.

these writers, of observing the manners of the living birds, in
their unconfined state, and in their native countries. As well
might philosophers attempt to class mankind into their respec-
tive religious denominations, by a mere examination of their
physiognomy, as naturalists to form a correct arrangement of
animals, without a knowledge of these necessary particulars.

It is only by personal intimacy that we can truly ascertain
the character of either, more particularly that of the feathered
race; noting their particular haunts, modes of constructing their
nests, manner of flight, seasons of migration, favourite food,
and numberless other minutiae, which can only be obtained by
frequent excursions in the woods and fields, along lakes, shores
and rivers; and require a degree of patience and perseverance
which nothing but an enthusiastic fondness for the pursuit can
inspire.

Of the numerous systems which have been adopted by diffe-
rent writers, that published by Dr. Latham, in his " Index
Ornithologicus," and " General Synopsis of Birds," seems the
least subject to the objections above-mentioned; and as, in par-
ticularizing the order, genus, &c. to which each bird belongs,
this system, with some necessary exceptions, has been gene-
rally followed in the present work, it is judged proper to in-
troduce it here, for the information, and occasional consultation
of the reader.

TABLE

OF THE ORDERS AND GENERA OF BIRDS,

ACCORDING TO LATHAM.

Ind. Orn. Syn. of Birds.

AVIUM ORDINES. ORDERS OF BIRDS.

DIV. I. DIV. I.

I. Jlccipitres Rapacious

II. Picas Pies

III. Passeres Passerine

IV. Columbx Columbine

INTRODUCTION.

Ind. Orn.

V. Gallinse
VI. Struthiones

DIV. II.

VII. Grallse
VIII. Pinnatipedes
IX. Palmipedes

AVIUM GENERA.
DIV. I.

TERRESTRES.

ORDO I.
ACCIPITRES.

1 Fultur

2 Falco

3 Strix

Syn. of Birds.
Gallinaceous
Struthious

DIV. II.

Waders
Pinnated feet
Web-footed

GENERA OF BIRDS.

DIV. I.
Z^JVZ) BIRDS.

ORDER I.
RAPACIOUS.
Vulture
Falcon
Owl

ORDO II.

ORDER II.

PIC^E.

PIES.

4 Lanius

Shrike

5 Psittachus

Parrot

6 Ramphastos
7 Momotus

Toucan
Motmot

8 Scythrops
9 Buceros

Channel-bill
Hornbill

10 Buphaga
11 Crotophaga
11 *Musophaga
12 Callseas

Beef-eater
Ani
Plantain-eater
Wattle-bird

13 Corvus

Crow

14 Coracias

Roller

15 Qriolus

Oriole

16 Gracula

Grakle

17 Paradissea

Paradise-bird

18 Trogon
19 Bucco

Curucui
Barbet

20 Cuculus

Cuckoo

INTRODUCTION.

Ind. Orn.

21 Yunks

22 Picus

23 Galbula

24 Mcedo

25 Sitta

26 Todus

27 Merops

28 Upupa

29 Certhia

30 Trochilus

ORDO III.
PASSERES.

31 Sturnus

32 Turdus

33 Jlmpelis

34 Colius

35 Loxia

36 Emberiza

37 Tanagra

38 Fringilla

39 Phytotoma

40 Muscicapa

41 Mauda

42 Motacilla

43 Sylvia

44 Pipra

45 Parus

46 Hirundo

47 Caprimulgus

ORDO IV.
COLUMB^E.

48 Columba

Syn. of Birds.

Wryneck

Woodpecker

Jacamar

Kingsfisher

Nuthatch

Tody

Bee-eater

Hoopoe

Creeper

Humming-bird

ORDER III.
PASSERINE.

Starling

Thrush

Chatterer

Coly

Grosbeak

Bunting

Tanager

Finch

Plant-cutter

Flycatcher

Lark

Wagtail

Warbler

Manakin

Titmouse

Swallow

Goatsucker

ORDER IV.
COLUMBINE.

Pigeon

INTRODUCTION.

Ind. Orn.

Syn. of Birds.

ORDO V.

ORDER V.

GALLINJE.

GALLINACEOUS.

49 Pavo

Peacock

50 Meleagris

Turkey

51 Penelope

Guan

52 Numida

Pintado

53 Crax

Curassow

53 *Menura

Menura

54 Phasianus

Pheasant

55 Tinamus

Tinamou

56 Tetrao

Grous

57 Per&r

Partridge

58 Psophia

Trumpeter

59 O/&

Bustard

ORDO VI.

ORDER VI.

STRUTHIONES.

STRUTHIOUS.

60 Didus

Dodo

61 Struthio

African Ostrich

62 Casuarius

Cassowary

63 7?Aea

American Ostrich

DIV. II.

DIV II.

AVES AQUATIC&.

WATER BIRDS.

ORDO VII.

ORDER VII.

GRALL^E.

WADERS.

64 Platalea

Spoonbill

65 Palamedea

Screamer

66 Mycteria

Jabiru

67 Cancroma

Boatbill

68 Scopus

Umbre

69 rflrdea

Heron

70 Tantalus

Ibis

71 Numenius

Curlew

72 Scolopax

Snipe

73 Tringa

Sandpiper

INTRODUCTION.

Ind. Orn.

74 Charadrius

75 Cursorius

76 Hdematopus

77 Glareola

78 Rallus

79 Parr a

79 *Cereopsis

80 Gallinula

81 Vaginalis

ORDO VIII.
PENNATIPEDES.

82 Phalaropus

83 Fulica

84 Podiceps

ORDO IX.
PALMIPEDES.

t Pedibus longioribus.

85 Recurvirostra

86 Corrira

87 Ph&nicopterus

tt Pedibus brevioribus.

88 Diomedea
89

90

91 Colymbus

92 Rynchops

93 iSfcjraa

94 Larus

95 Procellaria

96 Mergus

97 ^no*

98 Jlptenodytes

99 Pelicanus
100 Phaeton
101

*%n. of Birds.

Plover

Courser

Oyster-catcher

Prantincole

Rail

Jacana

Cereopsis

Gallinule

Sheath-bill

ORDER VIII.
PINNATED FEET.
Phalarope
Coot
Grebe

ORDER IX.
WEB-FOOTED.
t With long legs.
Avocet
Courier
Flamingo
tt With short legs.
Albatross
Auk

Guillemot
Diver
Skimmer
Tern
Gull
Petrel
Merganser
Duck
Penguin
Pelican
Tropic-bird
Darter

INTRODUCTION. 9

It may probably be expected, that, in a publication of this
kind, we should commence with the order ACCIPITRES, and
proceed, regularly, through the different orders and genera, ac-
cording to the particular system adopted. This, however de-
sirable, is in the present case altogether impracticable; unless,
indeed, we possessed living specimens, or drawings, of every
particular species to be described; an acquisition which no pri-
vate individual, nor public Museum in the world, can, as yet,
boast of. This work is not intended to be a mere compilation
from books, with figures taken from stuffed and dried birds,
which would be but a sorry compliment to the science; but a
transcript from living Nature, embracing the whole Ornitholo-
gy of the United States; and as it is highly probable that nu-
merous species, at present entirely unknown, would come into
our possession long after that part of the work appropriated for
the particular genera to which they belonged had been finished,
and thereby interrupt, in spite of every exertion, the regularity
of the above arrangement, or oblige us to omit them altogether:
considering these circumstances, and that during the number
of years which the completion of the present work will neces-
sarily occupy, the best opportunities will be afforded, and eve-
ry endeavour used, to procure drawings of the whole, a diffe-
rent mode has been adopted, as being more agreeably diversi-
fied, equally illustrative of the science, and perfectly practica-
ble; which the other is not. The birds will, therefore, appear
without regard to generical arrangement; but the order, genus,
&c. of each will be particularly noted; and a complete Index
added to the whole, in which every species will be arranged
in systematic order, with reference to the volume, page, and
plate, where each figure and description may be instantly found.
From the great expense of engravings executed by artists of
established reputation, many of those who have published works
of this kind, have had recourse to their own ingenuity in etch-
ing their plates; but, however honourable this might have been
to their industry, it has been injurious to the effect intended to
be produced by the figures; since the pointy alone, is not suffi-
VOL. i. — D d

10 INTRODUCTION

cient to produce a finished engraving; and many years of ap-
plication are necessary to enable a person, whatever may be
his talents or diligence, to handle the graver with the facility
and effect of the pencil; while the time, thus consumed, might
be more advantageously employed in finishing drawings, and
collecting facts for the descriptive part, which is the proper pro-
vince of the Ornithologist. Every person who is acquainted
with the extreme accuracy of eminent engravers, must likewise
be sensible of the advantage of having the imperfections of the
pencil corrected by the excellence of the graver. Every im-
provement of this kind the author has studiously availed him-
self of; and has frequently furnished the artist with the living
or newly-killed subject itself to assist his ideas.

In colouring the impressions, the same scrupulous attention
has been paid to imitate the true tints of the original. The
greatest number of the descriptions, particularly those of the
nests, eggs, and plumage, have been written in the woods,
with the subjects in view, leaving as little as possible to the
lapse of recollection : as to what relates to the manners, habits,
&c. of the birds, the particulars on these heads are the result of
personal observation, from memoranda taken on the spot; if
they differ, as they will in many points, from former accounts,
this at least can be said in their behalf, that a single fact has
not been advanced which the writer was not himself witness
to, or received from those on whose judgment and veracity he
believed reliance could be placed. When his own stock of ob-
servations has been exhausted, and not till then, he has had re-
course to what others have said on the same subject, and all
the most respectable performances of a similar nature have
been consulted, to which access could be obtained ; not neglect-
ing the labours of his predecessors in this particular path,
Messrs. Catesby and Edwards, whose memories he truly re-
spects. But, as a sacred regard to truth requires that the er-
rors or inadvertencies of these authors, as well as of others,
should be noticed, and corrected, let it not be imputed to un-
worthy motives, but to its true cause, a zeal for the promotion

INTRODUCTION. 11

of that science, in which these gentlemen so much delighted,
and for which they have done so much.

From the writers of our own country the author has derived
but little advantage. The first considerable list of our birds
was published in 1787, by Mr. Jefferson, in his celebrated
" Notes on Virginia," and contains the names of 109 species,
with the designations of Linnaeus and Catesby, and references
to Buffon. The next, and by far the most complete that has
yet appeared, was published in 1791, by Mr. William Bartram,
in his " Travels through North and South Carolina," &c. in
which two hundred and fifteen different species are enumerated,
and concise descriptions and characteristics of each added, in
Latin and English. Dr. Barton, in his "Fragments of the Na-
tural History of Pennsylvania," has favoured us with a number
of remarks on this subject; and Dr. Belknap, in his " History
of New Hampshire," as well as Dr. Williams, in that of Ver-
mont, have each enumerated a few of our birds. But these,
from the nature of the publications in which they have been
introduced, can be considered only as catalogues of names,
without the detail of specific particulars, or the figured and co-
loured representations of the birds themselves. This task, the
hardest of all, has been reserved for one of far inferior abilities,
but not of less zeal. With the example of many solitary indi-
viduals, in other countries, who have succeeded in such an en-
terprise, he has cheerfully engaged in the undertaking, trusting
for encouragement solely to the fidelity with which it will be
conducted.

AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.

DIV. I. AVES TERRESTRES. LAND BIRDS.

ORDER I. ACCIPITRES. RAPACIOUS.
GENUS I. VULTUR* VULTURES.

SPECIES I. V. AURtf.
TURKEY VULTURE OR TURKEY-BUZZARD.

[Plate LXXV. Fig. 1.]

Vultur aura, LINN. Syst. ed. 10, torn. i,p. 86, 4. — 2nd. Orn.p. 4,
«/Vo. 8. — VIEILLOT, OLs. de VAm. Sept. i, p. 25, pi. 2, bis. — Car-
rion Crow, SLOANE, Jam. n, p. 294, tab. 254. — Carrion Vulture,
LATH. Gen. Syn. i, p. 9. — Le Vautour du Bresil, BRISS. i, p.
468. — Turkey- Buzzard, CATESBY, Car. i, p. 6. — BARTRAM'S
Travels, p. 289. — Cozcaquauhlli, CLAVIGEUO, Hist. Mex. i, p.
47, English translation. — American Vulture, SHAW, Gen. Zool.
\u, p. 36. — PEALE'S MUSEUM, JVt>. 11, male — 12, female.

THIS species is well known throughout the United States,
but is most numerous in the southern section of the union. In
the northern and middle states it is partially migratory, the great-
er part retiring to the south on the approach of cold weather.
But numbers remain all the winter in Maryland, Delaware and
New Jersey; particularly in the vicinity of the large rivers, and
the ocean, which afford a supply of food at all seasons.

* This genus, has been divided into several genera, by modern ornitholo-
gists. Temminck adopts the four following; 1. Vultur. (Illiger). 2. Cathartes
(Illiger). 3. Gypaetus. (Storr.) 4. Gypogeranus. (Illiger). The two follow-
ing species belong to the second of these, the genus Cathartes of Illiger. No
true Vulture in the present restricted acceptation of that genus has been found
in America.

14 TURKEY VULTURE.

In New Jersey,* the Turkey-buzzard hatches in May, the
deep recesses of the solitary swamps of that state affording si-
tuations well suited to the purpose. The female is at no pains to
form a nest with materials; but having chosen a suitable place,
which is either a truncated hollow tree, or an excavated stump
or log, she lays on the rotten wood from two to four eggs, of a
dull dirty white, splashed all over with chocolate, mingled with
blackish touches, the blotches largest and thickest towards the
great end; the form somewhat like the egg of a goose, but
blunter at the small end; length two inches and three quarters,
breadth two inches. The male watches often while the female
is sitting; and if not disturbed they will occupy the same breed-
ing place for several years. The young are clothed with a
whitish down, similar to that which covers young goslings. If
any person approach the nest, and attempt to handle them, they
will immediately vomit such offensive matter, as to compel the
intruder to a precipitate retreat.

The Turkey-buzzards are gregarious, peaceable and harmless;
never offering any violence to a living animal, or, like the plun-
derers of the Falco tribe, depriving the husbandman of his stock.
Hence, though in consequence of their filthy habits they are
not beloved, yet they are respected for their usefulness; and in
the southern states, where they are most needed, they, as well
as the black vultures, are protected by a law, which imposes
a fine on those who wilfully deprive them of life. In the mid-
dle and northern states, being unprotected by law, these useful
birds are exposed to persecution, and, consequently, they avoid
the residence of man. They generally roost in flocks, upon the
limbs of large trees; and they may be seen in a summer's morn-
ing, spreading out their wings to the rising sun, and remain-
ing in that posture for a considerable time. Pennant conjectures
that this is " to purify their bodies, which are most offensively

* The author mentions New Jersey in particular, as in that state he has visi-
ted the breeding places of the Turkey-buzzard, and can therefore speak with
certainty of the fact. Pennsylvania, it is more than probable, affords situations
equally attractive, which are also tenanted by this Vulture, for hatching and
rearing its young.

TURKEY VULTURE. 15

fetid." But is it reasonable to suppose that that effluvia can be
offensive to them, which arises from food perfectly adapted to
their nature, and which is constantly the object of their desires?
Many birds, and particularly those of the granivorous kind,
have a similar habit, which, doubtless, is attended with the
same exhilarating effect, that an exposure to the pure air of the
morning has on the frame of one just risen from repose.

The Turkey-buzzards, unless when rising from the earth,
seldom flap their wings, but sweep along in ogees, and dipping
and rising lines, and move with great rapidity. They are often
seen in companies, soaring at an immense height, particularly
before a thunderstorm. Their wings are not spread horizontal-
ly, but form an acute angle with the body, the tips having an
upward curve. Their sense of smelling is astonishingly exqui-
site,* and they never fail to discover carrion, even when at the
distance from it of several miles. When once they have found a
carcass they will not leave the place, if unmolested, till the whole
is devoured. At such times they eat so immoderately, that
frequently they are incapable of rising, and may be caught
without much difficulty; but few that are acquainted with them
will have the temerity to undertake the task. A man in the
state of Delaware, a few years ago, observing some Turkey-buz-
zards regaling themselves upon the carcass of a horse, which
was in a highly putrid state, conceived the design of making a
captive of one, to take home for the amusement of his children.

* The British public has lately been amused with the tales of a traveller,
on some of the animals of our country. Among several particulars, which
force themselves upon the attention of the American reader by their novelty,
we are presented with the result of a series of experiments, which were insti-
tuted to prove, that the Turkey-buzzard does not possess the sense of smel-
ling! This important enunciation would be calculated to disabuse us, with re-
spect to the popular opinion on this subject, did we not recollect, that the
sense of seeing- had, also, by some ingenious naturalists, been denied to the
Mole; and that the Bird of Paradise had been affirmed to be deficient of those
useful organs of locomotion — legsl The lovers of romance may now felicitate
themselves upon the ascendancy of an observer, whose credible narratives may
aspire to the honour of ranking with the tales of the artless John Dunn Hun-
ter, or the wonders of that pink of veracity, the renowned Sir John Mandeville.

16 TURKEY VULTURE.

He cautiously approached, and springing upon the unsuspicious
group, grasped a fine plump fellow in his arms, and was bear-
ing off his prize in triumph, when lo ! the indignant Vulture dis-
gorged such a torrent of filth in the face of our hero, that it
produced all the effects of the most powerful emetic, and for
ever cured him of his inclination for Turkey-buzzards.

On the continent of America this species inhabits a vast range
of territory, being common,* it is said, from Nova Scotia to
Terra del Fuego.t How far, on the Pacific, to the northward
of the river Columbia, they are found, we are not informed;
but it is ascertained that they extend their migrations to the
latter, allured thither by the quantity of dead salmon, which at
certain seasons line its shores.

They are numerous in the West India islands, where they
are said to be " far inferior in size to those of North America. "J
This leads us to the inquiry, whether or not the present species
has been confounded by the naturalists of Europe, with the
Black Vulture, or Carrion Crow, which is so common in the
southern parts of our continent. If not, why has the latter been
totally overlooked in the most noted Ornithologies with which
the world has been favoured, when it is so conspicuous and
remarkable, that there is no stranger who visits South Carolina,
Georgia, or the Spanish provinces, but is immediately struck
with the novelty of its appearance? We can find no cause for
the Turkey-buzzards of the islands§ being smaller than ours,

* In the northern states of our union the Turkey-buzzard is only occasional-
ly seen, it is considered a rare bird by the inhabitants.

f Great numbers of a species of Vulture, commonly called Carrion Crow by
the sailors, ( Vullur aura,) were seen upon this island (New-year's island, near
Cape Horn, lat. 55 S. 67 W.) and probably feed on young seal-cubs, which
either die in the birth, or which they take an opportunity to seize upon.'*
Cook calls them Turkey-buzzards. Forster's Voy. n, p. 516, quarto, London,
1777.

$ Pennant, Arctic Zoology.

§ The Vulture which Sir Hans Sloane figured and described, and which he
says is common in Jamaica, is undoubtedly the Vultur aura; " The head and
an inch in the neck are bare and without feathers, of a flesh colour, cov-
ered with a thin membrame, like that of turkies, with which the most part of
the bill is covered likewise; bill (below the membrane) more than an inch

TURKEY VULTURE. 17

and must conclifde that the Carrion-crow, which is of less size,
has been mistaken for the former. In the history which follows,
we shall endeavour to make it evident that the species describ-
ed by Ulloa, as being so numerous in South America, is no
other than the Black Vulture.

Kolben, in his account of the Cape of Good-Hope, mentions
a Vulture, which he represents as very voracious and noxious:
66 1 have seen," says he, "many carcasses of cows, oxen and
other tame creatures which the Eagles had slain. I say carcas-
ses, but they were rather skeletons, the flesh and entrails being
all devoured, and nothing remaining but the skin and bones.
But the skin and bones being in their natural places, the flesh
being, as it were, scooped out, and the wound, by which the
Eagles enter the body, being ever in the belly, you would not,
till you had come up to the skeleton, have had the least suspi-
cion that any such matter had happened. The Dutch at the Cape
frequently call those Eagles, on account of their tearing out the
entrails of beasts, Strunt- Vogels, i. e. Dung-birds. It frequent-
ly happens, that an ox that is freed from the plough, and left to
find his way home, lies down to rest himself by the way; and
if he does so, 'tis a great chance but the Eagles ./a// upon him
and devour him. They attack an ox or cow in a body, consist-
ing of an hundred and upwards."*

Buffon conjectures that this murderous Vulture is the Turkey-
buzzard ; and concludes his history of the latter with the follow-
ing invective against the whole fraternity: "In every part of
the globe they are voracious, slothful, offensive and hateful, and,
like the wolves, are as noxious during their life, as useless af-
ter their death."

It turns out, however, that this ferocious Vulture is not the
Turkey-buzzard, as may be seen in Levaillant's " Histoire Na-
turelle des Oiseaux d' Afrique," vol. i, pi. 10, where the Chasse-

loiig1, whitish at the point; tail broad and nine inches long"; leg's and feet
three inches long-; it flies exactly like a Kite, and preys on nothing living, but
when dead it devours their carcasses, whence they are not molested." Sloane,
Nat. Hist. Jam. vol. n, p. 294, folio.

* Medley's Kolben, vol. u, p. 135.
VOL. i. — E e

18 TURKEY VULTURE.

fiente, or Strunt-Vogel, is figured and described. The truth of
Kolben's story is doubtful j and we would express our regret,
that enlightened naturalists should so readily lend an ear to the
romances of travellers, who, to excite astonishment, freely give
currency to every ridiculous tale, which the designing or the
credulous impose upon them.

The Turkey Vulture is two feet and a half in length, and six
feet two inches in breadth ; the bill, from the corner of the mouth,
is almost two inches and a half long, of a dark horn colour, for
somewhat more than an inch from the tip, the nostril a remark-
ably wide slit or opening through it; the tongue is greatly con-
cave, cartilaginous, and finely serrated on its edges; ears sub-
cordate; eyes dark, in some specimens reddish hazel; wrinkled
skin of the head and neck reddish; the neck not so much car-
uncled as that of the Black Vulture; from the hind-head to the
neck feathers, the space is covered with down, of a sooty black
colour; the fore part of the neck is bare as far as the breastbone,
the skin on the lower part, or pouch, very much wrinkled, this
naked skin is not discernible without removing the plumage
which arches over it; the whole lower parts, lining of the wings,
rump and tail-coverts, are of a sooty brown, the feathers of the
belly and vent hairy; the plumage of the neck is large and tu-
mid, and, with that of the back and shoulders, black; the scap-
ulars and secondaries are black on their outer webs, skirted
with tawny brown, the latter slightly tipped with white; pri-
maries and their coverts plain brown, the former pointed, third
primary the longest; coverts of the secondaries, and lesser cov-
erts, tawny brown, centred with black, some of the feathers,
at their extremities, slightly edged with white; the tail is twelve
inches long, rounded, of a brownish black, and composed of
twelve feathers, which are broad at their extremities; inside of
wings and tail light ash ; the wings reach to the end of the tail;
the whole body and neck, beneath the plumage, are thickly
clothed with a white down, which feels like cotton; the shafts
of the primaries arc yellowish white above, and those of the
tail brown, both pure white below; the plumage of the neck.

TURKEY VULTURE. 19

back, shoulders, scapulars and secondaries, is glossed with green
and bronze, and has purple reflections; the thighs are feathered
to the knees ; feet considerably webbed ; middle toe three inches
and a half in length, and about an inch and a half longer than
the outer one, which is the next longest; the sole of the foot is
hard and rough; claws dark horn colour; the legs are of a pale
flesh colour, and three inches long. The claws are larger, but
the feet slenderer, than those of the Carrion-crow. The bill of
the male is pure white, in some specimens the upper mandible
is tipt with black. There is little or no other perceptible diffe-
rence between the sexes.

The bird from which the foregoing description was taken,
was shot for this work, at Great Egg-harbour, the thirtieth of
January. It was a female, in perfect plumage, excessively fat,
and weighed five pounds one ounce, avoirdupois. On dissection,
it emitted a slight musky odour.

The Vulture is included in the catalogue of those fowls declar-
ed unclean, and an abomination, by the Levitical constitution,
and which the Israelites were interdicted eating. * We presume
that this prohibition was religiously observed, so far at least as
it related to the whole family of the Vultures, from whose flesh
there arises such an unsavoury odour, that we question if all the
sweetening processes ever invented, could render it palatable
to a Jew, Pagan, or Christain.

Temmmck, and some recent ornithologists, have separated
our Vultures from the genus Vultur, and have classed them
under the genus Cathartes of Illiger. It should seem that there
is a propriety in this arrangement; but as Wilson published, in
his sixth volume, the catalogue of his land birds, adopting the
genus Vultur, as sanctioned by Latham, we have not thought
proper, in this instance, to deviate from his plan.t

* Leviticus, xi, 14. Deuteronomy, xiv, 13.
f From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume.

.

SPECIES 2. VULTUR JOTJi.
BLACK VULTURE, OR CARRION-CROW.

[Plate LXXV.— Fig. 2.]

Vultur jota, GMEL. Syst. i, p. 247. — MOLINA, Hist. Chili, i, p.
185, Am. trans. — Zopilot, CLAVIGERO, Hist. Meoc. i, p. 47,
Eng. trans. — Gallinazo, ULLOA, Voy. i, p. 52, Amsterdam ed.
— Vultur atratus, BARTRAM, p. 289. — Vautour du Brteil, PI.
Enl. 187. — Vultur aura,B. LATH. Ind. Orn. p.\. — Le Vautour
urubu, VIEILL. Ois. de I9 Jim. Sept. i, p. 23, pi. 2. — PEALE'S
Museum, JVo. 13.

THE habits of both this and the preceding Vulture are sin-
gular. In the towns and villages of the southern states, par-
ticularly Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina, and in
Savannah, Georgia, these birds may be seen either sauntering
about the streets; sunning themselves on the roofs of the houses,
and the fences; or, if the weather be cold, cowering around
the tops of the chimneys, to enjoy the benefit of the heat, which
to them is a peculiar gratification. They are protected by a law;
and may be said to be completely domesticated, being as com-
mon as the poultry, and equally familiar. The inhabitants, gen-
erally, are disgusted with their filthy, voracious habits; but not-
withstanding, being viewed as contributive to the removal of
dead animal matter, which, if permitted to putrefy during the
hot season, would render the atmosphere impure, they have a
respect paid them as scavengers, whose labours are subservient
to the public good. It sometimes happens that, after having gorg-
ed themselves, they vomit down the chimneys, which must be
intolerably disgusting, and must provoke the ill will of those
whose hospitality is thus requited. To obviate this evil, the
chimney tops of some houses are furnished with rows of spikes;
others are capped, or provided with some apparatus, to hinder
the birds from alighting upon them.

BLACK VULTURE. 21

The Black Vultures are indolent, and may be observed, in
companies, loitering for hours together in one place. They are
much darker in their plumage than the Turkey-buzzard. Their
mode of flight also varies from that of -the latter. The Black
Vulture flaps its wings five or six times rapidly, then sails with
them extended nearly horizontally; the Turkey-buzzard seldom
flaps its wings, and when sailing, they form an upward angle
with the body. The latter is not so impatient of cold as the for-
mer, and is likewise less lazy. The Black Vulture, when walk-
ing at leisure upon the ground, takes great strides — when hur-
ried, he runs and jumps awkwardly; the Turkey-buzzard,
though seemingly inactive, moves with an even gait. The for-
mer, when springing from the ground, will sometimes make a
noise exactly resembling the grunt of a pig.

I had been informed, previously to my visit to Georgia, by
both William Bartram, and Mr. John Abbot, that the two spe-
cies did not associate; but I soon discovered that this informa-
tion was erroneous. I took notice that both of these birds mixed
together upon the chimney tops^ and the roofs of the houses, and
sometimes in the streets; they were equally unsuspicious and
tame. It would appear, however, that there are certain districts
which are affected by each kind. In the yard of the hotel where
I resided, in the town of Savannah, I daily observed numbers
of Carrion-crows, unaccompanied by a single Turkey-buzzard.
The latter, unless pressed by hunger, will not eat of a carcass
until it becomes putrid; the former is not so fastidious, but de-
vours animal food without distinction. Perhaps this may be the
reason why the Carrion-crows alone frequent the yards, where
servants are in the habit of throwing out animal offals. In the
fields, wherever there is a putrid carcass, there will be seen
swarms of Turkey-buzzards.

It is said that the Black Vultures sometimes attack young
pigs, and eat off their ears and tails; and we have even heard
stories of their assaulting feeble calves, and picking out their
eyes. But these instances are rare; if otherwise, they would not
receive that countenance or protection, which is so universally

22 BLACK VULTURE.

extended to them, in the states of South Carolina and Georgia,
where they abound.

In one of Wilson's journals, I find an interesting detail of the
greedy and disgusting habits of this species; and shall give the
passage entire, in the same unadorned manner in which it is
written.

" February 21, 1809. Went out to Hampstead* this fore-
noon. A horse had dropped down in the street, in convulsions;
and dying, it was dragged out to Hampstead and skinned. The
ground, for a hundred yards around it, was black with Carrion-
crows; many sat on the tops of sheds, fences, and houses with-
in sight; sixty or eighty on the opposite side of a small stream.
I counted at one time two hundred and thirty-seven, but I be-
lieve there were more, besides several in the air over my head,
and at a distance. I ventured, cautiously, within thirty yards
of the carcass, where three or four dogs, and twenty or thirty
Vultures, were busily tearing and devouring. Seeing them take
no notice, I ventured nearer, till I was within ten yards, and
sat down on the bank. Still they paid little attention to me. The
dogs being sometimes accidentally flapped with the wings of the
Vultures, would growl and snap at them, which would occasion
them to spring up for a moment, but they immediately gather-
ed in again. I remarked the Vultures frequently attack each
other, fighting with their claws or heels, striking like a cock,
with open wings, and fixing their claws in each other's head.
The females, and I believe the males likewise, made a hissing
sound, with open mouth, exactly resembling that produced by
thrusting a red hot poker into water; and frequently a snuffling,
like a dog clearing his nostrils, as I suppose they were theirs.
On observing that they did not heed me, I stole so close that
my feet were within one yard of the horse's legs, and again sat
down. They all slid aloof a few feet; but seeing me quiet, they
soon returned as before. As they were often disturbed by the
dogs, I ordered the latter home: my voice gave no alarm to the

* Near Charleston, South Carolina,

BLACK VULTURE. 28

Vultures. As soon as the dogs departed, the Vultures crowded
in such numbers, that I counted at one time thirty-seven on
and around the carcass, with several within; so that scarcely an
inch of it was visible. Sometimes one would come out with a
large piece of the entrails, which in a moment was surrounded by
several others, who tore it in fragments, and it soon disappeared.
They kept up the hissing occasionally. Some of them having
their whole legs and heads covered with blood, presented a
most savage aspect. Still as the dogs advanced I would order
them away, which seemed to gratify the Vultures; and one
would pursue another to within a foot or two of the spot where I
was sitting. Sometimes I observed them stretching their necks
along the ground, as if to press the food downwards."

The Carrion-crow is seldom found, on the Atlantic, to the
northward of Newbern, North Carolina, but inhabits, as far as
we can ascertain, the whole southern continent. Don Ulloa, in
taking notice of the birds of Carthagena, gives an account of a
Vulture, which we shall quote, in order to establish the opinion,
advanced in the preceding history, that it is the present spe-
cies. We shall afterwards subjoin other testimony in confirma-
tion of this opinion. With respect to the marvellous tale of their
attacking the cattle in the pastures, it is too improbable to merit
a serious refutation; and it is to be regretted that Vieillot should
have perpetuated this slander, which is so absurd, that we won-
der how it could have escaped his animadversion.

" It would be too great an undertaking," says Ulloa, "to de-
scribe all the extraordinary birds that inhabit this country; but
I cannot refrain from taking notice of that to which they give
the name of Gallinazo, from the resemblance it has to the Tur-
key-hen. This bird is of the size of the Pea-hen, but its head
and neck are somewhat larger. From the crop to the base of
the bill there are no feathers; and the skin, which is of a brown-
ish, black colour, is wrinkled and rough, and covered with
small warts and tubercles. The plumage of the bird is also
black. The bill is well proportioned, strong, and a little hook-
ed. These birds are familiar in Carthagena, the tops of the

24 BLACK VULTURE.

houses are covered with them. They are very serviceable, in
cleansing the city of all its animal impurities. There are few
animals killed whereof they do not obtain the offals; and when
this food is wanting, they have recourse to other filth. Their
sense of smelling is so acute, that it enables them to trace car-
rion at the distance of three or four leagues; which they do not
abandon until there remains nothing but the skeleton.

" The great number of these birds found in such hot climates,
is an excellent provision of nature; as otherwise, the putrefac-
tion caused by the constant and excessive heat, would render
the air insupportable to human life. When first they take wing,
they fly heavily; but afterwards they rise so high as to be en-
tirely invisible. On the ground they walk sluggishly. Their
legs are well proportioned; they have three toes forward, turning
inwards, and one in the inside, inclining a little backwards, so
that the feet interfering, they cannot walk with any agility,
but are obliged to hop; each toe is furnished with a long and
stout claw.

"When the Gallinazos are deprived of carrion, or food in
the city, they are driven by hunger among the cattle of the
pastures. If they see a beast with a sore on the back, they alight
on it, and attack the part affected ; and it avails not that the
poor animal throws itself upon the ground, and endeavours to
intimidate them with its bellowing: they do not quit their
hold!* and by means of their bill they so soon enlarge the
wound, that the animal finally becomes their prey."t

The account, from the same author, of the beneficial effects
resulting from the fondness of the vultures for the eggs of the
alligator, merits attention.

* The faculty of prehension, which is possessed, in a remarkable degree,
by the whole of the Falco tribe, but slightly appertains to Vultures, as is evi-
denced by their feet and claws; hence all the stories which are related, of
their seizing upon their prey, and bearing it off in their talons, are apocry-
phal. We would extend this remark to the far-famed Condor, whose history
has been embellished with feats of strength, not a little allied to the marvellous.

t Voyage Historique De L'Amerique Meridionale, par Don George Juan,
et Don Antoine De Ulloa, liv. I, chap, viii, p. 52. A Amsterdam et a Leip-
zig, 1752, quarto.

BLACK VULTURE. 25

"The Gallinazos are the most inveterate enemies of the alli-
gators, or rather they are extremely fond of their eggs; and
employ much stratagem to obtain them. During the summer,
these birds make it their business to watch the female alligators;
for it is in that season that they deposite their eggs in the sand
of the shores of the rivers, which are not then overflowed. The
Gallinazo conceals itself among the branches and leaves of a tree,
so as to be unperceived by the alligator, and permits the eggs
quietly to be laid, not even interrupting the precautions that she
takes to conceal them. But she is no sooner under the water,
than the Gallinazo darts upon the nest; and with its bill, claws,
and wings, uncovers the eggs, and gobbles them down, leaving
nothing but the shells. This banquet would indeed richly re-
ward its patience, did not a multitude of Gallinazos join the
fortunate discoverer, and share in the spoil.

" How admirable the wisdom of that Providence, which hath
given to the male alligator an inclination to devour its own off-
spring; and to the Gallinazo a taste for the eggs of the female.
Indeed neither the rivers, nor the neighbouring fields, would
otherwise be sufficient to contain the multitudes that are hatched ;
for notwithstanding the ravages of both these insatiable enemies,
one can hardly imagine the numbers that remain."*

The abbe Clavigero, in his History of Mexico, has clearly
indicated the present species, as distinguished from the Turkey-
buzzard.

"The business of clearing the fields of Mexico, is reserved
principally for the Zopilots, known in South America by the
name of Gallinazzi; in other places, by that of Jlure; and in
some places, though very improperly, by that of ravens. There
are two very different species of these birds; the one, the Zopilot,
properly so called, the other called the Cozcaquauhtli: they are
both bigger than the raven. These two species resemble each
other in their hooked bill and crooked claws, and by having
upon their head, instead of feathers, a wrinkled membrane,

* Liv. iv, chap, ix, p. 172.
VOL. I. — F f

26 BLACK VULTURE.

with some curling hairs. They fly so high, that although they
are pretty large, they are lost to the sight; and especially before
a hail storm they will be seen wheeling, in vast numbers
under the loftiest clouds, till they entirely disappear. They
feed upon carrion, which they discover by the acuteness of their
sight and smell, from the greatest height, and descend upon it
with a majestic flight, in a great spiral course. They are both
almost mute. The two species are distinguished, however, by
their size, their colour, their numbers, and some other peculi-
arities. The Zopilots, properly so called, have black feathers^
with a brown head, bill, and feet; they go often in flocks, and
roost together upon trees. This species is very numerous, and
is to be found in all the different climates; while on the contrary,
the Cozcaquauhtli is far from numerous, and is peculiar to the
warmer climates alone.* The latter bird is larger than the Zo-
pilot, has a red head and feet, with a beak of a deep red colour,
except towards its extremity, which is white. Its feathers are
brown, except upon the neck and parts about the breast, which
are of a reddish black. The wings are of an ash colour upon the
inside, and upon the outside are variegated with black and
tawny.

"The Cozcaquauhtli is called by the Mexicans, King of the
Zopilots -/t and they say, that when these two species happen to
meet together about the same carrion, the Zopilot never begins
to eat till the Cozcaquauhtli has tasted it. The Zopilot is a most
useful bird to that country, for they not only clear the fields,
but attend the crocodiles, and destroy the eggs which the females
of those dreadful amphibious animals leave in the sand, to be
hatched by the heat of the sun. The destruction of such a bird
ought to be prohibited under severe penalties.'^

"The Jota ( Vulturjota}" says the abbe Molina, " resembles
much the J^ura, a species of vulture, of which there is perhaps

* This is a mistake.

f This is the Vultur aura. The bird which now goes by the name of King of
the Zoi>ilols, in New Spain, is the Vullur papa of Linnaeus.
\ Clavig-ero's Mexico, translated by Cullen, vol. i, p. 47, London.

BLACK VULTURE. 27

but one variety. It is distinguished, however, by the beak,
which is gray with a black point. Notwithstanding the size of
this bird, which is nearly that of the turkey, and its strong and
crooked talons, it attacks no other, but feeds principally upon
carcasses and reptiles. It is extremely indolent, and will fre-
quently remain for a long time almost motionless, with its wings
extended, sunning itself upon the rocks, or the roofs of the
houses. When in pain, which is the only time that it is known
to make any noise, it utters a sharp cry like that of a rat; and
usually disgorges what it has eaten. The flesh of this bird emits
a fetid smell that is highly offensive. The manner in which it
builds its nest is perfectly correspondent to its natural indolence :
it carelessly places between rocks, or even upon the ground, a
few dry leaves or feathers, upon which it lays two eggs of a
dirty white."*

The Black Vulture is twenty-six inches in length, and four
feet eleven inches in extent; the bill is two inches and a half
long, of a pale horn colour as far as near an inch, the remainder,
with the head, and wrinkled skin of the neck, a dirty scurfy
black; tongue similar to that of the Turkey-buzzard; nostril an
oblong slit; irides dark reddish hazel; earssublunate; the throat
is dashed with yellow ochre in some specimens; neck feathers
below the caruncled skin much inflated, and very thick; the
general colour of the plumage is a dull black, except the pri-
maries, which are whitish on the inside, and have four of their
broadened edges below of a drab, or dark cream colour, ex-
tending two inches, which is seen only when the wing is un-
folded, the shafts of the feathers white on both sides; the rest of
the wing feathers dark on both sides; secondaries, scapulars and
tail, with a slight coppery gloss; the wings when folded are
about the length of the tail, the fifth feather being the longest;
the secondaries are two inches shorter than the tail, which is
composed of twelve feathers, and slightly forked, or nearly
square; the exterior feathers three quarters of an inch longer

*Hist. Chili, Am. trans, i, p. 185.

28 BLACK VULTURE.

than the rest; the legs are of a dirty limy white, three inches
and a half in length, and, with the feet, are thick and strong; the
middle toe, including the claw, is four inches long, side toes
two inches, and connected to the middle as far as the first joint;
inner toe rather the shortest; hind toe pointing inward; claws
strong, but not sharp like those of the Falco genus, middle claw
three quarters of an inch long; the stomach is not lined with
hair as reported. When opened, this bird smells strongly of
musk, so much so as to be quite offensive. Sexes nearly alike.

Mr. Abbot informs me that the Carrion-crow builds its nest
in the large trees of the low wet swamps, to which places they
retire every evening to roost. "They frequent," says he,
" that part of the town of Savannah where the hog-butchers
reside, and walk about the streets, in great numbers, like do-
mestic fowls. It is diverting to see, when the entrails and offals
of the hogs are thrown to them, with what greediness they
scramble for the food, seizing upon it, and pulling one against
another until the strongest prevails. The Turkey-buzzard is
accused of killing young lambs and pigs, by picking out their
eyes, but I believe that the Carrion-crow is not guilty of the
like practices." When taken alive, this bird bites excessively
hard, and its bill, which is very sharp on its edges, is capable
of inflicting severe wounds, as I myself experienced.

It is really 'astonishing that the European naturalists should
so long have overlooked the difference which there is between
this species and the Turkey-buzzard, in their external conform-
ation. Their heads are differently shaped; their bills and nos-
trils are considerably unlike; and the arrangement of the neck
plumage is entirely dissimilar, as our figures will show. The
Turkey-buzzard's neck, along the oesophagus, as far as the breast
bone, is bare of feathers, though this nakedness is concealed by
the adjacent plumage; the same part in the Carrion-crow is
completely clothed. The down of both species has the same
cottony appearance.

BLACK VULTURE. 39

The drab colour on the primaries is not visible when the
wing is closed, consequently the marking on the wing of our
figure is incorrect.

In the month of December, 1815, a solitary individual of this
species made its appearance in Philadelphia. This visiter, as
may be presumed, occasioned not a little surprise. It was shot
with an air rifle, while perched upon the chimney of a large
house in Chesnut street. This bird was put into my hands for
examination; and from the appearance of its plumage, I had
reason to conjecture that it had escaped from confinement.

From Vieillot's figure and description of the Black Vulture,
we must conclude that he had never seen it, either alive, or in
a recent state, otherwise he would not have committed the
egregious error, of representing the naked skin of the bill, head
and neck, of a blood red, when these parts are of a scurfy, black
colour, resembling the skin of a dirty negro.*

* From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume.

GEMIS2. FALCO. FALCONS.

SPECIES I. F. PEREGRINUS.

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK.

[Plate LXX VI. —Female.]

Falco peregrinus, GMEL. Syst. i, p. 272, 88. — BRISS. i, p. 341, 6,
and Var, A. — Ind. Orn. p. 33, No. 72. — Falco Barbaras, LINN.
Syst. ed. 10, torn, i, p. 88, No. 6.-— GMEL. Syst. i,p. 272, 8.— Ind.
Orn. p. S3, No. 71. — Falco hornotinus, Biuss. i, p. 324, A. Falco
niger, Id. p. 327, E. Falco maculatus, Id. p. 329, F. — Pere-
grine Falcon, LATH. Syn. i, p. 73, No. 52. 7rf. sup/, p. 1 8. —
PENN. Brit. Zool. No. 48, pi. 20. ^rcf. Zoof. JVo. 97.-— SHAW,
Gen. Zool. vol. vu, p. 128. — MONTAGU, Orn. Diet, and Sup 1. —
Low, Fauna Orcadensis, p. 150. — Common Falcon, L\ra.Syn*
i, p. 65, No. 49, var. A. p. 67, var. E. p. 68. var. F.— Spotted
Hawk or Falcon, EDWARDS, i, pi. 3. Black Hawk or Falcon,
Id. pi. 4, both from Hudson's Bay. — Le I anier, PL enl. 430,
old male. Le Faucon noir et passager, Id. 469, young female?
Le Faucon SOTS, Id. p. 470, yearling. — Faucon pelerin, TEMM.
Man. d'Orn.p. 22. — PEAI.E'S Museum, No. 386, female.

IT is with great pleasure that we are now enabled to give a
portrait of this celebrated Falcon, drawn of half the size of life,
in the best manner of our deceased friend; and engraved by the
accurate and ingenious Lawson.

This noble bird had excited our curiosity for a long time.
Every visit which we made to the coast, was rendered doubly
interesting by the wonderful stories which we heard of its ex-
ploits in fowling, and of its daring enterprise. There was not
a shooter along the shore but knew it well; and each could re-
late something of it which bordered on the marvellous. It was
described as darting, with the rapidity of an arrow, upon the
ducks when on the wing, and striking them down with the
projecting bone of its breast. Even the wild geese were said

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 31

to be in danger from its attacks, it having been known to sa-
crifice them to its rapacity.

To behold this hero, the terror of the wild fowl, and the
wonder of the sportsmen, was the chief object of our wishes.
Day after day did we traverse the salt marshes, and explore
the ponds and estuaries, where the web-footed tribes assemble
in immense multitudes, in the hope of obtaining the imperial
depredator; even all the shooters of the district were summon-
ed to our aid, with the assurance of a great reward if they pro-
cured him, but without success. At length, in the month of
December, 1812, to the unspeakable joy of Wilson, he receiv-
ed from Egg-harbour a fine specimen of the far-famed Duck
Hawk; which was discovered, contrary to his expectations, to
be of a species which he had never before beheld.

If we were to repeat all the anecdotes which have been re-
lated to us of the achievements of the Duck Hawk, they would
swell our pages at the expense, probably, of our reputation.
Naturalists should be always on their guard when they find
themselves compelled to resort to the observations of others;
and record nothing as fact, which has not been submitted to
the temperate deliberations of reason. The neglect of this pro-
cedure has been a principal cause, why errors and absurdities
have so frequently deformed the pages of works of science,
which, like a plane mirror, ought to reflect only the true
images of nature.

From the best sources of information, we learn that this spe-
cies is adventurous and powerful; that it darts upon its prey
with astonishing velocity; and that it strikes with its formida-
ble feet, permitting the duck to fall previously to securing it.
The circumstance of the hawk's never carrying the duck off on
striking it, has given rise to the belief of that service being
performed by means of the breast, which vulgar opinion has
armed with a projecting bone, adapted to the purpose. But
this cannot be the fact, as the breast bone of this bird does not
differ from that of others of the same tribe, which would not
admit of so violent a concussion.

32 GREAT-FOOTED HAWK.

When the water fowl perceive the approach of their enemy,
a universal alarm pervades their ranks; even man himself, with
his engine of destruction, is not more terrible. But the effect
is different. When the latter is beheld, the whole atmosphere
is enlivened with the whistling of wings; when the former is
recognised, not a duck is to be seen in the air: they all speed
to the water, and there remain until the hawk has passed them,
diving the moment he comes near them. It is worthy of re-
mark, that he will seldom, if ever, strike over the water, un-
less it be frozen; well knowing that it will be difficult to secure
his quarry. This is something more than instinct.

When the sportsmen perceive the hawk knock down a duck,
they frequently disappoint him of it, by being first to secure it.
And as one evil turn, according to the maxim of the multitude,
deserves another, our hero takes ample revenge on them, at
every opportunity, by robbing them of their game, the hard-
earned fruits of their labour.

The Duck Hawk, it is said, often follows the steps of the
shooter, knowing that the ducks will be aroused on the wing,
which will afford it an almost certain chance of success.

We have been informed that those ducks which are struck
down, have their backs lacerated from the rump to the neck.
If this be the fact, it is a proof that the hawk employs only its
talons, which are long and stout, in the operation. One re-
spectable inhabitant of Cape May told us, that he had seen the
hawk strike from below.

This species has been long known in Europe; and, in the
age of Falconry, was greatly valued for those qualifications,
which rendered it estimable to the lovers and followers of that
princely amusement. But we have strong objections to its spe-
cific appellation. The epithet peregrine is certainly not appli-
cable to our hawk, which is not migratory, as far as our most
diligent inquiries can ascertain; and as additional evidence of
the fact, we ourselves have seen it prowling near the coast of
New Jersey, in the month of May, and heard its screams,
which resemble somewhat those of the Bald Eagle, in the

*

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 33

swamps wherein it is said to breed. We have therefore taken
the liberty of changing its English name for one which will at
once express a characteristic designation, or which will indi-
cate the species without the labour of investigation. *

" This species," says Pennant, " breeds on the rocks of Llan-
didno, in Caernarvonshire, Wales. That promontory has been
long famed for producing a generous kind, as appears by a let-
ter extant in Gloddaeth library, from the lord treasurer Bur-
leigh to an ancestor of Sir Roger Mostyn, in which his lord-
ship thanks him for a present of a fine cast of hawks taken on
those rocks, which belong to the family. They are also very
common in the north of Scotland; and are sometimes trained
for falconry by some few gentlemen who still take delight in
this amusement in that part of Great Britain. Their flight is
amazing rapid; one that was reclaimed by a gentleman in the
Shire of Angus, a county on the east side of Scotland, eloped
from its master with two heavy bells attached to each foot, on
the twenty-fourth of September, 1772, and was killed in the
morning of the twenty-sixth, near Mostyn, Flintshire."!

The same naturalist, in another place, observes, that " the.
American species is larger than the European. ± They are
subject to vary. The Black Falcon, and the Spotted Falcon,
of Edwards, are of this kind; each preserves a specific mark,
in the black stroke which drops from beneath the eyes, down
towards the neck.

" Inhabits different parts of North America, from Hudson's
Bay as low as Carolina. In Asia, is found on the highest parts
of the Uralian and Siberian chain. Wanders in summer to the
very Arctic circle. Is common in Kamtschatka. "§

* " Specific names, to be perfect, ought to express some peculiarity, com-
mon to no other of the genus." Am. Orn. i, p. 65.

f British Zoology.

J If we were to adopt the mode of philosophising of the Count deBuffbn,
we should infer that the European species is a variety of our more generous
nice, degenerated by the influence of food and climate! § Arctic Zoology.

VOL. I. — Gg

34 GREAT-FOOTED HAWK,

Low says, that this species is found in all the head-lands, and
other inaccessible rocks, of Orkney. " It is the falcon, or more
noble species of hawk, which was formerly so much coveted,
and brought from Orkney. In the Burgh of Birsa I observed
the dark-coloured kind, so beautifully engraved in the addi-
tional volume of the British Zoology. It is likewise found in
Marwick-head, Hoy, Walls, Copinsha, and elsewhere in Ork-
ney; likewise in the Fair Isle and Foula; as also in Lamhoga
of Fetlor, Fitful, and Sumburgh-Heads of Shetland.

" Never more than one pair of this species inhabit the same
rock; and when the young are fit, they are driven out to seek
new habitations for themselves. The Falcon's nest, like the
Eagle's, is always in the very same spot, and continues so past
memory of man."*

In the breeding season, the Duck Hawk retires to the re-
cesses of the gloomy cedar swamps, on the tall trees of which
it constructs its nest, and rears its young, secure from all mo-
lestation. In those wilds, which present obstacles almost in-
superable to the foot of man, the screams of this bird, occasion-
ally mingled with the hoarse tones of the Heron, and the hoot-
ings of the Great-horned Owl, echoing through the dreary soli-
tude, arouse in the imagination all the frightful imagery of de-
solation. Wilson, and the writer of this article, explored two
of these swamps, in the month of May, 1813, in pursuit of the
Great Heron, and the subject of this chapter; and although
they were successful in obtaining the former, yet the latter
eluded their research.

The Great-footed Hawk is twenty inches in length, and three
feet eight inches in breadth; the bill is inflated, short and strong,
of a light blue colour, ending in black, the upper mandible
with a tooth-like process, the lower with a corresponding notch,
and truncate; nostrils round, with a central point like the pistil
of a flower; the eyes are large, irides of a dark brown; cere

* Low's Natural History of the Quadrupeds, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes,
of Orkney and Shetland; published by William Elford Leach, M. D., 4to.
1813.

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 35

and orbits pale bluish white; the cartilage over the eyes promi-
nent; frontlet whitish; the head above, cheeks and back, are
black; the wings and scapulars are brownish black, each feather
edged with paler, the former long and pointed, reaching al-
most to the end of the tail; the primaries and secondaries are
marked transversely, on the inner vanes, with large oblong
spots of ferruginous white; the exterior edge of the tip of the
secondaries curiously scalloped, as if a piece had been cut out;
the tertials incline to ash colour; the lining of the wings is
beautifully barred with black and white, and tinged with fer-
ruginous; on a close examination, the scapulars and tertials are
found to be barred with faint ash; all the shafts are black; the
rump and tail-coverts are light ash, marked with large dusky
bars; the tail is rounding, black, tipped with reddish white,
and crossed with eight narrow bars of very faint ash ; the chin
and breast, encircling the black mustaches, are of a pale buff
colour; breast below, and lower parts, reddish buff, or pale cin-
namon, handsomely marked with roundish or heart-shaped
spots of black; sides broadly barred with black; the femorals
are elegantly ornamented with herring-bones of black, on a buff
ground; the vent is pale buff, marked as the femorals, though
with less numerous spots; the feet and legs are of a dirty white,
stained with yellow ochre, the legs short and stout, feathered
a little below the knees, the bare part one inch in length; span
of the foot five inches, with a large protuberant sole; middle
toe as long as the tarsus; the claws are large and black, middle
one three-quarters of an inch long, hind claw seven-eights of
an inch.

The most striking characters of this species are the broad
patch of black dropping below the eye, and the uncommonly
large feet. It is stout, heavy, and firmly put together.

The bird from which the above description was taken, was
shot in a cedar swamp, in Cape May county, New Jersey. It
was a female, and contained the remains of small birds, among
which were discovered the legs of the Sanderling. The figure

36 GREAT-FOOTED HAWK.

in the plate is an excellent resemblance of the original, which
is handsomely set up in the Philadelphia Museum.

I am indebted to Mr. Titian Peale, for the view of an imma-
ture specimen of the Duck Hawk, which he shot near the Rocky
Mountains; it was quite young, having just left the nest. Its
colours were principally a dirty white, and a reddish brown;
the patch below the eye not very conspicuous; but the charac-
ters of the bill and feet proved the species.

According to Temminck, the Peregrine Falcon never inha-
bits marshy countries; but this, I presume, is a mistake, as our
bird is remarkable for its attachment to those places which are
affected by the water fowl; and it is well known that the latter
abound in all the marshes of the coast.

In the month of November, 1823, I procured a fine living
specimen of the Duck Hawk, which I preserved, with the view
of noting its change of plumage. It was a female, and was al-
lowed the free range of a stable and garden. Notwithstanding
my care, it lived but nine months. On dissection, I found her
eggs very small, although she had every appearance of being
an adult. Around the base of the heart, and near the ovaries,
I discovered two or three round worms, of about nine inches
in length.

During the time that she was in my possession she did not
moult; and the change in the colour of the plumage was but
slight. In winter, the upper parts were dark brown, but in the
summer there was an appearance of ash colour on the back and
wing-coverts. The fact, that the plumage of birds undergoes a
change of colour, independent of moulting, appears to be now
well ascertained; and it is with pleasure that I can add my
testimony, on this subject, to the sensible " Remarks on the
Changes of the Plumage of Birds," which were published in
the twelfth volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society
of London. The paper in question was written by the Rev.
William Whitear.

My Duck Hawk never became sufficiently domesticated to
permit me to handle her; and if an attempt were made to touch

-

GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 37

her, she would either hop away in anger, or, if prevented from
retreating, she would spring upon me, and strike, furiously,
with one of her powerful feet, which were capable of inflicting
severe wounds. Unless when very hungry, she would not
touch cooked food; she preferred fresh-killed meat, especially
tender beef and mutton, generally rejecting the fat. She was
fond of small birds, but a live duck was her supreme delight:
the sight of one would make her almost frantic; at such times,
the vigour and activity of her movements, and the animation .
of her eye, were truly admirable. Her antipathy to cats was
great, and when one of these animals approached her, she mani-
fested her displeasure by raising her plumes, opening her
mouth, and uttering some sounds, which were doubtless intend-
ed as a premonition of danger. If, regardless of all these, the
cat got within striking distance, one blow from the Hawk was
generally sufficient, to compel the intruder to a hasty retreat. *

• * From Mr. Orel's supplementary volume.

SPECIES 2. FrfLCO SPJIRVERIUS.

AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK.

[Plate XVI.— Fig. 1.— Female.]

Emerillon de St. Domingue, BUFF, i, 291. PL enl. 465.— Jirct.
Zool. 212. — Little Falcon, LATH. Syn. t>. i, p. 110, JVo. 94.
16. 95.— PKALE'S Museum, JVo. 389.

IN no department of ornithology has there been greater con-
fusion, or more mistakes made, than among this class of birds
of prey. The great difference of size between the male and fe-
male, the progressive variation of plumage to which, for seve-
ral years, they are subject, and the difficulty of procuring a suf-
ficient number of specimens for examination; all these causes
conspire to lead the naturalist into almost unavoidable mistakes.
For these reasons, and in order, if possible, to ascertain each
species of this genus distinctly, I have determined, where any
doubt or ambiguity prevails, to represent both male and female,
as fair and perfect specimens of each may come into my pos-
session. According to fashionable etiquette the honour of pre-
cedence, in the present instance, is given to the female of this
species; both because she is the most courageous, the largest
and handsomest of the two, best ascertained, and less subject
to change of colour than the male, who will require some fur-
ther examination and more observation, before we can venture
to introduce him.

This bird is a constant resident in almost every part of the
United States, particularly in the states north of Maryland. In
the southern states there is a smaller species found, which is
destitute of the black spots on the head; the legs are long and
very slender, and the wings light blue. This has been sup-
posed, by some, to be the male of the present species; but this
is an error. The eye of the present species is dusky; that of
the smaller species a brilliant orange; the former has the tail

AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. 39

rounded at the end, the latter slightly forked. Such essential
differences never take place between two individuals of the
same species. It ought, however, to be remarked, that in all
the figures and descriptions I have hitherto met with of the
bird now before us, the iris is represented of a bright golden
colour; but in all the specimens I have shot I uniformly found
the eye very dark, almost black, resembling a globe of black
glass. No doubt the golden colour of the iris would give the
figure of the bird a more striking appearance; but in works of
natural history to sacrifice truth to mere picturesque effect is
detestable; though, I fear, but too often put in practice.

The nest of this species is usually built in a hollow tree; ge-
nerally pretty high up, where the top or a large limb has been
broken off. I have never seen its eggs; but have been told that
the female generally lays four or five, which are of a light
brownish yellow colour, spotted with a darker tint; the young
are fed on grasshoppers, mice, and small birds, the usual food
of the parents.

The habits and manners of this bird are well known. It flies
rather irregularly, occasionally suspending itself in the air, ho-
vering over a particular spot for a minute or two, and then
shooting off in another direction. It perches on the top of a
dead tree, or pole in the middle of a field or meadow, and as it
alights shuts its long wings so suddenly that they seem instant-
ly to disappear; it sits here in an almost perpendicular position,
sometimes for an hour at a time, frequently jerking its tail, and
reconnoitering the ground below, in every direction, for mice,
lizards, &c. It approaches the farm-house, particularly in the
morning, skulking about the barn-yard for mice or young
chickens. It frequently plunges into a thicket after small birds,
as if by random; but always with a particular, and generally a fa-
tal, aim. One day I observed a bird of this species perched on
the highest top of a large poplar, on the skirts of the wood; and
was in the act of raising the gun to my eye when he swept
down with the rapidity of an arrow into a thicket of briars
about thirty yards off; where I shot him dead; and on coming

40 AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK.

up found the small field sparrow (fig. 2,) quivering in his grasp.
Both our aims had been taken in the same instant, and, unfor-
tunately for him, both were fatal. It is particularly fond of
watching along hedge rows, and in orchards, where those small
birds, represented in the same plate, usually resort. When
grasshoppers are plenty they form a considerable part of its
food.

Though small snakes, mice, lizards, &c. be favourite morsels
with this active bird; yet we are not to suppose it altogether
destitute of delicacy in feeding. It will seldom or never eat of
any thing that it has not itself killed, and even that, if not (as
epicures would term it) in good eating order, is sometimes re-
jected. A very respectable friend, through the medium of Mr.
Bartram, informs me, that one morning he observed one of
these Hawks dart down on the ground, and seize a mouse,
which he carried to a fence post; where, after examining it for
some time, he left it; and, a little while after, pounced upon
another mouse, which he instantly carried off to his nest, in the
hollow of a tree hard by. The gentleman, anxious to know
why the hawk had rejected the first mouse, went up to it, and
found it to be almost covered with lice, and greatly emaciated !
Here was not only delicacy of taste, but sound and prudent
reasoning. — " If I carry this to my nest," thought he, " it will
fill it with vermin; and hardly be worth eating."

The Blue Jays have a particular antipathy to this bird, and
frequently insult it by following and imitating its notes so ex-
actly as to deceive even those well acquainted with both. In
return for all this abuse the hawk contents himself with, now
and then, feasting on the plumpest of his persecutors; who are
therefore in perpetual dread of him; and yet, through some strange
infatuation, or from fear that if they lose sight of him he may
attack them unawares, the Sparrow Hawk no sooner appears
than the alarm is given, and the whole posse of Jays follow.

The female of this species, which is here faithfully represent-
ed from a very beautiful living specimen, furnished by a parti-
cular friend, is eleven inches long, and twenty-three from tip

AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. 41

to tip of the expanded wings. The cere and legs are yellow;
bill blue, tipt with black; space round the eye greenish blue;
iris deep dusky; head bluish ash; crown rufous; seven spots of
black, on a white ground, surround the head in the manner re-
presented in the figure; whole upper parts reddish bay, trans-
versely streaked with black; primary and secondary quills
black, spotted on their inner vanes with brownish white; whole
lower parts yellowish white, marked with longitudinal streaks
of brown, except the chin, vent and femoral feathers, which
are white; claws black.

VOL i. — H h

. . . •' (

FALCO SPARVERIUS.

AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK,

[Plate XXXII. —Fig. 2, Male.]

Little Hawk, Arct. Zool. 211, JVb. 1 1 0.— Emerillon de Cayenne,
BUFF, i, 291, PL enl. No. 444.— LATH, i, 110.— PEALE'S Mu-
seum, JVo. 340.*

As the male and the female of this species differ considerably
in the markings of their plumage, the male is introduced, drawn
to one half its natural size, to conform with the rest of the
figures on the plate.

The male Sparrow Hawk measures about ten inches in length,
and twenty-one in extent; the whole upper parts of the head
are of a fine slate blue, the shafts of the plumage being black,
the crown excepted, which is marked with a spot of bright
rufous; the slate tapers to a point on each side of the neck;
seven black spots surround the head, as in the female, on a
reddish white ground, which also borders each sloping side of
the blue; front, lores, line over and under the eye, chin and
throat, white; femoral and vent feathers yellowish white; the
rest of the lower parts of the same tint, each feather being streak-
ed down the centre with a long black drop, those on the breast
slender, on the sides larger; upper part of the back and scapulars
deep reddish bay, marked with ten or twelve transverse waves
of black; whole wing-coverts, and ends of the secondaries, bright
slate, spotted with black; primaries and upper half of the second-

* We add the following synonymes: — Falco sparverius. LINK. Syst. ed. 10, p^
90. — GMEI. Syst. i, p. 284. — Ind. Orn. p. 42. — F. Dominicensis, GMEL. Syst.
i, p. 285.— Little Hawk, GATES BY, i, p. 5.— L' Emerillon de la Caroline, BKISS.
Orn. i, p. 386. L'Emerillon de St. Domingue, Id. p. 389. — Tinnunculus sparve-
rius, VIEIL. Ois. de 1'Am. Sept. p. 12-13.

AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. 43

aries black, tipt with white, and spotted on their inner vanes
with the same; lower part of the back, the rump and tail-coverts,
plain bright bay; tail rounded, the two exterior feathers white,
their inner vanes beautifully spotted with black; the next bright
bay, with a broad band of black near its end, and tipt for half
an inch with yellowish white, part of its lower exterior edge
white, spotted with black, and its opposite interior edge touched
with white; the whole of the others are very deep red bay, with
a single broad band of black near the end, and tipt with yellow-
ish white; cere and legs yellow, orbits the same, bill light blue;
iris of the eye dark, almost black, claws blue black.

The character of this corresponds with that of the female,
given at large in the preceding article. I have reason, however, to
believe, that these birds vary considerably in the colour and
markings of their plumage during the first and second years;
having met with specimens every way corresponding with the
above, except in the breast, which was a plain rufous white,
without spots; the markings on the tail also differing a little in
different specimens. These I uniformly found on dissection to
be males; from the stomach of one of which I took a considera-
ble partof the carcassof a robin ( Turdusmigratorius,} including
the unbroken feet and claws; though the robin actually mea-
sures within half an inch as long as the Sparrow Hawk.

Note. — This species is very common among the cotton plantations of Geor-
gia and East Florida. From the island of Cuba we received a living specimen,
which differed in no respect from the same species in the United States.

SPECIES 3. FdLCO COLUMBJ1RIUS.

PIGEON HAWK.
[Plate XV.— Fig. 3.— Male.]

LINN. Syst. ed. 10, p. 90, JVo. 19.— LATH. Syn. v. i,p. 101, *Vo.
86. — L'Epervier de la Caroline, B.RISS. Orn. i, p. 378.— CATESB.
i, p. 3, t. 3. — BARTRAM, p. 290. — GMEL. Syst. v. i, p. 281. —
PEALE'S Museum, «7Vo. 352.

THIS small Hawk possesses great spirit and rapidity of flight.
He is generally migratory in the middle and northern states,
arriving in Pennsylvania early in spring, and extending his
migrations as far north as Hudson's Bay. After Jmilding and
rearing his young, he retires to the south early in November.
Small birds and mice are his principal food. When the Reed-
birds, Grakles, and Red-winged Blackbirds, congregate in large
flights, he is often observed hovering in their rear, or on their
flanks, picking up the weak, the wounded or stragglers; and
frequently making a sudden and fatal sweep into the very midst
of their multitudes. The flocks of robins and pigeons are honour-
ed with the same attentions from this marauder; whose daily
excursions are entirely regulated by the movements of the great
body, on whose unfortunate members he fattens. The indivi-
dual from which the drawing in the plate was taken, was shot
in the meadows below Philadelphia, in the month of August.
He was carrying off a blackbird ( Oriolus phceniceus} from the
flock, and though mortally wounded and dying, held his prey
fast till his last expiring breath; having struck his claws into its
very heart. This was found to be a male. Sometimes when shot
at, and not hurt, he will fly in circles over the sportsman's head,
shrieking out with great violence, as if highly irritated. He
frequently flies low, skimming a little above the field. I have
never seen his nest.

PIGEON HAWK. 45

The Pigeon Hawk is eleven inches long, and twenty-three
broad; the whole upper parts are of a deep dark brown,' except
the tail, which is crossed with bars of white; the inner vanes of
the quill feathers are marked with round spots of reddish brown;
the bill is short, strongly toothed, of a light blue colour, and
tipped with black; the skin surrounding the eye greenish; cere
the same; temples, and line over the eye, light brown; the
lower parts brownish white, streaked laterally with dark brown;
legs yellow, claws black. The female is an inch and a half
longer, of a still deeper colour, though marked nearly in the
same manner, with the exception of some white on the hind-
head. The femorals, or thigh feathers, in both, are of a remark-
able length, reaching nearly to the feet, and are also streaked
longitudinally with dark brown. The irides of the eyes of this
bird have been hitherto described as being of a brilliant yellow;
but every specimen I have yet met with had the iris of a deep
hazel. I must therefore follow nature, in opposition to very
numerous and respectable authorities.

I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists, embellish the
history of this species with anecdotes of its exploits in falconry.
This science, if it may be so called, is among the few that have
never yet travelled across the Atlantic; neither does it appear
that the idea of training our hawks or eagles to the chace ever
suggested itself to any of the Indian nations of North America.
The Tartars, however, from whom, according to certain wri-
ters, many of these nations originated, have long excelled in
the practice of this sport; which is indeed better suited to an
open country than to one covered with forest. Though once so
honourable and so universal, it is now much disused in Europe,
and in Britain is nearly extinct Yet I cannot but consider it as
a much more noble and princely amusement than horse-racing
and cock-fighting, cultivated in certain states with so much
care; or even than pugilism, which is still so highly patronized
in some of those enlightened countries.

SPECIES 4. FJ1LCO LEUCOCEPHALUS.
WHITE-HEADED OR BALD EAGLE.*

[Plate XXXVI. Female.]

LINN. Syst. 124. — LATH, i, 29. — Le'pygargue a tete blanche,
BUFF, i, 99.pl. enl. 41 1.— Arct. Zool. 196, JVo. 89.— Bald Eagle,
CATESB. i, 1. — PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 78.t

THIS distinguished bird, as he is the most beautiful of his
tribe in this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our
country, is entitled to particular notice. He is represented, in
the plate, of one-third his natural size, and was drawn from
one of the largest and most perfect specimens I have yet met
with. In the back ground is seen a distant view of the celebra-
ted cataract of Niagara, a noted place of resort for these birds,
as well on account of the fish procured there, as for the nume-
rous carcasses of squirrels, deer, bear and various other animals,
that, in their attempts to cross the river, above the falls, have
been dragged into the current, and precipitated down that tre-
mendous gulf; where among the rocks that bound the rapids
below, they furnish a rich repast for the Vulture, the Raven,
and the Bald Eagle, the subject of the present account.

This bird has been long known to naturalists, being common
to both continents; and occasionally met with from a very high

* The epithet bald, applied to this species, whose head is thickly covered
with feathers, is equally improper and absurd with the titles Goatsucker,
Kingsfisher, &c. bestowed on others; and seems to have been occasioned by
the white appearance of the head, when contrasted with the dark colour of
the rest of the plumage. The appellation, however, being now almost univer-
sal is retained in the following pages.

t We add the following synonymes. — Falco Leucocephalus, GMBI. Syst. i,
p. 255. — LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 11. — J&gU d tete blanche, TEMM. Man. d* Orn.
p. 52.— L'JUgle pygargue, VIEILLOT, Ois. de 1'Am. Sept. i, p. 27, pi. 3.

WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 47

northern latitude, to the borders of the torrid zone, but chiefly
in the vicinity of the sea, and along the shores and cliffs of our
lakes and large rivers. Formed by nature for braving the se-
verest cold ; feeding equally on the produce of the sea, and of
the land; possessing powers of flight, capable of outstripping
even the tempests themselves; unawed by any thing but man,
and, from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking abroad
at one glance, on an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields,
lakes and ocean, deep below him; he appears indifferent to the
little localities of change of seasons; as in a few minutes he can
pass from summer to winter, from the lower to the higher re-
gions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold; and thence
descend at will to the torrid or the arctic regions of the earth.
He is therefore found at all seasons in the countries he inhabits;
but prefers such places as have been mentioned above, from the
great partiality he has for fish.

In procuring these he displays, in a very singular manner,
the genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contem-
plative, daring and tyrannical; attributes not exerted but on
particular occasions; but when put forth, overpowering all op-
position. Elevated on a high dead limb of some gigantic tree,
that commands a wide view of the neighbouring shore and
ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the va-
rious feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below:
the snow-white Gulls, slowly winnowing the air; the busy
Tringae, coursing along the sands; trains of Ducks, streaming
over the surface; silent and watchful Cranes, intent and wading;
clamorous Crows, and all the winged multitudes that subsist by
the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. High over
all these hovers one, whose action instantly arrests all his atten-
tion. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension
in air, he knows him to be the Fish-Hawk, settling over some
devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and
balancing himself, with half-opened wings, on the branch, he
watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, de-
scends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings

48 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE.

reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges
foam around ! At this moment the eager looks of the Eagle are
all ardour; and levelling his neck for flight, he sees the Fish-
Hawk once more emerge, struggling with his prey, and mount-
ing in the air with screams of exultation. These are the signal
for our hero, who, lanching into the air, instantly gives chace,
soon gains on the Fish-Hawk, each exerts his utmost to mount
above the other, displaying in these rencounters the most elegant
and sublime aerial evolutions. The unincumbered Eagle rapidly
advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent,
when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest
execration, the latter drops his fish; the Eagle poising himself
for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a
whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and
bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods.

These predatory attacks, and defensive manoeuvres, of the
Eagle and the Fish-Hawk, are matters of daily observation along
the whole of our seacoast, from Florida to New England; and
frequently excite great interest in the spectators. Sympathy,
however, on this, as on most other occasions, generally sides
with the honest and laborious sufferer, in opposition to the at-
tacks of power, injustice and rapacity; qualities for which our
hero is so generally notorious, and which, in his superior man,
are certainly detestable. As for the feelings of the poor fish,
they seem altogether out of the question.

When driven, as he sometimes is, by the combined courage
and perseverance of the Fish-Hawks from their neighbourhood,
and forced to hunt for himself, he retires more inland, in search
of young pigs, of which he destroys great numbers. In the
lower parts of Virginia and North Carolina, where the inhab-
itants raise vast herds of those animals, complaints of this kind
are very general against him. He also destroys young lambs
in the early part of spring; and will sometimes attack old sick-
ly sheep, aiming furiously at their eyes.

In corroboration of the remarks I have myself made on the
manners of the Bald Eagle, many accounts have reached me

WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 49

from various persons of respectability, living on or near our sea-
coast; the substance of all these I shall endeavour to incorporate
with the present account.

Mr. John L. Gardiner, who resides on an island of three
thousand acres, about three miles from the eastern point of Long
island, from which it is separated by Gardiner's bay, and who
has consequently many opportunities of observing the habits of
these birds, has favoured me with a number of interesting par-
ticulars on this subject; for which I beg leave thus publicly to
return my grateful acknowledgment.

" The Bald Eagles," says this gentleman, " remain on this isl-
" and during the whole winter. They can be most easily disco v-
"ered on evenings by their loud snoring while asleep, on high
" oak trees; and when awake, their hearing seems to be nearly
" as good as their sight. I think I mentioned to you that I had
" myself seen one flying with a lamb ten days old, and which
" it dropped on the ground, from about ten or twelve feet high.
" The struggling of the lamb, more than its weight, prevented
" its carrying it away. My running, hallooing, and being very
" near, might prevent its completing its design. It had broke
" the back in the act of seizing it; and I was under the necessi-
" ty of killing it outright to prevent its misery. The lamb's
"dam seemed astonished to see its innocent offspring borne off
" into the air by a bird.

" I was lately told," continues Mr. Gardiner, " by a man of
" truth, that he saw an Eagle rob a Hawk of its fish, and the
" Hawk seemed so enraged as to fly down at the Eagle, while the
" Eagle very deliberately, in the air, threw himself partly over
" on his back, and while he grasped with one foot the fish, ex-
" tended the other to threaten or seize the Hawk. I have
" known several Hawks unite to attack the Eagle; but never
" knew a single one to do it. The Eagle seems to regard the
" Hawks as the Hawks do the King-birds, only as teasing,
" troublesome fellows."

From the same intelligent and obliging friend, I lately re-
ceived a well preserved skin of the Bald Eagle, which, from its

VOL. i. — i i

50 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE.

appearance, and the note that accompanied it, seems to have
belonged to a very formidable individual. " It was shot," says
Mr. Gardiner, " last winter, on this island, and weighed thir-
" teen pounds, measured three feet in length, and seven from
" tip to tip of the expanded wings; was extremely fierce look-
" ing; though wounded, would turn his back to no one; fasten-
" ed his claws into the head of a dog, and was with difficulty
" disengaged. I have rode on horseback within five or six
" rod of one, who, by his bold demeanour, raising his feathers,
" &c. seemed willing to dispute the ground with its owner,
" The crop of the present was full of mutton from my part-
" blood Merinos; and his intestines contained feathers, which
" he probably devoured with a duck, or winter gull, as I ob-
" served an entire foot and leg of some water fowl. I had two
" killed previous to this which weighed ten pounds avoirdu-
" poiseach."

The intrepidity of character, mentioned above, may be far-
ther illustrated by the following fact, which occurred a few
years ago, near Great Egg-harbour, New Jersey. A woman
who happened to be weeding in the garden, had set her child
down near, to amuse itself while she was at work; when a sud-
den and extraordinary rushing sound, and a scream from her
child alarmed her, and starting up, she beheld the infant thrown
down and dragged some few feet, and a large Bald Eagle bear-
ing off a fragment of its frock, which being the only part seized,
and giving way, providentially saved the life of the infant.

The appetite of the Bald Eagle, though habituated to long
fasting, is of the most voracious, and often the most indelicate
kind. Fish, when he can obtain them, are preferred to all
other fare. Young lambs and pigs are dainty morsels, and
made free with on all favourable occasions. Ducks, geese,
gulls, and other sea-fowl, are also seized with avidity. The
most putrid carrion, when nothing better can be had, is ac-
ceptable; and the collected groups of gormandizing Vultures,
on the approach of this dignified personage, instantly disperse,.

WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 51

and make way for their master, waiting his departure in sullen
silence, and at a respectful distance, on the adjacent trees.

In one of those partial migrations of tree squirrels, that some-
times take place in our western forests, many thousands of them
were drowned in attempting to cross the Ohio; and at a certain
place, not far from Wheeling, a prodigious number of their dead
bodies were floated to the shore by an eddy. Here the Vul-
tures assembled in great force, and had regaled themselves for
some time, when a Bald Eagle made his appearance, and took
sole possession of the premises, keeping the whole Vultures at
their proper distance, for several days. He has also been seen
navigating the same river on a floating carrion, though scarce-
ly raised above the surface of the water, and tugging at the car-
cass, regardless of snags, sawyers, planters or shallows. He
sometimes carries his tyranny to great extremes against the
Vultures. In hard times, when food happens to be scarce,
should he accidentally meet with one of these who has its craw
crammed with carrion, he attacks it fiercely in air; the coward-
ly Vulture instantly disgorges, and the delicious contents are
snatched up by the Eagle before they reach the ground.

The nest of this species is generaily fixed on a very large
and lofty tree, often in a swamp, or morass, and difficult to be
ascended. On some noted tree of this description, often a pine
or cypress, the Bald Eagle builds, year after year, for a long se-
ries of years. When both male and female have been shot from
the nest, another pair has soon after taken possession. The
nest is large, being added to, and repaired, every season, Until
it becomes a black prominent mass, observable at a considera-
ble distance. It is formed of large sticks, sods, earthy rubbish,
hay, moss, &c. Many have stated to me that the female lays
first a single egg, and that after having sat on it for some time,
she lays another; when the first is hatched, the warmth of that,
it is pretended, hatches the other. Whether this be correct or
not I cannot determine; but a very respectable gentleman of
Virginia assured me, that he saw a large tree cut down, con-
taining the nest of a Bald Eagle, in which were two young, one

52 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE.

of which appeared nearly three times as large as the other. As
a proof of their attachment to their young, a person near Nor-
folk informed me, that, in clearing a piece of woods on his
place, they met with a large dead pine tree, on which was a
Bald Eagle's nest and young. The tree being on fire more than
half way up, and the flames rapidly ascending, the parent Ea-
gle darted around and among the flames, until her plumage was
so much injured that it was with difficulty she could make her
escape, and even then, she several times attempted to return to
relieve her offspring.

No bird provides more abundantly for its young than the
Bald Eagle. Fish are daily carried thither in numbers, so that
they sometimes lie scattered round the tree, and the putrid
smell of the nest may be distinguished at the distance of seve-
ral hundred yards. The young are at first covered with a thick,
whitish, or cream-coloured cottony down; they gradually be-
come of a gray colour, as their plumage develops itself, con-
tinue of the brown gray until the third year, when the white
begins to make its appearance on the head, neck, tail-coverts
and tail; these, by the end of the fourth year, are completely
white, or very slightly tinged with cream; the eye also is at
first hazel, but gradually brightens into a brilliant straw colour,
with the white plumage of the head. Such at least was the
gradual progress of this change, witnessed by myself, on a very
fine specimen, brought up by a gentleman, a friend of mine,
who for a considerable time believed it to be what is usually
called the Gray Eagle, and was much surprised at the gradual
metamorphosis. This will account for the circumstance, so fre-
quently observed, of the Gray and White-headed Eagle being
seen together, both being in fact the same species, in different
stages of colour, according to their difference of age.

The flight of the Bald Eagle, when taken into consideration
with the ardour and energy of his character, is noble and in-
teresting. Sometimes the human eye can just discern him, like
a minute speck, moving in slow curvatures along the face of the
heavens, as if reconnoitring the earth at that immense distance.

WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 53

Sometimes he glides along in a direct horizontal line, at a vast
height, with expanded and unmoving wings, till he gradually
disappears in the distant blue ether. Seen gliding in easy cir-
cles over the high shores, and mountainous cliffs, that tower
above the Hudson and Susquehanna, he attracts the eye of the
intelligent voyager, and adds great interest to the scenery. At
the great cataract of Niagara, already mentioned, there rises
from the gulf, into which the fall of the Horse-shoe descends,
a stupendous column of smoke, or spray, reaching to the hea-
vens, and moving off in large black clouds, according to the di-
rection of the wind, forming a very striking and majestic ap-
pearance. The Eagles are here seen sailing about, sometimes
losing themselves in this thick column, and again re-appearing
in another place, with such ease and elegance of motion, as ren-
ders the whole truly sublime.

High o'er the watery uproar, silent seen,
Sailing sedate, in majesty serene,
Now midst the pillar'd spray sublimely lost,
And now, emerging, down the rapids tost,
Glides the Bald Eagle, gazing, calm and slow,
O'er all the horrors of the scene below;
Intent alone to sate himself with blood,
From the torn victims of the raging flood.

The White-headed Eagle is three feet long, and seven feet
in extent; the bill is of a rich yellow; cere the same, slightly
tinged with green; mouth flesh coloured, tip of the tongue blu-
ish black; the head, chief part of the neck, vent, tail-coverts
and tail, are white in the perfect or old birds of both sexes, in
those under three years of age these parts are of a gray brown;
the rest of the plumage is deep dark brown, each feather tipt
with pale brown, lightest on the shoulder of the wing, and
darkest towards its extremities; the conformation of the wing
is admirably adapted for the support of so large a bird; it mea-
sures two feet in breadth on the greater quills, and sixteen
inches on the lesser; the longest primaries are twenty inches
in length, and upwards of one inch in circumference where

54 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE.

they enter the skin; the broadest secondaries are three inches
in breadth across the vane; the scapulars are very large and
broad, spreading from the back to the wing, to prevent the air
from passing through; another range of broad flat feathers, from
three to ten inches in length, also extends from the lower part
of the breast to the wing below, for the same purpose; between
these lies a deep triangular cavity; the thighs are remarkably
thick, strong, and muscular, covered with long feathers point-
ing backwards, usually called the femoral feathers; the legs,
which are covered half way below the knee, before, with dark
brown downy feathers, are of a rich yellow, the colour of ripe
Indian corn; feet the same; claws blue black, very large and
strong, particularly the inner one, which is considerably the
largest, soles very rough and warty; the eye is sunk under a
bony or cartilaginous projection, of a pale yellow colour, and
is turned considerably forwards, not standing parallel with the
cheeks, the iris is of a bright straw colour, pupil black.

The male is generally two or three inches shorter than the
female; the white on the head, neck and tail, being more
tinged with yellowish, and its whole appearance less formida-
ble; the brown plumage is also lighter, and the bird itself less
daring than the female, a circumstance common to almost all
birds of prey.

The bird from which the' foregoing drawing and description
were taken, was shot near Great Egg-harbour, in the month of
January last, was in excellent order, and weighed about eleven
pounds. Dr. Samuel B. Smith, of this city, obliged me with
a minute and careful dissection of it; from whose copious and
very interesting notes on the subject, I shall extract such re-
marks as are suited to the general reader.

" The Eagle you sent me for dissection was a beautiful fe-
" male. It had two expansions of the gullet. The first prin-
" cipally composed of longitudinal bundles of fibre, in which
" (as the bird is ravenous and without teeth) large portions of
" unmasticated meats are suffered to dissolve before they pass
" to the lower or proper stomach, which is membranous. I.

WHITE-HEADED EAGLE, 55

" did not receive the bird time enough to ascertain whether
" any chylification was effected by the juices from the vessels
" of this enlargement of the oesophagus. I think it probable that
" it also has a regurgitating or vomiting power, as the bird con-
" stantly swallows large quantities of indigestible substances,
" such as quills, hairs, &c. In this sac of the Eagle, I found the
66 quill feathers of the small white gull; and in the true stomach,
" the tail and some of the breast feathers of the same bird; and
" the dorsal vertebrae of a large fish. This excited some sur-
" prise, until you made me acquainted with the fact of its
" watching the Fish-hawks, and robbing them of their prey.
" Thus we see, throughout the whole empire of animal life,
" power is almost always in a state of hostility to justice, and
" of the Deity only can it truly be said, that justice is com-
" mensurate with power!

" The Eagle has the several auxiliaries to digestion and as-
" similation in common with man. The liver was unusually
" large in your specimen. It secretes bile, which stimulates
" the intestines, prepares the chyle for blood, and by this very
" secretion of bile, (as it is a deeply respiring animal,) sepa-
" rates or removes some obnoxious principles from the blood.
" (See Dr. Rush's admirable lecture on this important viscus
" in the human subject. ) The intestines were also large, long,
" convolute, and supplied with numerous lacteal vessels, which
" differ little from those of men, except in colour, which was
" transparent. The kidneys were large, and seated on each
" side the vertebrae, near the anus. They are also destined to
66 secrete some offensive principles from the blood.

" The eggs were small and numerous; and after a careful ex-
" animation, I concluded that no sensible increase takes place
" in them till the particular season. This may account for
" the unusual excitement which prevails in these birds in the
" sexual intercourse. Why there are so many eggs is a mys-
" tery. It is perhaps consistent with natural law, that every
" thing should be abundant; but from this bird, it is said, no
" more than two young are hatched in a season, consequently

56 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE.

" no more eggs are wanted than a sufficiency to produce that
" effect. Are the eggs numbered originally, and is there no
"increase of number, but a gradual loss, till all are deposited?
" If so, the number may correspond to the long life and vigo-
" rous health of this noble bird. Why there is but two young
" in a season, is easily explained. Nature has been studiously
" parsimonious of her physical strength, from whence the tribes
" of animals incapable to resist, derive security and confi-
" dence."

The Eagle is said to live to a great age, sixty, eighty, and
as some assert, one hundred years. This circumstance is re-
markable, when we consider the seeming intemperate habits of
the bird. Sometimes fasting through necessity, for several
days, and at other times gorging itself with animal food, till its
craw swells out the plumage of that part, forming a large pro-
tuberance on the breast. This, however, is its natural food,
and for these habits its whole organization is particularly adapt-
ed. It has not, like men, invented rich wines, ardent spirits,
and a thousand artificial poisons, in the form of soups, sauces,
and sweetmeats. Its food is simple, it indulges freely, uses
great exercise, breathes the purest air, is healthy, vigorous and
longlived. The lords of the creation themselves might derive
some useful hints from these facts, were they not already, in
general, too wise, or too proud, to learn from their inferiors,
the fowls of the air, and beasts of the field.

FrfLCQ OSSIFRtfGUS*
SEA EAGLE.

[Plate LV.— Fig. 2.]

Sea Eagle, drct. Zool. p. 194, JVo. 86,^3. — PEALE'S Museum, JVu.

80, Male.

THIS eagle inhabits the same countries, frequents the same
situations, and lives on the same kind of food, as the Bald Eagle,
with whom it is often seen in company. It resembles this last
so much in figure, size, form of the bill, legs and claws, and is
so often seen associating with it, both along the Atlantic coast,
and in the vicinity of our lakes and large rivers, that I have
strong suspicions, notwithstanding ancient and very respectable
authorities to the contrary, of its being the same species, only
in a different stage of colour.

That several years elapse before the young of the Bald Eagle
receive the white head, neck and tail; and that during the in-
termediate period their plumage strongly resembles that of the
Sea Eagle, I am satisfied from my own observation on three
several birds kept by persons of this city. One of these belong-
ing to the late Mr. Enslen, collector of natural subjects for the
emperor of Austria, was confidently believed by him to be the
Black, or Sea Eagle, until the fourth year, when the plumage on
the head, tail and tail-coverts, began gradually to become white;
the bill also exchanged its dusky hue for that of yellow; and
before its death, this bird, which I frequently examined, as-
sumed the perfect dress of the full-plumaged Bald Eagle. An-
other circumstance corroborating these suspicions, is the varie-
ty that occurs in the colours of the Sea Eagle. Scarcely two of

* This is not a distinct species, but the young of -the preceding1, the Falco
leucocephalus.

VOL. I. — K k

58 SEA EAGLE.

these are found to be alike, their plumage being more or less
diluted with white. In some, the chin, breast and tail-coverts,
are of a deep brown; in others nearly white; and in all evident-
ly unfixed, and varying to a pure white. Their place and man-
ner of building, on high trees, in the neighbourhood of lakes,
large rivers, or the ocean, exactly similar to the Bald Eagle, also
strengthens the belief. At the celebrated cataract of Niagara,
great numbers of these birds, called there Gray Eagles, are con-
tinually seen sailing high and majestically over the watery tu-
mult, in company with the Bald Eagles, eagerly watching for
the mangled carcasses of those animals that have been hurried
over the precipice, and cast up on the rocks below, by the vio-
lence of the rapids. These are some of the circumstances on
which my suspicions of the identity of those two birds are
founded. In some future part of the work, I hope to be able to
speak with more certainty on this subject.

Were we disposed, after the manner of some, to substitute
for plain matters of fact all the narratives, conjectures, and
fanciful theories of travellers, voyagers, compilers, &c. relative
to the history of the Eagle, the volumes of these writers, from
Aristotle down to his admirer the Count de Buffon, would fur-
nish abundant materials for this purpose. But the author of the
present work feels no ambition to excite surprise and astonish-
ment at the expense of truth, or to attempt to elevate and em-
bellish his subject beyond the plain realities of nature. On this
account, he cannot assent to the assertion, however eloquently
made, in the celebrated parallel drawn by the French naturalist
between the Lion and the Eagle, viz. that the Eagle, like the Li-
on, "disdains the possession of that property which is not the fruit
of his own industry, and rejects with contempt the prey which
is not procured by his own exertions;" since the very reverse
of this is the case in the conduct of the Bald and the Sea Eagle,
who, during the summer months, are the constant plunderers
of the Osprey or Fish-Hawk, by whose industry alone both are
usually fed. Nor that " though famished for want of prey , he
disdains to feed on carrion," since we have ourselves seen the

SEA EAGLE. 59

Bald Eagle, while seated on the dead carcass of a horse, keep a
whole flock of Vultures at a respectful distance, until he had
fully sated his own appetite. The Count has also taken great
pains to expose the ridiculous opinion of Pliny, who conceived
that the Ospreys formed no separate race, and that they pro-
ceeded from the intermixture of different species of Eagles, the
young of which were not Ospreys, only Sea Eagles; which Sea
Eagles, says he, breed small Vultures, which engender great
Vultures that have not the power of propagation* But, while
labouring to confute these absurdities, the Count himself, in his
belief of an occasional intercourse between the Osprey and the
Sea Eagle, contradicts all actual observation, and one of the most
common and fixed laws of nature; for it may be safely asserted,
that there is no habit more universal among the feathered race,
in their natural state, than that chastity of attachment, which
confines the amours of individuals to those of their own species
only. That perversion of nature produced by domestication is
nothing to the purpose. In no instance have I ever observed the
slightest appearance of a contrary conduct. Even in those birds
which never build a nest for themselves, nor hatch their young,
nor even pair, but live in a state of general concubinage: such
as the Cuckoo of the old, and the Cow Bunting of the new con-
tinent; there is no instance of a deviation from this striking
habit. I cannot therefore avoid considering the opinion above
alluded to, that "the male Osprey by coupling with the female
Sea Eagle produces Sea Eagles; and that the female Osprey by
pairing with the male Sea Eagle gives birth to Osprey s"t or Fish-
Hawks, as altogether unsupported by facts, and contradicted by
the constant and universal habits of the whole feathered race in
their state of nature.

The Sea Eagle is said by Salerne to build on the loftiest oaks
a very broad nest, into which it drops two large eggs, that are
quite round, exceedingly heavy, and of a dirty white colour.
Of the precise time of building we have no account, but some-

* Hist, Nat. lib. x, c. 3. t BUFFO w, vol. I, p. 80, Trans,

00 SEA EAGLE.

thing may be deduced from the following circumstance. In the
month of May, while on a shooting excursion along the sea-
coast, not far from Great Egg-Harbour, accompanied by my
friend Mr. Ord, we were conducted about a mile into the woods,
to see an Eagle's nest. On approaching within a short distance
of the place, the bird was perceived slowly retreating from the
nest, which we found occupied the centre of the top of a very
large yellow pine. The woods were cut down, and cleared off
for several rods around the spot, which, from this circumstance,
and the stately erect trunk, and large crooked wriggling branches
of the tree, surmounted by a black mass of sticks and brush,
had a very singular and picturesque effect. Our conductor had
brought an axe with him to cut down the tree; but my com-
panion, anxious to save the eggs, or young, insisted on ascend-
ing to the nest, which he fearlessly performed, while we sta-
tioned ourselves below, ready to defend him in case of an at-
tack from the old Eagles. No opposition, however, was offered;
and on reaching the nest, it was found, to our disappointment,
empty. It was built of large sticks, some of them several feet
in length; within which lay sods of earth, sedge, grass, dry
reeds, &c. &c. piled to the height of five or six feet, by more
than four in breadth; it was well lined with fresh pine tops, and
had little or no concavity. Under this lining lay the recent exu-
viae of the young of the present year, such as scales of the quill
feathers, down, &c. Our guide had passed this place late in Fe-
bruary, at which time both male and female were making a
great noise about the nest; and from what we afterwards learnt,
it is highly probable it contained young, even at that early time
of the season.

A few miles from this is another Eagle's nest, built also on a
pine tree, which, from the information received from the pro-
prietor of the woods, had been long the residence of this family
of Eagles. The tree on which the nest was originally built had
been for time immemorial, or at least ever since he remember-
ed, inhabited by these Eagles. Some of his sons cut down this
tree to procure the young, which were two in number; and the

SEA EAGLE. 61

Eagles soon after commencea building another nest on the very
next adjoining tree, thus exhibiting a very particular attachment
to the spot. The Eagles, he says, make it a kind of home, and
lodging place in all seasons. This man asserts, that the Gray,
or Sea Eagles, are the young of the Bald Eagle, and that they
are several years old before they begin to breed. It does not
drive its young from the nest like the Osprey, or Fish-Hawk;
but continues to feed them long after they leave it.

The bird from which the figure in the plate was drawn, and
which is reduced to one-third the size of life, measured three
feet in length, and upwards of seven feet in extent. The bill
was formed exactly like that of the Bald Eagle, but of a dusky
brown colour; cere and legs bright yellow; the latter, as in the
Bald Eagle, feathered a little below the knee; irides a bright
straw colour; head above, neck and back streaked with light
brown, deep brown and white, the plumage being white, tipt
and centred with brown; scapulars brown; lesser wing-coverts
very pale, intermixed with white; primaries black, their shafts
brownish white; rump pale brownish white; tail rounded, some-
what longer than the wings when shut, brown on the exterior
vanes, the inner ones white, sprinkled with dirty brown; throat,
breast and belly, white, dashed and streaked with different tints
of brown and pale yellow; vent brown, tipt with white; femo-
rals dark brown, tipt with lighter; auriculars brown, forming
a bar from below the eye backwards; plumage of the neck long,
narrow and pointed, as is usual with the Eagles, and of a brown-
ish colour tipt with white.

The Sea Eagle is said by various authors to hunt at night as
well as during the day; and that besides fish it feeds on chick-
ens, birds, hares and other animals. It is also said to catch fish
during the night; and that the noise of its plunging into the
water is heard at a great distance. But in the descriptions of
these writers this bird has been so frequently confounded with
the Osprey, as to leave little doubt that the habits and manners
of the one have been often attributed to both; and others added
that are common to neither.

62 SEA EAGLE.

NOTE — In Wilson's history of the Bald Eagle, he confident-
ly asserts that it is the same species as the Sea Eagle, in a dif-
erent stage of colour. In his account of the latter, he adduces
additional reasons for his belief, which is at variance with the
opinions of some of the most respectable naturalists of Europe.
We have no hesitation, from our own experience, in pronounc-
ing these birds to be the same; and deem it unnecessary to add
any thing further on the subject, as the reasoning of Wilson is
conclusive.

Our author describes an Eagle's nest, which he visited, in
company with the writer of this article, on the eighteenth of
May, 1812. It was then empty; but from every appearance a
brood had been hatched and reared in it that season. The fol-
lowing year, on the first day of March, a friend of ours took
from the same nest three eggs, the largest of which measured
three inches and a quarter in length, two and a quarter in di-
ameter, upwards of seven in circumference, and weighed four
ounces five drams, apothecaries weight; the colour a dirty yel-
lowish white — one was of a very pale bluish white; the young
were perfectly formed. Such was the solicitude of the female
to preserve her eggs, that she did not abandon the nest, until
several blows, with an axe, had been given the tree.

In the history of Lewis and Clark's Expedition, we find the
following account of an Eagle's nest, which must have added
not a little to the picturesque effect of the magnificent scenery
at the Falls of the Missouri:

" Just below the upper pitch is a little island in the middle
of the river, well covered with timber. Here on a cottonWood
tree an Eagle had fixed its nest, and seemed the undisputed
mistress of a spot, to contest whose dominion neither man nor
beast would venture across the gulfs that surround it, and which
is further secured by the mist rising from the falls."*

The Bald Eagle was observed, by Lewis and Clark, during
their whole route to the Pacific Ocean.

* Hist, of the Exped. vol. i, p. 264.

SEA EAGLE. 63

It may gratify some of our readers to be informed, that the
opinion of Temminck coincides with ours respecting the iden-
tity of our Bald and Sea Eagles; but he states that the Falco
ossifragus of Gmelin, the Sea Eagle of Latham, is the young
of the Falco albicilla, which in its first year so much resembles
the yearling of the leucocephalus, that it is very difficult to
distinguish them. — Note by Mr. Ord.

SPECIES 5. FrfLCO FULVUS.

RING-TAIL EAGLE.
[Plate LV.— Fig. 1, young bird.]

LINN. Syst. ed. 10, p. 88. — Black Eagle, Jlrct. Zool. p. 195, JVo.
87.— LATH, i, 32, JVo. 6.— White-tailed JSaglc^DW. i, 1 .--L'Jligle
Commun, BUFF, i, 86. PL Enl. 409. — BEWICK, i,p. 49. — PKALE'S
Museum, «7Vo. 84; «7Vo. 85, young.

THE reader is now presented with a portrait of this celebrated
Eagle, drawn from a fine specimen shot in the county of Mont-
gomery, Pennsylvania. The figure here given, though reduced
to one-third the size of life, is strongly characteristic of its
original. With respect to the habits of the species, such partic-
ulars only shall be selected as are well authenticated, rejecting
whatever seems vague, or savours too much of the marvellous.

This noble bird, in strength, spirit and activity, ranks among
the first of its tribe. It is found, though sparingly dispersed,
over the whole temperate and arctic regions, particularly the
latter; breeding on high precipitous rocks; always preferring a
mountainous country. In its general appearance it has great
resemblance to the Golden Eagle, from which, however, it
differs in being rather less; as also in the colours and markings
of the tail; and, as it is said, in being less noisy. When young,
the colour of the body is considerably lighter, but deepens into
a blackish brown as it advances in age.

The tail feathers of this bird are highly valued by the various
tribes of American Indians, for ornamenting their calumets, or
Pipes of Peace. Several of these pipes, which were brought
from the remote regions of Louisiana by captain Lewis, are
now deposited in Peale's Museum, each of which has a number
of the tail feathers of this bird attached to it. The Northern as
well as Southern Indians seem to follow the like practice, as

RING-TAIL EAGLE. 65

appears by the numerous calumets, formerly belonging to diffe-
rent tribes, to be seen in the same magnificent collection.

Pennant informs us, that the independent Tartars train this
Eagle for the chase of hares, foxes, wolves, antelopes, &c. and
that they esteem the feathers of the tail the best for pluming
their arrows. The Ring-tail Eagle is characterized by all as a
generous spirited and docile bird; and various extraordinary
incidents are related of it by different writers, not, however,
sufficiently authenticated to deserve repetition. The truth is,
the solitary habits of the Eagle now before us, the vast inacces-
sible cliffs to which it usually retires, united with the scarcity
of the species in those regions inhabited by man, all combine
to render a particular knowledge of its manners very difficult
to be obtained. The author has, once or twice, observed this
bird sailing along the alpine declivities of the White mountains
of New Hampshire, early in October, and again, over the High-
lands of Hudson's river, not far from West Point. Its flight was
easy, in high circuitous sweeps, its broad white tail, tipped
with brown, expanded like a fan. Near the settlements on
Hudson's Bay it is more common; and is said to prey on hares,
and the various species of Grous which abound there. Buffon
observes, that though other Eagles also prey upon hares, this
species is a more fatal enemy to those timid animals, which are
the constant object of their search, and the prey which they
prefer. The Latins, after Pliny, termed the Eagle Valeria,
quasi valens viribus, because of its strength, which appears
greater than that of the other Eagles in proportion to its size.

The Ring-tail Eagle measures nearly three feet in length; the
bill is of a brownish horn colour; the cere, sides of the mouth
and feet yellow; iris of the eye reddish hazel, the eye turned
considerably forwards; eyebrow remarkably prominent, pro-
jecting over the eye, and giving a peculiar sternness to the as-
pect of the bird; the crown is flat; the plumage of the head,
throat and neck, long and pointed ; that on the upper part of the
head and neck very pale ferruginous; fore part of the crown
black; all the pointed feathers are shafted with black; whole

VGL. i. — L 1

66 RING-TAIL EAGLE.

upper parts dark blackish brown; wings black; tail rounded,
long, of a white or pale cream colour, minutely sprinkled with
specks of ash and dusky, and ending in a broad band of deep
dark brown, of nearly one-third its length; chin, cheeks and
throat, black; whole lower parts a deep dark brown, except the
vent and inside of the thighs, which are white, stained with
brown; legs thickly covered to the feet with brownish white
down or feathers; claws black, very large, sharp and formida-
ble, the hind one full two inches long.

The Ring-tail Eagle is found in Russia, Switzerland, Ger-
many, France, Scotland, and the northern parts of America.
As Marco Polo, in his description of the customs of the Tar-
tars, seems to allude to this species, it may be said to inhabit
the whole circuit of the arctic regions of the globe. The Golden
Eagle, on the contrary, is said to be found only in the more
warm and temperate countries of the ancient continent* Later
discoveries, however, have ascertained it to be also an inhabi-
tant of the United States.!

* BUFFON, vol. i, p. 56, Trans.

f Naturalists being now of opinion that the Ring-tailed Eagle and the Golden
Eagle are the same, we add the following synonymes: — Yellow-headed Eagle,
drct. Zool. JVb. 86. D.— Golden Eagle, LATH. Syn. 1, 31, JVb. 5.— PI. Enl 410.
— Falco fulvus, Ind. Orn i, JVb. 4; F. chrysa'etos, Id. No. 8; /'. melanonotus, /eJ.
JVb. 26; F. melanoeetus, Id. JVb. 3.— rfigle royal, TEMM. Man d'Orn. i, j>. 3&.

SPECIES 6. FrfLCO HALIJETUS.

FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY.

[Plate XXX VII. —Fig. 1.]

Carolina Osprey, LATH. Syn. i, p. 46, No. 26, Jl. — Falco piscator,
BHISS. i, p. 361, No. 14; 362, No. 15. — Faucon pecheur de la
Caroline, BUFF. i,p. 142. — Fishing Hawk, CATESB. Car. i, p.
2. — Falco Carolinensis, GMEL. Syst. i, p. 263, No. 26. PEALE'S
Museum, No. 144.*

THIS formidable, vigorous-winged, and well-known bird, sub-
sists altogether on the finny tribes that swarm in our bays,
creeks, and rivers; procuring his prey by his own active skill
and industry; and seeming no farther dependent on the land
than as a mere resting place, or in the usual season, a spot of
deposite for his nest, eggs and young. The figure here given
is reduced to one-third the size of life, to correspond with that
of the Bald Eagle, his common attendant, and constant plun-
derer.

The Fish-Hawk is migratory; arriving on the coasts of New
York and New Jersey about the twenty-first of March, and re-
tiring to the south about the twenty-second of September.
Heavy equinoctial storms may vary these periods of arrival
and departure a few days; but long observation has ascertained,
that they are kept with remarkable regularity. On the arrival
of these birds in the northern parts of the United States, in
March, they sometimes find the bays and ponds frozen, and ex-
perience a difficulty in procuring fish for many days. Yet
there is no instance on record of their attacking birds, or infe-
rior land animals, with intent to feed upon them; though their
great strength of flight, as well of feet and claws, would seem

* The following synonymes may be added: Le Balbuzard, BUFF. PI. Enl
414. Apulia jnscatrix Vieillot Ois, del' Am. Sept: v.i, p. 29, pi. 4.

68 FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY.

to render this no difficult matter. But they no sooner arrive,
than they wage war on the Bald Eagles, as against a horde of
robbers and banditti; sometimes succeeding, by force of num-
bers and perseverance, in driving them from their haunts; but
seldom or never attacking them in single combat.

The first appearance of the Fish-Hawk in spring, is welcom-
ed by the fishermen, as the happy signal of the approach of
those vast shoals of herring, shad, &c. &c., that regularly arrive
on our coasts, and enter our rivers in such prodigious multi-
tudes. Two of a trade, it is said, seldom agree; the adage,
however, will not hold good in the present case, for such is the
respect paid the Fish-hawk not only by this class of men, but
generally, by the whole neighbourhood where it resides, that
a person who should attempt to shoot one of them, would stand
a fair chance of being insulted. This prepossession in favour
of the Fish-hawk is honourable to their feelings. They asso-
ciate with its first appearance ideas of plenty, and all the gaiety
of business; they see it active and industrious like themselves;
inoffensive to the productions of their farms; building with con-
fidence, and without the least disposition to concealment, in
the middle of their fields, and along their fences; and returning
year after year regularly to its former abode.

The nest of the Fish-Hawk is usually built on the top of a
dead or decaying tree, sometimes not more than fifteen, often
upwards of fifty feet, from the ground. It has been remarked
by the people of the seacoasts, that the most thriving tree will
die in a few years, after being taken possession of by the Fish-
Hawk. This is attributed to the fish-oil, and to the excrements
of the bird ; but is more probably occasioned by the large heap
of wet, salt materials, of which it is usually composed. In my
late excursions to the seashore I ascended to several of these
nests, that had been built in from year to year, and found them
constructed as follows: externally large sticks, from half an
inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and two or three feet in
length, piled to the height of four or five feet, and from two to
three feet in breadth; these were intermixed with corn-stalks,

FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 69

sea-weed, pieces of wet turf in large quantities, mullein-stalks,
and lined with dry sea-grass; the whole forming a mass very
observable at half a mile's distance, and large enough to fill a
cart, and form no inconsiderable load for a horse. These ma-
terials are so well put together, as often to adhere in large frag-
ments after being blown down by the wind. My learned and
obliging correspondent of New York, Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill,
observes, that "A sort of superstition is entertained in regard
to the Fish-Hawk. It has been considered a fortunate incident
to have a nest, and a pair of these birds, on one's farm. They
have therefore been generally respected; and neither the axe
nor the gun has been lifted against them. Their nest continues
from year to year. The same couple, or another as the case
may be, occupies it season after season. Repairs are duly made,
or when demolished by storms it is industriously rebuilt.
There was one of these nests, formerly, upon the leafless sum-
mit of a venerable chesnut-tree on our farm, directly in front
of the house, at the distance of less than half a mile. The
withered trunk and boughs, surmounted by the coarse wrought
and capacious nest, was a more picturesque object than an obe-
lisk. And the flights of the Hawks as they went forth to hunt
— returned with their game — exercised themselves in wheeling
round and round and circling about it, were amusing to the be-
holder almost from morning to night. The family of these
Hawks, old and young, was killed by the Hessian Jagers. A
succeeding pair took possession of the nest; but in the course
of time, the prongs of the trunk so rotted away, that the nest
could no longer be supported. The Hawks have been obliged
to seek new quarters. We have lost this part of our prospect;
and our trees have not afforded a convenient site for one of their
habitations since."

About the first of May the female Fish-Hawk begins to lay
her eggs, which are commonly three in number, sometimes
only two, and rarely four. They are somewhat larger than
those of the common hen, and nearly of the same shape. The
ground colour varies, in different eggs, from a reddish cream,

70 FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY.

to nearly a white, splashed and daubed all over with dark
Spanish brown, as if done by art. * During the time the female
is sitting, the male frequently supplies her with fish; though
she occasionally takes a short circuit to sea herself, but quickly
returns again. The attention of the male, on such occasions,
is regulated by the circumstances of the case. A pair of these
birds, on the south side of Great Egg-harbour river, and near
its mouth, were noted for several years. The female having
but one leg was regularly furnished, while sitting, with fish in
such abundance, that she seldom left the nest, and never to
seek for food. This kindness was continued both before and
after incubation. Some animals who claim the name and ra-
tionality of man might blush at the recital of this fact.

On the appearance of the young, which is usually about the
last of June, the zeal and watchfulness of the parents are ex-
treme. They stand guard, and go off to fish, alternately; one
parent being always within a short distance of the nest. On
the near approach of any person, the Hawk utters a plaintive
whistling note, which becomes shriller as she takes to wing,
and sails around, sometimes making a rapid descent, as if aim-
ing directly for you; but checking her course and sweeping
past at a short distance over head, her wings making a loud
whizzing in the air. My worthy friend Mr. Gardiner informs
me, that they have even been known to fix their claws in a ne-
gro's head, who was attempting to climb to their nest; and I

* Of the palatableness of these eggs I cannot speak from personal expe-
rience; but the following incident will show that the experiment has actually
been made. A country fellow, near Cape May, on his way to a neighbour-
ing tavern, passing a tree on which was a Fish-Hawk's nest, immediately
mounted and robbed it of the only egg it contained, which he carried with
him to the tavern, and desired the landlord to make it into egg-nogg. The ta-
vern-keeper, after a few wry faces, complied with his request, and the fellow
swallowed the cordial; but, whether from its effects on the olfactory nerves
(for he said it smelt abominably) the imagination, or on the stomach alone,
is uncertain, it operated as a most outrageous emetic, and cured the man, for
that time at least, of his thirst for egg-nogg. What is rather extraordinary,
the landlord (Mr. Beasley) assured me, that to all appearance the egg was
perfectly fresh.

FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 71

had lately a proof of their daring spirit in this way, through
the kindness of a friend, resident for a few weeks at Great
Egg-harbour. I had requested of him the favour to transmit
me, if possible, a live Fish-Hawk, for the purpose of making
a drawing of it, which commission he very faithfully executed;
and I think I cannot better illustrate this part of the bird's
character than by quoting his letter at large.

" Beasley's, Great Egg-Harbour, June, 30th, 1811.
" SIR,

" Mr. Beasley and I went to reconnoitre a Fish-Hawk's
nest on Thursday afternoon. When I was at the nest I was
struck with so great violence, on the crown of the hat, that I
thought a hole was made in it. I had ascended fearlessly, and
never dreamt of being attacked. I came down quickly. There
were in the nest three young ones about the size of pullets,
which, though full feathered, were unable to fly. On Friday
morning I went again to the nest to get a young one, which I
thought I could nurse to a considerable growth, sufficient to
answer your purpose, if I should fail to procure an old one,
which was represented to me as almost impossible, on account
of his shyness, and the danger from his dreadful claws. On
taking a young one I intended to lay a couple of snares in the
nest, for which purpose I had a strong cord in my pocket. The
old birds were on the tree when captain H. and I approached
it. As a defence, profiting by the experience of yesterday, I
took a walking stick with me. When I was about half up the
tree, the bird I send you struck at me repeatedly with violence;
he flew round in a small circle, darting at me at every circuit,
and I striking at him. Observing that he always described
a circle in the air, before he came at me, I kept a hawk's eye
upon him, and the moment he passed me, I availed myself of
the opportunity to ascend. When immediately under the nest,
I hesitated at the formidable opposition I met, as his rage ap-
peared to increase with my presumption in invading his prem-
ises. But I mounted to the nest. At that moment he darted di-
rectly at me with all his force, whizzing through the air; his

72 FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY.

choler apparently redoubled. Fortunately for me, I struck him
on the extreme joint of the right wing with my stick, which
brought him to the ground. During this contest the female was
flying round and round at a respectful distance, captain H. held
him till I tied my handkerchief about his legs; the captain felt
the effect of his claws. I brought away a young one to keep the
old one in a good humour. I put them in a very large coop; the
young one ate some fish, when broken and put into its throat;
but the old one would not eat for two days. He continued sul-
len and obstinate, hardly changing his position. He walks about
now, and is approached without danger; he takes very little no-
tice of the young one. A Joseph Smith, working in the field
where this nest is, had the curiosity to go up to look at the
eggs; the bird clawed his face in a shocking manner; his eye
had a narrow escape. I am told that it has never been considered
dangerous to approach a Hawk's nest. If this be so, this bird's
character is peculiar; his affection for his young, and his valiant
opposition to an invasion of his nest, entitle him to conspicuous
notice. He is the Prince of Fish-Hawks; his character and his
portrait seem worthy of being handed to the historic muse. A
Hawk more worthy of the honour which awaits him could not
have been found. I hope no accident will happen to him, and
that he may fully answer your purpose.

" Yours,

"THOMAS SMITH.

"This morning the female was flying to and fro, making a
mournful noise."

The young of the Fish-Hawk are remarkable for remaining
long in the nest before they attempt to fly. Mr. Smith's letter
is dated June 30th, at which time, he observes, they were as
large as pullets, and full feathered. Seventeen days after, I my-
self ascended to this same Hawk's nest, where I found the two
remaining young ones seemingly full grown. They made no
attempts to fly, though they both placed themselves in a stern
posture of defence, as I examined them at my leisure. The fe-
male had procured a second helpmate; but he did not seem to

FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 73

inherit the spirit of his predecessor, for like a true step-father,
he left the nest at my approach, and sailed about at a safe dis-
tance with his mate, who showed great anxiety and distress du-
ring the whole of my visit. It is universally asserted by the
people of the neighbourhood where these birds breed, that the
young remain so long, before they fly, that the parents are
obliged at last to compel them to shift for themselves, beating
them with their wings, and driving them from the nest. But
that they continue to assist them even after this, I know to be a
fact from my own observation, as I have seen the young bird
meet its parent in the air, and receive from him the fish he
carried in his claws.

The flight of the Fish-Hawk, his manoeuvres while in search
of fish, and his manner of seizing his prey, are deserving of
particular notice. In leaving the nest he usually flies direct till
he comes to the sea, then sails around in easy curving lines,
turning sometimes in the air as on a pivot, apparently without
the least exertion, rarely moving the wings, his legs extended
in a straight line behind, and his remarkable length and curva-
ture or bend of wing, distinguishing him from all other Hawks.
The height at which he thus elegantly glides is various, from
one hundred to one hundred and fifty, and two hundred feet,
sometimes much higher, all the while calmly reconnoitring the
face of the deep below. Suddenly he is seen to check his course,
as if struck by a particular object, which he seems to survey
for a few moments with such steadiness that he appears fixed
in air, flapping his wings. This object however he abandons, or
rather the fish he had in his eye has disappeared, and he is
again seen sailing around as before. Now his attention is again
arrested, and he descends with great rapidity ; but ere he reach-
es the surface, shoots off on another course, as if ashamed that
a second victim had escaped him. He now sails at a short
height above the surface, and by a zig-zag descent and without
seeming to dip his feet in the water, seizes a fish, which after
carrying a short distance, he probably drops, or yields up to
the Bald Eagle, and again ascends by easy spiral circles, to the

VOL. i. — M m

74 FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY.

higher regions of the air, where he glides about in all the ease
and majesty of his species. At once from this sublime aerial
height he descends like a perpendicular torrent, plunging into
the sea with a loud rushing sound, and with the certainty of a
rifle. In a few moments he emerges, bearing in his claws his
struggling prey, which he always carries head foremost; and
having risen a few feet above the surface, shakes himself as a
water spaniel would do, and directs his heavy and laborious
course directly for the land. If the wind blow hard, and his
nest lie in the quarter from whence it comes, it is amusing to
observe with what judgment and exertion he beats to windward,
not in a direct line, that is, in the wind's eye, but making several
successive tacks to gain his purpose. This will appear the more
striking, when we consider the size of the fish which he some-
times bears along. A shad was taken from a Fish-Hawk, near
Great Egg-harbour, on which he had begun to regale himself,
and had already ate a considerable portion of it, the remainder
weighed six pounds. Another Fish-Hawk was passing Mr.
Beasley's, at the same place, with a large flounder in his grasp,
which struggled and shook him so, that he dropt it on the shore.
The flounder was picked up, and served the whole family for
dinner. It is singular that the Hawk never descends to pick up
a fish which he happens to drop, either on the land or on the
water. There is a kind of abstemious dignity in this habit of
the Hawk, superior to the gluttonous voracity displayed by
most other birds of prey, particularly by the Bald Eagle, whose
piratical robberies committed on the present species have been
already fully detailed in treating of his history. The Hawk,
however, in his fishing pursuits, sometimes mistakes his mark,
or overrates his strength, by striking fish too large and power-
ful for him to manage, by whom he is suddenly dragged under;
and though he sometimes succeeds in extricating himself, after
being taken three or four times down, yet oftener both parties
perish. The bodies of sturgeon, and several other large fish,
with that of the Fish-Hawk fast grappled in them, have at dif-
ferent times been found dead on the shore, cast up by the waves.

i

FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 75

The Fish-Hawk is doubtless the most numerous of all its ge-
nus within the United States. It penetrates far into the interior
of the country up our large rivers, and their head waters. It
may be said to line the seacoast from Georgia to Canada. In
some parts I have counted, at one view, more than twenty of
their nests within half a mile. Mr. Gardiner informs me, that
on the small island on which he resides, there are at least
"three hundred nests of Fish-Hawks that have young, which,
on an average, consume probably not less than six hundred fish
daily." Before they depart in the autumn they regularly repair
their nests, carrying up sticks, sods, &c. fortifying them against
the violence of the winter storms, which, from this circumstance,
they would seem to foresee and expect. But, notwithstanding
all their precautions, they frequently, on their return in spring,
find them lying in ruins around the roots of the tree; and some-
times the tree itself has shared the same fate. When a number
of Hawks, to the amount of twenty or upwards, collect together
on one tree, making a loud squeeling noise, there is generally
a nest built soon after on the same tree. Probably this congres-
sional assembly were settling the right of the new pair to the
premises; or it might be a kind of wedding, or joyous festive
meeting on the occasion. They are naturally of a mild and
peaceable disposition, living together in great peace and har-
mony; for though with them, as in the best regulated commu-
nities, instances of attack and robbery occur among themselves,
yet these instances are extremely rare. Mr. Gardiner observes
that they are sometimes seen high in the air, sailing and cutting
strange gambols, with loud vociferations, darting down several
hundred feet perpendicular, frequently with part of a fish in
one claw, which they seem proud of, and to claim high hooky
as the fishermen call him who takes the greatest number. On
these occasions they serve as a barometer to foretel the changes
of the atmosphere; for when the Fish-Hawks are seen thus,
sailing high in air, in circles, it is universally believed to prog-
nosticate a change of weather, often a thunder storm, in a few
hours. On the faith of the certainty of these signs, the expe-

76 FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY.

rienced coaster wisely prepares for the expected storm, and is
rarely mistaken.

There is one singular trait in the character of this bird, which
will be mentioned in treating of the Purple Grakle, and which
I have had many opportunities of witnessing. The Grakles,
or Crow Blackbirds, are permitted by the Fish-Hawk to build
their nests among the interstices of the sticks of which his own
is constructed. Several pair of Grakles taking up their abode
there, like humble vassals around the castle of their chief, lay-
ing, hatching their young, and living together in mutual har-
mony. I have found no less than four of these nests clustered
around the sides of the former, and a fifth fixed on the nearest
branch of the adjoining tree; as if the proprietor of this last,
unable to find an unoccupied corner on the premises, had been
anxious to share as much as possible the company and protec-
tion of this generous bird.

The Fish-Hawk is twenty-two inches in length, and five feet
three inches in extent; the bill is deep black, the upper as well
as lower cere, (for the base of the lower mandible has a loose
moveable skin) and also the sides of the mouth, from the nos-
trils backwards, are light blue; crown and hind-head pure white,
front streaked with brown; through the eye a bar of dark black-
ish brown passes to the neck behind, which, as well as the whole
upper parts, is deep brown, the edges of the feathers lighter;
shafts of the wing quills brownish white; tail slightly rounded,
of rather a paler brown than the body, crossed with eight bars
of very dark brown; the wings when shut extend about an inch
beyond the tail, and are nearly black towards the tips; the inner
vanes of both quill and tail feathers are whitish, barred with
brown ; whole lower parts pure white, except the thighs, which
are covered with short plumage, and streaked down the fore
part with pale brown ; the legs and feet are a very pale light
blue, prodigiously strong and disproportionably large, they are
covered with flat scales of remarkable strength and thickness,
resembling when dry the teeth of a large rasp, particularly on
the soles, intended no doubt to enable the bird to seize with

FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 77

more security his slippery prey; the thighs are long, the legs
short, feathered a little below the knee, and as well as the feet
and claws large; the latter hooked into semicircles, black, and
very sharp pointed; the iris of the eye a fiery yellow orange.

The female is full two inches longer; the upper part of the
head of a less pure white, and the brown streaks on the front
spreading more over the crown; the throat and upper part of
the breast are also dashed with large blotches of a pale brown,
and the bar passing through the eye, not of so dark a brown.
The toes of both are exceedingly strong and warty, and the
hind claw a full inch and a quarter in diameter. The feathers
on the neck and hind-head are long and narrow, and generally
erected when the bird is irritated, resembling those of the Ea-
gle. The eye is destitute of the projecting bone common to
most of the Falcon tribe, the nostril large, and of a curving
triangular shape. On dissection, the two glands on the rump,
which supply the bird with oil for lubricating its feathers, to
protect them from the wet, were found to be remarkably large,
capable, when opened, of admitting the end of the finger, and
contained a large quantity of white greasy matter, and some
pure yellow oil; the gall was in small quantity; the numerous
convolutions and length of the intestines surprised me; when
carefully extended they measured within an inch or two of nine
feet, and were no thicker than those of a Robin! The crop, or
craw, was middle sized, and contained a nearly dissolved fish;
the stomach was a large oblong pouch, capable of considerable
distension, and was also filled with half digested fish; no ap-
pearance of a muscular gizzard.

By the descriptions of European naturalists, it would appear
that this bird, or one near a-kin to it, is a native of the Eastern
continent in summer, as far north as Siberia; the Bald Buzzard
of Turton almost exactly agreeing with the present species in
size, colour, and manners, with the exception of its breeding or
making its nest among the reeds, instead of on trees. Mr. Be-
wick, who has figured and described the female of this bird,
under the appellation of the "Osprey," says, " that it builds

78 FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY.

on the ground, among reeds, and lays three or four eggs of an
elliptical form, rather less than those of a hen." This difference
of habit may be owing to particular local circumstances, such
deviations being usual among many of our native birds. The
Italians are said to compare its descent upon the water to a
piece of lead falling upon that element; and distinguish it by
the name of Jlquila piumbina^ or the Leaden Eagle. In the
United States it is every where denominated the Fish-Hawk,
or Fishing-Hawk, a name truly expressive of its habits.

The regular arrival of this noted bird at the vernal equinox,
when the busy season of fishing commences, adds peculiar in-
terest to its first appearance, and procures it many a benediction
from the fishermen. With the following lines, illustrative of
these circumstances, I shall conclude its history!

Soon as the Sun, great ruler of the year!
Bends to our northern climes his bright career;
And from the caves of ocean calls from sleep
The finny shoals and myriads of the deep;
When freezing tempests back to Greenland ride;
And day and night the equal hours divide;
True to the season, o'er our sea-beat shore,
The sailing Osprey high is seen to soar,
With broad unmoving wing; and, circling slow,
Marks each loose straggler in the deep below:
Sweeps down like lightning! plunges with a roar!
And bears his struggling victim to the shore.

The long-hous'd fisherman beholds with joy,
The well-known signals of his rough employ;
And, as he bears his nets and oars along,
He hails the welcome season with a song.

Note- — The Fish-Hawk passes the winter in the southern parts
of the United States. In a winter voyage among the sea-islands of
Georgia, and thence into East Florida, I did not observe these
birds until I reached the river St. John, on the seventh of Feb-
ruary. At the mouth of this river, which is noted for the
abundance of its fish, the Ospreys are very numerous; and the

FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 79

frequent attacks which are made upon them, when successful
in fishing, by the piratical Bald Eagles, afford a spectacle of no
common interest. I sometimes took notice, that when the
Fish-Hawk was likely to escape from a single enemy, and had
wearied his pursuer by the dexterity of his manoeuvres, a fresh
Eagle joined in the chase, and then all chance of escape was
hopeless.

Wilson states, that this species, on the coast of New Jersey,
commences laying about the first of May; but I observed it
sitting, in East Florida, on the third of March. The weather
was then warm: Fahrenheit being at 80° in the shade. — G. Ord.

.

SPECIES 7. FrfLCO ATRICAPILLUS*

ASH-COLOURED, OR BLACK-CAP HAWK.

[Plate LIL— -Fig. 3.]

PEALE'S Museum, .No. 406.

OF this beautiful species I can find no precise description.
The Ash-coloured Buzzard of Edwards differs so much from
this, particularly in wanting the fine zig-zag lines below, and
the black cap, that I cannot for a moment suppose them to be
the same. The individual from which the drawing was made,
is faithfully represented in the plate, reduced to one half its na-
tural dimensions. This bird was shot within a few miles of
Philadelphia, and is now preserved, in good order, in Peale's
museum.

Its general make and aspect denote great strength and spirit;
its legs are strong, and its claws of more than proportionate
size. Should any other specimen or variety of this Hawk, dif-
fering from the present, occur during the publication of this
work, it will enable me more accurately to designate the spe-
cies.

The Black-cap Hawk is twenty-one inches in length; the bill
and cere are blue; eye reddish amber; crown black, bordered
on each side by a line of white, finely specked with black; these
lines of white meet on the hind-head; whole upper parts slate,

* Falco Palumbarius, LINN. As was suspected by Wilson, this is not a new
species, but the celebrated Goshawk. The following synonymes are given
by Prince Musignano: Falco Co/winbarttw, GMEL. Syst. i, p. 281. LATH. —
TEMM.— F.gentilis, LINN. GMEL. Syst.t, p. 270. LATH, (young) JP. gallina-
riiM. LINN. LATH, (very young female.) L'^utour, BUFF. PI. Enl. 418. (adult)
L'wflutotir sor*, BUFF. PI. Enl. 461. (young.) Le Buzard, BUFF. PI. Enl. 423.
(very young female. ) See Journal. Acad. Nat. Sc. in, p. 346.

ASH-COLOURED, OR BLACK-CAP HAWK. 81

tinged with brown, slightest on the quills; legs feathered half
way down, and, with the feet, of a yellow colour; whole lower
parts and femorals white, most elegantly speckled with fine
transverse pencilled zig-zag lines of dusky, all the shafts being
a long black line; vent pure white.

If this be not the celebrated Goshawk, formerly so much es-
teemed in falconry, it is very closely allied to it. I have never
myself seen a specimen of that bird in Europe, and the descrip-
tions of their best naturalists vary considerably; but from a
careful examination of the figure and account of the Goshawk,
given by the ingenious Mr. Bewick, (Brit. Birds, v. i, p. 65. )
I have very little doubt that the present will be found to be
the same.

The Goshawk inhabits France and Germany; is not very
common in South Britain, but more frequent in the northern
parts of the island, and is found in Russia and Siberia. Buffon,
who reared two young birds of this kind, a male and female,
observes, that " the Goshawk before it has shed its feathers,
that is, in its first year, is marked on the breast and belly with
longitudinal brown spots; but after it has had two moultings
they disappear, and their place is occupied by transverse wav-
ing bars, which continue during the rest of its life;" he also
takes notice, that though the male was much smaller than the
female, it was fiercer and more vicious.

Pennant informs us that the Goshawk is used by the empe-
ror of China in his sporting excursions, when he is usually at-
tended by his grand falconer, and a thousand of inferior rank.
Every bird has a silver plate fastened to its foot, with the name
of the falconer who has the charge of it, that in case it should
be lost, it may be restored to the proper person; but if he should
not be found, the bird is delivered to another officer, called the
guardian of lost birds, who, to make his situation known,
erects his standard in a conspicuous place among the army of
hunters. The same writer informs us, that he examined in the
Leverian museum, a specimen of the Goshawk which came
from America, and which was superior in size to the European.
VOL. i. — N n

SPECIES 8. FALCO BOREALIS.

RED-TAILED HAWK.

[Plate LIL— Fig. 1.]

«0rc£. Zool. p. 205, JVb. 100. — American Buzzard, LATH, i, 50.—
TURT. Syst. p. 151. — F. Jlquilinm, caiida ferrugiriea, Great
Eagle Hawk, BAUTRAM, p. 290.— PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 182.

THE figure of this bird, and those of the other two Hawka
in the same plate, are reduced to exactly half the dimensions of
the living subjects. These representations are offered to the
public with a confidence in their fidelity; but these, I am sorry
to say, are almost all I have to give towards elucidating their
history. Birds naturally thinly dispersed over a vast extent of
country, retiring during summer to the depth of the forests to
breed, approaching the habitations of man, like other thieves
and plunderers, with shy and cautious jealousy, seldom permit-
ting a near advance, subject to great changes of plumage, and,
since the decline of falconry, seldom or never domesticated, offer
to those who wish eagerly to investigate their history, and to
delineate their particular character and manners, great and in-
surmountable difficulties. Little more can be done in such cases
than to identify the species, and trace it through the various
quarters of the world, where it has been certainly met with.

The Red-tailed Hawk is most frequently seen in the lower
parts of Pennsylvania, during the severity of winter. Among
the extensive meadows that border the Schuylkill and Delaware,
below Philadelphia, where flocks of Larks, (Jllauda magna)
and where mice and moles are in great abundance, many indi-
viduals of this Hawk spend the greater part of the winter.
Others prowl around the plantations, looking out for vagrant
chickens; their method of seizing which, is by sweeping swiftly
over the spot, and grappling them with their talons, bearing

RED-TAILED HAWK. 83

them away to the woods. The bird from which the figure in
the plate was drawn, was surprised in the act of feeding on a
hen he had just killed, and which he was compelled to abandon.
The remains of the chicken were immediately baited to a steel-
trap, and early the next morning the unfortunate Red-tail was
found a prisoner, securely fastened by the leg. The same hen
which the day before he had massacred, was, the very next,
made the means of decoying him to his destruction; in the eye
of the farmer a system of fair and just retribution.

This species inhabits the whole United States; and, I believe,
is not migratory, as I found it in the month of May, as far south
as Fort Adams, in the Mississippi territory. The young were
at that time nearly as large as their parents, and were very
clamorous, making an incessant squeeling noise. One, which I
shot, contained in its stomach mingled fragments of frogs and
lizards.

The Red-tailed Hawk is twenty inches long, and three feet
nine inches in extent; bill blue black; cere and sides of the
mouth yellow, tinged with green; lores and spot on the under
eye-lid white, the former marked with fine radiating hairs; eye-
brow, or cartilage, a dull eel skin colour, prominent, projecting
over the eye; a broad streak of dark brown extends from the
sides of the mouth backwards; crown and hind-head dark brown,
seamed with white and ferruginous; sides of the neck dull fer-
ruginous, streaked with brown; eye large; iris pale amber; back
and shoulders deep brown; wings dusky, barred with blackish;
ends of the five first primaries nearly black; scapulars barred
broadly with white and brown; sides of the tail-coverts white,
barred with ferruginous, middle ones dark, edged with rust;
tail rounded, extending two inches beyond the wings, and of a
bright red brown, with a single band of black near the end, and
tipt with brownish white; on some of the lateral feathers are
slight indications of the remains of other narrow bars; lower
parts brownish white ; the breast ferruginous, streaked with dark
brown; acrovss the belly a band of interrupted spots of brown;

84 RED-TAILED HAWK.

chin white; femorals and vent pale brownish white, the former
marked with a few minute heart-shaped spots of brown; legs
yellow, feathered half way below the knees.

This was a male. Another specimen shot within a few days
after, agreed in almost every particular of its colour and mark-
ings with the present; and on dissection was found to be a female.

P •-,,•,-.•

FALCO LEVERMNUS?*

AMERICAN BUZZARD.

[Plate LIL— Fig. 2.]

PEALE'S Museum., JVo. 400.

IT is with some doubt and hesitation that I introduce the
present as a distinct species from the preceding. In their size
and general aspect they resemble each other considerably; yet
I have found both males and females among each; and in the
present species I have sometimes found the ground colour of
the tail strongly tinged with ferruginous, and the bars of dusky
but slight; while in the preceding, the tail is sometimes wholly
red brown, the single bar of black near the tip excepted; in other
specimens evident remains of numerous other bars are visible.
In the meantime both are figured, and future observations may
throw more light on the matter.

This bird is more numerous than the last; but frequents the
same situations in winter. One, which was shot in the wing,
lived with me several weeks; but refused to eat. It amused it-
self by frequently hopping from one end of the room to the
other; and sitting for hours at the window, looking down on
the passengers below. At first, when approached by any per-
son, he generally put himself in the position in which he is
represented; but after some time he became quite familiar, per-
mitting himself to be handled, and shutting his eyes as if quite
passive. Though he lived so long without food, he was found
on dissection to be exceedingly fat, his stomach being enveloped
in a mass of solid fat of nearly an inch in thickness.

* Falco borealis. Wilson's suspicions of this and the preceding being the
same bird, have be"en confirmed by Prince Musignano. This is the young, the
preceding the adult bird.

80 AMERICAN BUZZARD.

The American Buzzard, or White-breasted Hawk, is twenty-
two inches long, and four feet in extent; cere pale green; bill
pale blue, black at the point; eye bright straw colour; eyebrow
projecting greatly; head broad, flat and large; upper part of the
head, sides of the neck and back, brown, streaked and seamed
with white, and some pale rust; scapulars and wing-coverts
spotted with white; wing quills much resembling the preceding
species; tail-coverts white, handsomely barred with brown; tail
slightly rounded, of a pale brown colour, varying in some to a
sorrel, crossed by nine or ten bars of black, and tipt for half an
inch with white; wings brown, barred with dusky; inner vanes
nearly all white; chin, throat and breast, pure white, with the
exception of some slight touches of brown that enclose the chin;
femorals yellowish white, thinly marked with minute touches
of rust; legs bright yellow, feathered half way down; belly
broadly spotted with black or very deep brown; the tips of the
wings reach to the middle of the tail.

My reason for inclining to consider this a distinct species
from the last, is that of having uniformly found the present two
or three inches larger than the former, though this may possibly
be owing to their greater age.*

• Prince Musignano is of opinion that Wilson took his admeasurement of the
borealis from males, and that of the leverianus from females; as he has always
found the males in both states of plumage twenty inches, (a size which Wil-
son gives as that of the borealis} and the females of both, twenty-two inches,
(the size of the leveriamis as given by Wilson.)

SPECIES 9. FdLCO PENNSYLFJINICUS.

SLATE-COLOURED HAWK.*

[Plate XLVL— Fig. I.]

THIS elegant and spirited little Hawk is a native of Pennsyl-
vania, and of the Atlantic states generally; and is now for the
first time introduced to the notice of the public. It frequents
the more settled parts of the country, chiefly in winter; is at
all times a scarce species; flies wide, very irregular, and swiftly;
preys on lizards, mice and small birds, and is an active and da-
ring little hunter. It is drawn of full size, from a very beauti-
ful specimen shot in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. The
bird within his grasp is the Tanagra rubra, or Black-winged
Red-bird, in its green or first year's dress. In the spring of the
succeeding year the green and yellow plumage of this bird be-
comes of a most splendid scarlet, and the wings and tail deepen
into a glossy black.

The great difficulty of accurately discriminating between dif-
ferent species of the Hawk tribe, on account of the various ap-
pearances they assume at different periods of their long lives,
at first excited a suspicion that this might be one of those with
which I was already acquainted, in a different dress, namely,
the Sharp-shinned Hawk, figured in plate XLV of this work;
for such are the changes of colour to which many individuals

* By comparing this bird with the Sharp-shinned Hawk, it will be obvious
that Wilson had good reason for his first opinion, that they are identical; al-
though he subsequently came to a contrary conclusion. It is probable that
they will be found to be the same, and that this is the adult, and the Sharp-
shinned Hawk the young bird. If this be the case, the name velox, which was
first given to this species by Wilson, must be retained; unless indeed it should
prove to be identical with the F. /itscus of authors, as asserted by Prince Musig-
najno; in which event this litter name must of course, having the priority, be
adopted.

88 SLATE-COLOURED HAWK.

of this genus are subject, that unless the naturalist has recourse
to those parts that are subject to little or no alteration in the full-
grown bird, viz. the particular conformation of the legs, nos-
trils, tail, and the relative length of the latter to that of the
wings, also the peculiar character of the countenance, he will
frequently be deceived. By comparing these, the same species
may often be detected under a very different garb. Were all
these changes accurately known, there is no doubt but the num-
ber of species of this tribe, at present enumerated, would be
greatly diminished; the same bird having been described, by
certain writers, three, four, and even five different times, as so
many distinct species. Testing, however, the present Hawk
by the rules above-mentioned, I have no hesitation in consid-
ering it as a species different from any hitherto described; and
I have classed it accordingly.

The Slate-coloured Hawk is eleven inches long; and twenty-
one inches in extent; bill blue black; cere and sides of the
mouth dull green; eye-lid yellow; eye deep sunk under the pro-
jecting eyebrow, and of a fiery orange colour; upper parts of a
fine slate; primaries brown black, and, as well as the seconda-
ries, barred with dusky; scapulars spotted with white and
brown, which is not seen unless the plumage be separated by
the hand; all the feathers above are shafted with black; tail very
slightly forked, of an ash colour, faintly tinged with brown,
crossed with four broad bands of black, and tipt with white;
tail three inches longer than the wings; over the eye extends a
streak of dull white; chin white mixed with fine black hairs;
breast and belly beautifully variegated with ferruginous and
transverse spots of white; femorals the same; vent pure white,
legs long, very slender, and of a rich orange yellow; claws
black, large, and remarkably sharp; lining of the wing thickly
marked with heart-shaped spots of black. This bird on dissec-
tion was found to be a male. In the month of February, I shot
another individual of this species, near Hampton in Virginia,
which agreed almost exactly with the present.

FrfLCO VELOX.
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.

[Plate XL V.— Fig. 1, Female.]

THIS is a bold and daring species, hitherto unknown to na-
turalists. The only Hawk we have which approaches near it
in colour is the Pigeon Hawk, figured in plate 15. But there
are such striking differences in the present, not only in colour,
but in other respects, as to point out decisively its claims to
rank as a distinct species. Its long and slender legs and toes;
its red fiery eye, feathered to the eye-lids; its triangular grooved
nostril, and length of tail, are all different from the Pigeon
Hawk, whose legs are short, its eyes dark hazel, surrounded
with a broad bare yellow skin, and its nostrils small and circu-
lar, centred with a slender point, that rises in it like the pistil
of a flower. There is no Hawk mentioned by Pennant, either
as inhabiting Europe or America, agreeing with this. I may
therefore, with confidence, pronounce it a nondescript; and have
chosen a very singular peculiarity which it possesses, for its
specific appellation.

This Hawk was shot on the banks of the Schuylkill, near
Mr. Bartram's. Its singularity of flight surprised me long be-
fore I succeeded in procuring it. It seemed to throw itself from
one quarter of the heavens to the other, with prodigious velo-
city, inclining to the earth; swept suddenly down into a thicket,
and instantly re-appeared with a small bird in its talons. This
feat I saw it twice perform, so that it was not merely an acci-
dental manoeuvre. The rapidity and seeming violence of these
zig-zag excursions were really remarkable, and appeared to me
to be for the purpose of seizing his prey by sudden surprise, and
main force of flight. I kept this Hawk alive for several days,
and was hopeful I might be able to cure him; but he died of his

wound.

VOL. i. — o o

90 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.

On the fifteenth of September, two young men whom I had
despatched on a shooting expedition, met with this species on
one of the ranges of the Alleghany. It was driving around in
the same furious headlong manner, and had made a sweep at
a red squirrel, which eluded its grasp, and itself became the
victim. These are the only individuals of this bird I have been
able to procure, and fortunately they were male and female.

The female of this species (represented in the plate) is thir-
teen inches long, and twenty-five inches in extent; the bill is
black towards the point on both mandibles, but light blue at its
base; cere a fine pea green; sides of the mouth the same; lores
pale whitish blue, beset with hairs; crown and whole upper
parts very dark brown, every feather narrowly skirted with a
bright rust colour; over the eye a stripe of yellowish white,
streaked with deep brown; primaries spotted on their inner
vanes with black; secondaries crossed on both vanes with three
bars of dusky, below the coverts; inner vanes of both primaries
and secondaries brownish white; all the scapulars marked with
large round spots of white, not seen unless the plumage be part-
ed with the hand; tail long, nearly even, crossed with four bars
of black, and as many of brown ash, and tipt with white; throat
and whole lower parts pale yellowish white; the former marked
with fine long pointed spots of dark brown, the latter with large
oblong spots of reddish brown; femorals thickly marked with
spade-formed spots, on a pale rufous ground; legs long and
feathered a little below the knee, of a greenish yellow colour,
most yellow at the joints; edges of the inside of the shins, below
the knee, projecting like the edge of a knife, hard and sharp,
as if intended to enable the bird to hold its prey with more
security between them; eye, sunk below a projecting cartilage,
iris bright yellow.

The male was nearly two inches shorter; the upper parts
dark brown; the feathers skirted with pale reddish, the front
also streaked with the same; cere greenish yellow; lores bluish;
bill black, as in the female; streak over the eye lighter than in
the former; chin white; breast the same, streaked with brown;

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 91

bars on the tail rather narrower, but in tint and number the
same; belly and vent white; feet and shins exactly as in the
female; the toes have the same pendulous lobes, which mark
those of the female, and of which the representation in the plate
will give a correct idea; the wings barred with black, very no-
ticeable on the lower side.

Since writing the above, I have shot another specimen of this
Hawk, corresponding in almost every particular with the male
last mentioned; and which, on dissection, also proves to be a
male. This last had within the grasp of his sharp talons a small
lizard, just killed, on which he was about to feed. How he
contrived to get possession of it appeared to me matter of sur-
prise, as lightning itself seems scarcely more fleet than this
little reptile. So rapid are its motions, that, in passing from
one place to another, it vanishes, and actually eludes the eye
in running a distance of twelve or fifteen feet. It is frequently
seen on fences that are covered with gray moss and lichen,
which in colour it very much resembles; it seeks shelter in
hollow trees, and also in the ground about their decayed roots.
They are most numerous in hilly parts of the country, partic-
ularly on the declivities of the Blue mountain, among the cre-
vices of rocks and stones. When they are disposed to run, it
is almost impossible to shoot them, as they disappear at the first
touch of the trigger. For the satisfaction of the curious, I have
introduced a full-sized figure of this lizard, which is known in
many parts of the country by the name of the Swift

SPECIES 10. FrfLCO PENNSYLVANICUS*
BROAD-WINGED HAWK.

[Plate LI V.— Fig. 1.]

PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 407.

THIS new species, as well as the rest of the figures in the
same plate, is represented of the exact size of life. The Hawk
was shot on the sixth of May, in Bartram's woods, near the
Schuylkill, and was afterwards presented to Mr. Peale, in
whose collection it now remains. It was perched upon the
dead limb of a high tree, feeding on something, which was af-
terwards found to be the meadow mouse, figured in plate 50.
On my approach, it uttered a whining kind of whistle, and flew
off to another tree, where I followed and shot it. Its great
breadth of wing, or width of the secondaries, and also of its
head and body, when compared with its length, struck me as
peculiarities. It seemed a remarkably strong-built bird, hand-
somely marked, and was altogether unknown to me. Mr. Bar-
tram, who examined it very attentively, declared he had never
before seen such a Hawk. On the afternoon of the next day I
observed another, probably its mate or companion, and cer-
tainly one of the same species, sailing about over the same
woods. Its motions were in wide circles, with unmoving
wings, the exterior outline of which seemed a complete semi-
circle. I was extremely anxious to procure this also if possible;

* The name Pennsylvanir.us, was given by Wilson to this bird, through inad-
vertence, he having already given that name to the Slate-coloured Hawk,
which is a distinct species from the present, as Wilson was well aware. Mr.
Ord, in the reprint of this work called it F. latisimus. But should the
Slate-coloured Hawk (F. Pennsylvanicvs,) and the Sharp-shinned Hawk (F.
velox,) prove to be the same species, then the name Pennsylvaniciis must be
retained for this species, that of velox being adopted for the former.

BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 93

but it was attacked and driven away by a King-bird before I
could effect my purpose, and I have never since been fortunate
enough to meet with another. On dissecting the one which I
had shot, it proved to be a male.

In size this Hawk agrees, nearly, with the Buzzardet, (Fal-
co albidus] of Turton, described also by Pennant; (Arct. Zool.
N. 109.) but either the descriptions of these authors are very
inaccurate, the change of colour which that bird undergoes very
great, or the present is altogether a different species. Until,
however, some other specimens of this Hawk come under my
observation, I can only add to the figure here given, and widen
is a good likeness of the original, the following particulars of
its size and plumage.

Length fourteen inches, extent thirty-three inches; bill black,
blue near the base, slightly toothed; cere and corners of the
mouth yellow; irides bright amber; frontlet and lores white;
from the mouth backwards runs a streak of blackish brown;
upper parts dark brown, the plumage tipt, and the head streak-
ed, with whitish; almost all the feathers above are spotted or
barred with white; but this is not seen unless they be separated
by the hand; head large, broad and flat; cere very broad, the
nostril also large; tail short, the exterior and interior feathers
somewhat the shortest, the others rather longer, of a full black,
and crossed with two bars of white, tipt also slightly with
whitish; tail-coverts spotted with white; wings dusky brown,
indistinctly barred with black; greater part of the inner vanes
snowy; lesser coverts, and upper part of the back, tipt and
streaked with bright ferruginous; the bars of black are very dis-
tinct on the lower side of the wing; lining of the wing brown-
ish white, beautifully marked with small arrow-heads of brown;
chin white, surrounded by streaks of black; breast and sides
elegantly spotted with large arrow-heads of brown, centred
with pale brown; belly and vent, like the breast, white, but
more thinly marked with pointed spots of brown; femorals
brownish white, thickly marked with small touches of brown
and white; vent white; legs very stout; feet coarsely scaled,

94 BROAD-WINGED HAWK.

both of a dirty orange yellow; claws semicircular, strong and
very sharp, hind one considerably the largest.

While examining the plumage of this bird, a short time after
it was shot, one of those winged ticks, with which many of our
birds are infested, appeared on the surface of the feathers,
moving about, as they usually do, backwards or sidewise, like
a crab, among the plumage, with great facility. The Fish-Hawk,
in particular, is greatly pestered with these vermin, which oc-
casionally leave him as suits their convenience. A gentleman,
who made the experiment, assured me, that on plunging a live
Fish-Hawk under water, several of these winged ticks remain-
ed hovering over the spot, and the instant the Hawk rose above
the surface, darted again among his plumage. The experiment
was several times made, with the like result. As soon, how-
ever, as these parasites perceive the dead body of their patron
beginning to become cold, they abandon it; and if the person
who holds it have his head uncovered, dive instantly among
his hair, as I have myself frequently experienced; and though
driven thence, repeatedly return, till they are caught and de-
stroyed. There are various kinds of these ticks: the one found
on the present Hawk is figured beside him. The head and tho-
rax were light brown; the legs, six in number, of a bright
green, their joints moving almost horizontally, and thus ena-
bling the creature to pass with the greatest ease between the
laminae of feathers; the wings were single, of a dark amber co-
lour, and twice as long as the body, which widened towards
the extremity, where it was slightly indented; feet two clawed.
This insect lived for several days between the crystal and
dial-plate of a watch, carried in the pocket; but being placed
for a few minutes in the sun, fell into convulsions and died.

SPECIES 11. FALCO FURCATUS.*
SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK.

[Plate LI.— Fig. 2.]

LINN. Syst. \ 29. — LATH, i, 60. — Hirundo maxima Peruviana
avis prcedatoris calcaribus instructa, FEUILLEE, Voy. Peru,
torn, n, 35. — CATESB. i, 4. — Le Milan de la Caroline, BRISS. i,
418.— BUFF, i, 221.— TURT. Syst. 149.— Arct. Zool. p. 210,
JVo. 108.— PEALE'S Museum, JVb. 142.

THIS very elegant species inhabits the southern districts of
the United States in summer; is seldom seen as far north as
Pennsylvania, but is very abundant in South Carolina and
Georgia, and still more so in West Florida, and the extensive
prairies of Ohio and the Indiana territory. I met with these
birds, in the early part of May, at a place called Duck-creek, in
Tennessee, and found them sailing about in great numbers near
Bayo Manchac on the Mississippi, twenty or thirty being
within view at the same time. At that season a species of Ci-
cada, or locust, swarmed among the woods, making a deafen-
ing noise, and I could perceive these Hawks frequently snatch-
ing them from the trees. A species of lizard, which is very
numerous in that quarter of the country, and has the faculty of
changing its colour at will, also furnishes the Swallow-tailed
Hawk with a favourite morsel. These lizards are sometimes
of the most brilliant light green, in a few minutes change to a
dirty clay colour, and again become nearly black. The Swal-
low-tailed Hawk, and Mississippi Kite, feed eagerly on this
lizard; and, it is said, on a small green snake also, which is the
mortal enemy of the lizard, and frequently pursues it to the

* F.forficatus, LINN. Syst. i, p. 89, Sp. 11, ed. 10. — LATH. Ind. Orn.p. 22, JVb.
41.— Milvusfurcatus, VIEILLOT, Ois. de VAm. Sept. vol. i, p. 28, pi. 10.

96 SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK.

very extremity of the branches, where both become the prey
of the Hawk.*

The Swallow-tailed Hawk retires to the south in October, at
which season, Mr. Bartram informs me, they are seen in Flo-
rida, at a vast height in the air, sailing about with great steadi-
ness; and continue to be seen thus, passing to their winter quar-
ters, for several days. They usually feed from their claws
as they fly along. Their flight is easy and graceful, with some-
times occasional sweeps among the trees, the long feathers of
their tail spread out, and each extremity of it used, alternately,
to lower, elevate, or otherwise direct their course. I have ne-
ver yet met with their nests.

These birds are particularly attached to the extensive prai-
ries of the western countries, where their favourite snakes, li-
zards, grasshoppers and locusts, are in abundance. They are
sometimes, though rarely, seen in Pennsylvania and New Jer-
sey, and that only in long and very warm summers. A spe-
cimen now in the Museum of Philadelphia, was shot within a
few miles of this city. We are informed, that one was taken
in the South sea, off the coast which lies between Ylo and Ari-
ca, in about lat. 23° south, on the eleventh of September, by
the Reverend the Father Louis Feuillee. t They are also com-
mon in Mexico, and extend tneir migrations as far as Peru.

The Swallow-tailed Hawk measures full two feet in length,
and upwards of four feet six inches in extent; the bill is black;
cere yellow, covered at the base with bristles; iris of the eye
silvery cream, surrounded with a blood-red ring; whole head
and neck pure white, the shafts fine black hairs; the whole low-
er parts also pure white; the throat and breast shafted in the
same manner; upper parts, or back, black, glossed with green
and purple; whole lesser coverts very dark purple; wings long,
reaching within two inches of the tip of the tail, and black;

* This animal, if I mistake not, is the Lacerta bullaris, or Bladder Lizard, of
Tiirton, vol. i, p. 666. The facility with which it changes colour is sur-
prising, and not generally known to naturalists.

t Jour, des Obs. TOM. u, 33.

SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 97

tail also very long, and remarkably forked, consisting of twelve
feathers, all black, glossed with green and purple; several of
the tertials white or edged with white, but generally covered
by the scapulars; inner vanes of the secondaries white on their
upper half, black towards their points; lining of the wings white;
legs yellow, short and thick, and feathered before, half way be-
low the knee; claws much curved, whitish; outer claw very
small. The greater part of the plumage is white at the base;
and when the scapulars are a little displaced, they appear spot-
ted with white.

This was a male in perfect plumage. The colour and mark-
ings of the male and female are nearly alike.

VOL. i. — p p

.

SPECIES 12. FALCO MISSISSIPPIENSIS.*

MISSISSIPPI KITE.
[Plate XXV.— -Fig. I, Male.]
PEALE'S Museum, No. 403.

THIS new species I first observed in the Mississippi territory,
a few miles below Natchez, on the plantation of William Dun-
bar, esquire, where the bird represented in the plate was obtain-
ed, after being slightly wounded; and the drawing made with
great care from the living specimen. To the hospitality of the
gentleman above mentioned, and his amiable family, I am in-
debted for the opportunity afforded me of procuring this, and
one or two more new species. This excellent man, (whose life
has been devoted to science) though at that time confined to
bed by a severe and dangerous indisposition, and personally
unacquainted with me, no sooner heard of my arrival at the
town of Natchez, than he sent a servant and horses, with an in-
vitation and request to come and make his house my home
and head-quarters, while engaged in exploring that part of the
country. The few happy days I spent there I shall never for-
get

In my perambulations, I frequently remarked this Hawk sail-
ing about in easy circles, and at a considerable height in the air,
generally in company with the Turkey-Buzzards, whose man-
ner of flight it so exactly imitates, as to seem the same species,
only in miniature, or seen at a more immense height Why
these two birds, whose food and manners, in other respects, are

*This species, although supposed to be new by Wilson, had been figured
and described by Vieillot, in his " Histoire Naturelle dea Oiseaux do PAme'ri-
que Septentrionale," under the name of Mima cenchris. Vieillot refers it to
the F. plumbeus of Gmelin, and the Sp«tUd-tailed Hobby of Latham. Gen. Syn. I,
p. 106.

MISSISSIPPI KITE. 99

so different, should so frequently associate together in air, I am
at a loss to comprehend. We cannot for a moment suppose
them mutually deceived by the similarity of each others flight:
the keenness of their vision forbids all suspicion of this kind.
They may perhaps be engaged, at such times, in mere amuse-
ment, as they are observed to soar to great heights previous to
a storm; or, what is more probable, may both be in pursuit of
their respective food. One that he may reconnoitre a vast ex-
tent of surface below, and trace the tainted atmosphere to his
favourite carrion; the other in search of those large beetles, or
coleopterous insects, that are known often to wing the higher
regions of the air; and which, in the three individuals of this
species of Hawk which I examined by dissection, were the
only substances found in their stomachs. For several miles, as
I passed near Bayo Manchak, the trees were swarming with a
kind of Cicada, or locust, that made a deafening noise; and here
I observed numbers of the Hawk now before us, sweeping about
among the trees like Swallows, evidently in pursuit of these lo-
custs; so that insects, it would appear, are the principal food of
this species. Yet when we contemplate the beak and talons of
this bird, both so sharp and powerful, it is difficult to believe
that they were not intended by nature for some more formida-
ble prey than beetles, locusts, or grasshoppers; and I doubt not
but mice, lizards, snakes and small birds, furnish him with an
occasional repast.

This Hawk, though wounded and precipitated from a vast
height, exhibited, in his distress, symptons of great strength,
and an almost unconquerable spirit. I no sooner approached to
pick him up, than he instantly gave battle, striking rapidly
with his claws, wheeling round and round as he lay partly on
his rump; and defending himself with great vigilance and dex-
terity; while his dark red eye sparkled with rage. Notwith-
standing all my caution in seizing him, to carry him home, he
struck his hind claw into my hand with such force as to pene-
trate into the bone. Anxious to preserve his life, I endeavoured
gently to disengage it; but this made him only contract it the

100 MISSISSIPPI KITE.

more powerfully, causing such pain that I had no other alter-
native but that of cutting the sinew of his heel with my penknife.
The whole time he lived with me, he seemed to watch every
movement I made; erecting the feathers of his hind-head, and
eyeing me with savage fierceness; considering me, no doubt,
as the greatest savage of the two. What effect education might
have had on this species, under the tutorship of some of the old
European professors of Falconry, I know not; but if extent of
wing, and energy of character, and ease and rapidity of flight,
would have been any recommendations to royal patronage, this
species possesses all these in a very eminent degree.

The long pointed wings, and forked tail, point out the affin-
ity of this bird to that family, or subdivision of the Falco genus,
distinguished by the name of Kites, which sail without flapping
the wings, and eat from their talons as they glide along.

The Mississippi Kite measures fourteen inches in length, and
thirty-six inches, or three feet, in extent! The head, neck, and
exterior webs of the secondaries, are of a hoary white; the low-
er parts a whitish ash; bill, cere, lores, and narrow line round
the eye, black; back, rump, scapulars, and wing-coverts, dark
blackish ash; wings very long and pointed, the third quill the
longest; the primaries are black, marked down each side of the
shaft with reddish sorrel; primary coverts also slightly touched
with the same; all the upper plumage at the roots is white; the
scapulars are also spotted with white; but this cannot be per-
ceived unless the feathers be blown aside; tail slightly forked,
and, as well as the rump, jet black; legs vermilion, tinged
with orange and becoming blackish towards the toes; claws
black; iris of the eye dark red, pupil black.

This was a male. With the female, which is expected soon
from that country, I shall, in a future volume, communicate such
further information relative to their manners and incubation, as
I may be able to collect.

SPECIES 13. FALCO LAGOPUS*

ROUGH-LEGGED FALCON.

[Plate XXXIII.— Fig. 1.]

drct. Zuul. p. 200, JVb. 92. — LATHAM, i, 75. — PEALE'S Museum,

J\"o. 116.

THIS handsome species, notwithstanding its formidable size
and appearance, spends the chief part of the winter among our
low swamps and meadows, watching for mice, frogs, lame
ducks, and other inglorious game. Twenty or thirty individu-
als of this family have regularly taken up their winter quar-
ters, for several years past, and probably long anterior to that
date, in the meadows below this city, between the rivers Dela-
ware and Schuylkill, where they spend their time watching
along the dry banks like cats; or sailing low and slowly over
the surface of the ditches. Though rendered' shy from the
many attempts made to shoot them, they seldom fly far, usual-
ly from one tree to another, at no great distance, making a loud
squeeling as they arise, something resembling the neighing of
a young colt; though in a more shrill and savage tone.

The bird represented in the plate was one of this fraternity;
and several others of the same association have been obtained
and examined during the present winter. On comparing these
with Pennant's description, referred to above, they correspond
so exactly, that no doubts remain of their being the same spe-
cies. Towards the beginning of April, these birds abandon
this part of the country, and retire to the north to breed.

They are common during winter in the lower parts of Mary-
land, and numerous in the extensive meadows below Newark,

* We add the following synonymes: LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 19. — GM.EL. Syst, ir
p. 260.— TEMM. Man. d'Orn. r, p. 65.

102 BOUGH-LEGGED FALCON.

New Jersey; are frequent along the Connecticut river; and, ac-
cording to Pennant, inhabit England, Norway and Lapmark.
Their flight is slow and heavy. They are often seen coursing
over the surface of the meadows, long after sunset, many times
in pairs. They generally roost on the tall, detached trees, that
rise from these low grounds; and take their stations, at day-
break, near a ditch, bank, or hay-stack, for hours together,
watching, with patient vigilance, for the first unlucky frog,
mouse or lizard, to make its appearance. The instant one of
these is descried, the Hawk, sliding into the air, and taking a
circuitous course along the surface, sweeps over the spot, and
in an instant has his prey grappled and sprawling in the air.

The Rough-legged Hawk measures twenty-two inches in
length, and four feet two inches in extent; cere, sides of the
mouth, and feet, rich yellow; legs feathered to the toes with
brownish yellow plumage, streaked with brown, femorals the
same; toes comparatively short, claws and bill blue black; iris
of the eye bright amber; upper part of the head pale ochre,
streaked with brown; back and wings chocolate, each feather
edged with bright ferruginous; first four primaries nearly black
about the tips, edged externally with silvery in some lights;
rest of the quills dark chocolate; lower side, and interior vanes,
white; tail-coverts white; tail rounded, white, with a broad
band of dark brown near the end, and tipt with white; body
below, and breast, light yellow ochre, blotched and streaked
with chocolate. What constitutes a characteristic mark of this
bird, is a belt or girdle, of very dark brown, passing round the
belly, just below the breast, and reaching under the wings to
the rump ; head very broad, and bill uncommonly small, suited
to the humility of its prey.

The female is much darker both above and below, particu-
larly in the belt or girdle, which is nearly black; the tail-coverts
are also spotted with chocolate; she is also something larger.

SPECIES 14. FALCO NIGER.*

BLACK HAWK.

[Plate LIIL— Fig. 1.]

PEALE'S Museum, JVb. 404.

THIS, and the other two figures in the same plate, are re-
duced from the large drawings, which were taken of the exact
size of nature, to one half their dimensions. I regret the ne-
cessity which obliges me to contract the figures of these birds,
by which much of the grandeur of the originals is lost; particu-
lar attention, however, has been paid, in the reduction, to the
accurate representation of all their parts.

This is a remarkably shy and wary bird, found most fre-
quently along the marshy shores of our large rivers; feeds on
mice, frogs and moles; sails much, and sometimes at a great
height; has been seen to kill a duck on wing; sits by the side
of the marshes, on a stake, for an hour at a time, in an almost
perpendicular position, as if dozing; flies with great ease, and
occasionally with great swiftness, seldom flapping the wings;
seems particularly fond of river shores, swamps and marshes;
is most numerous with us in winter, and but rarely seen in
summer; is remarkable for the great size of its eye, length of
its wings, and shortness of its toes. The breadth of its head is
likewise uncommon.

The Black Hawk is twenty-one inches long, and four feet
two inches in extent; bill bluish black; cere and sides of the
mouth orange yellow; feet the same; eye very large, iris bright
hazel; cartilage overhanging the eye, prominent, of a dull
greenish colour; general colour above, brown black, slightly

* As Wilson suspected, this is the F. Sancti Johannis of Latham. Ind. Orn.
p. 34, .Yo 74.— GMBL. Syst. i,p. 273, JVb. 92. F. Spadiceus? Id. Ab. 91.

104 BLACK HAWK.

dashed with dirty white; nape of the neck pure white under
the surface; front white; whole lower parts black, with slight
tinges of brown, and a few circular touches of the same on the
femorals; legs feathered to the toes, and black, touched with
brownish; the wings reach rather beyond the tip of the tail; the
five first primaries are white on their inner vanes; tail rounded
at the end, deep black, crossed with five narrow bands of pure
white, and broadly tipt with dull white; vent black, spotted
with white; inside vanes of the primaries snowy; claws black,
strong and sharp; toes remarkably short.

I strongly suspect this bird to be of the very same species
with the next, though both were found to be males. Although
differing greatly in plumage, yet in all their characteristic fea-
tures they strikingly resemble each other. The Chocolate-
coloured Falcon of Pennant, and St. John's Falcon of the
same author, (Arct. Zool. No. 93 and 94,) are doubtless varie-
ties of this; and very probably his Rough-legged Falcon also.
His figures, however, are bad, and ill calculated to exhibit the
true form and appearance of the bird.

This species is a native of North America alone. We have
no account of its ever having been seen in any part of Europe;
nor have we any account of its place, or manner, of breeding.

BLACK HAWK.— (VARIETY*)

[Plate LIIL— Fig. 2.]

PE ALE'S Museum, JVo. 405.

THIS is probably a younger bird of the preceding species,
being, though a male, somewhat less than its companion. Both
were killed in the same meadow, at the same place and time.
In form, features, and habitudes, it exactly agreed with the
former.

This bird measures twenty inches in length, and in extent
four feet; the eyes, bill, cere, toes, and claws, were as in the
preceding; head above white, streaked with black and light
brown; along the eyebrows a black line; cheeks streaked like
the head; neck streaked with black and reddish brown, on a
pale yellowish white ground; whole upper parts brown black,
dashed with brownish white and pale ferruginous; tail white for
half its length, ending in brown, marked with one or two bars
of dusky, and a large bar of black, and tipt with dull white ;
wings as in the preceding, their lining variegated with black,
white and ferruginous; throat and breast brownish yellow,
dashed with black; belly beautifully variegated with spots of
white, black and pale ferruginous; femorals and feathered legs
the same, but rather darker; vent plain brownish white.

The original colour of these birds, in their young state, may
probably be pale brown, as the present individual seemed to be
changing to a darker colour on the neck and sides of the head.
This change, from pale brown to black, is not greater than
some of the genus are actually known to undergo. One great
advantage of examining living, or newly killed specimens, is,
that whatever may be the difference of colour between any two,
the eye, countenance, and form of the head, instantly betray

* As Wilson supposed this is the young of the preceding species.
VOL. I. — Q q

106 BLACK HAWK.

the common family to which they belong; for this family like-
ness is never lost in the living bird, though in stuffed skins,
and preserved specimens, it is frequently entirely obliterated.
I have no hesitation, therefore, in giving it as my opinion, that
the present and preceding birds are of the same species, differ-
ing only in age, both being males. Of the female I am unable
at present to speak.

Pennant, in his account of the Chocolate-coloured Hawk?
which is very probably the same with the present and prece-
ding species, observes, that it preys much on Ducks, sitting on
a rock, and watching their rising, when it instantly strikes them.

While traversing our seacoast and salt marshes, between
Cape May and Egg-Harbour, I was every where told of a Duck
Hawk, noted for striking down Ducks on wing, though flying
with their usual rapidity. Many extravagances were mingled
with these accounts, particularly, that it always struck the
Ducks with its breast-bone, which was universally said to pro-
ject several inches, and to be strong and sharp. From the best
verbal descriptions I could obtain of this Hawk, I have strong
suspicions that it is no other than the Black Hawk, as its wings
were said to be long and very pointed, the colour very dark,
the size nearly alike, and several other traits given that seem-
ed particularly to belong to this species. As I have been pro-
mised specimens of this celebrated Hawk next winter, a short
time will enable me to determine the matter more satisfactorily.
Few gunners in that quarter are unacquainted with the Duck
Hawk, as it often robs them of their wounded birds, before
they are able to reach them.

SPECIES 16. FALCO HYEMALIS.
WINTER FALCON.

[Plate XXXV.— Fig. 1.]

TURTON, Syst. p. \5Q.-Jlrct. Zool p. 209, No. 107.— PEALE'S
Museum, No. 272 and 273.*

THIS elegant and spirited Hawk is represented in the plate
of one half its natural size; the other two figures are reduced in
the same proportion. He visits us from the north early in No-
vember, and leaves us late in March.

This is a dexterous Frog-catcher; who, that he may pursue
his profession with full effect, takes up his winter residence al-
most entirely among our meadows and marshes. He sometimes
stuffs himself so enormously with these reptiles, that the pro-
minency of his craw makes a large bunch, and he appears to
fly with difficulty. I have taken the broken fragments, and
whole carcasses, of ten frogs, of different dimensions, from the
crop of a single individual. Of his genius and other exploits I
am unable to say much. He appears to be a fearless and active
bird, silent, and not very shy. One which I kept for some
time, and which was slightly wounded, disdained all attempts
made to reconcile him to confinement; and would not suffer a
person to approach, without being highly irritated; throwing
himself backward, and striking with expanded talons, with
great fury. Though shorter winged than some of his tribe, yet
I have no doubt, but, with proper care, he might be trained to
strike nobler game, in a bold style, and with great effect. But
the education of Hawks in this country may well be postponed
for a time, until fewer improvements remain to be made in that
of the human subject.

* We add the following synonymes: Falco hyemalis, GMEL. Syst. i, p. 274.
—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 35.

108 WINTER FALCON.

Length of the Winter Hawk twenty inches, extent forty-one
inches, or nearly three feet six inches; cere and legs yellow,
the latter long, and feathered for an inch below the knee; bill
bluish black, small, furnished with a tooth in the upper man-
dible; eye bright amber, cartilage over the eye very promi-
nent, and of a dull green; head, sides of the neck, and throat,
dark brown, streaked with white; lesser coverts with a strong
glow of ferruginous; secondaries pale brown, indistinctly barred
with darker; primaries brownish orange, spotted with black,
wholly black at the tips; tail long, slightly rounded, barred al-
ternately with dark and pale brown, inner vanes white, exte-
rior feathers brownish orange; wings, when closed, reach rather
beyond the middle of the tail;, tail-coverts white, marked with
heart-shaped spots of brown; breast and belly white, with nu-
merous long drops of brown, the shafts blackish; femoral fea-
thers large, pale yellow ochre, marked with numerous minute
streaks of pale brown; claws black. The legs of this bird are
represented by different authors as slender; but I saw no appear-
ance of this in those I examined.

The female is considerably darker above, and about two
inches longer.

FALCO LINEATUS*

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.

[Plate LIIL— Fig. 3.]

Arct. Zool. p. 206, JVb. 1 02.— LATH, i, 56, JVo. 36.— TURT. Syst,
p. 153.— PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 205.

THIS Hawk is more rarely met with than either of those in
the same plate. Its haunts are in the neighbourhood of the sea.
It preys on Larks, Sandpipers, and the small Ringed Plover,
and frequently on Ducks. It flies high and irregularly, and
not in the sailing manner of the Long-winged Hawks. I
have occasionally observed this bird near Egg-Harbour, in
New Jersey; and once in the meadows below this city. This
Hawk was first transmitted to Great Britain by Mr. Black-
burne, from Long Island, in the state of New York. Of its
manner of building, eggs, &c. we are altogether unacquainted.

The Red-shouldered Hawk is nineteen inches in length; the
head and back are brown, seamed and edged with rusty ; bill
blue black; cere and legs yellow; greater wing-coverts and se-
condaries pale olive brown, thickly spotted on both vanes with
white and pale rusty; primaries very dark, nearly black, and
barred or spotted with white; tail rounded, reaching about an
inch and a half beyond the wings, black, crossed by five bands
of white, and broadly tipt with the same; whole breast and bel-
ly bright rusty, speckled and spotted with transverse rows of
white, the shafts black; chin and cheeks pale brownish, streak-
ed also with black; iris reddish hazel; vent pale ochre, tipt with
rusty; legs feathered a little below the knees, long; these and
the feet a fine yellow; claws black; femorals pale rusty, faintly
barred with a darker tint.

* This is stated by Prince Musignano to be the young' male of the preceding

species.

110 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.

In the month of April I shot a female of this species, and the
only one I have yet met with, in a swamp, seven or eight miles
below Philadelphia. The eggs were, some of them, nearly as
large as peas, from which circumstance I think it probable they
breed in such solitary parts, even in this state. In colour, size
and markings, it differed very little from the male described
above. The tail was scarcely quite so black, and the white
bars not so pure: it was also something larger.

SPECIES 16. FALCO ULIGINOSUS*

MARSH HAWK,

[Plate LI.— Fig. 1.]

EDW. iv, 291.— LATH, i, 90.— Jlrct. Zool p. 208, JVo. 105. —
BARTRAM, p. 290.— PE ALE'S Museum. JYU 318.

A DRAWING of this Hawk was transmitted to Edwards more
than fifty years ago, by Mr. William Bartram, and engraved
in Plate 291 of Edwards' Natural History. At that time, and
I believe till now, it has been considered as a species peculiar
to this country.

I have examined various individuals of this Hawk, both in
summer and in the depth of winter, and find them to corres-
pond so nearly with the Ring-tail of Europe, that I have no
doubt of their being the same species, t

This Hawk is most numerous where there are extensive mea-
dows and salt marshes, over which it sails very low, making
frequent circuitous sweeps over the same ground, in search of
a species of mouse, figured in Plate 50, and very abundant in
such situations. It occasionally flaps the wings, but is most com-
monly seen sailing about within a few feet of the surface. They
are usually known by the name of the Mouse-Hawk along the
coast of New Jersey, where they are very common. Several
were also brought me last winter from the meadows below Phi-
ladelphia. Having never seen its nest, I am unable to describe
it from my own observation. It is said, by European writers,

* Falco pygargus, LINK.

f Tliis opinion of Wilson's is in accordance with that of some recent orni-
thologists. We add the following Synonymes: F. cyaneus, GMEL. Syst. i, p.
'276.— LATH. Ind. orn. p. 39.— Ring-tail, PEXN. Brit. Zool. i, p. 194, No. 59.
Hen Harrier, Id. p. 193. No. 58.— F. pygargus, LINN. Syst. i, p. 89, No. 9, ed.
10. — Circus //uJsoniws, VIEIL. Oisde 1'Am. Sept. i, p. 36, pi. 9. — Busard Saint-
Martin, TKMM. Man. d'Oni. i, p. 72.

112 MARSH HAWK.

to build on the ground, or on low limbs of trees. Pennant ob-
serves, that, it sometimes changes to a rust-coloured variety,
except on the rump and tail. It is found, as was to be expected,
at Hudson's Bay, being native in both this latitude and that of
Britain. We are also informed that it is common in the open
and temperate parts of Russia and Siberia; and extends as far
as lake Baikal, though it is said not to be found in the north of
Europe. *

The Marsh Hawk is twenty-one inches long, and three feet
eleven inches in extent; cere and legs yellow, the former ting-
ed with green, the latter long and slender; nostril large, trian-
gular, this, and the bj^e of the bill, thickly covered with strong
curving hairs, that rise from the space between the eye and bill,
arching over the base of the bill and cere — this is a particular
characteristic; bill blue, black at the end; eye dark hazel; carti-
lage overhanging the eye, and also the eyelid, bluish green;
spot under the eye, and line from the front over it, brownish
white; head above, and back, dark glossy chocolate brown, the
former slightly seamed with bright ferruginous; scapulars spot-
ted with the same, under the surface; lesser coverts, and band
of the wing, here and there edged with the same; greater cov-
erts and primaries tipt with whitish; quills deep brown at the
extreme half, some of the outer ones hoary on the exterior
edge; all the primaries yellowish white on the inner vanes and
upper half, also barred on the inner vanes with black; tail long,
extending three inches beyond the wings, rounded at the end,
and of a pale sorrel colour, crossed by four broad bars of very
dark brown, the two middle feathers excepted, which are bar-
red with deep and lighter shades of chocolate brown; chin pale
ferruginous; round the neck a collar of bright rust colour; breast,
belly and vent, pale rust, shafted with brown; femorals long,
tapering, and of the same pale rust tint; legs feathered near an
inch below the knee. This was a female. The male differs chief-
ly in being rather lighter, and somewhat less.

* Pallas, as quoted by Pennant.

MARSH HAWK. 113

This Hawk is particularly serviceable to the rice fields of the
southern states, by the havock it makes among the clouds of
Rice Buntings, that spread such devastation among that grain,
in its early stage. As it sails low and swiftly, over the surface
of the field, it keeps the flocks in perpetual fluctuation, and
greatly interrupts their depredations. The planters consider
one Marsh Hawk to be equal to several negroes, for alarming
the Rice-birds. Formerly the Marsh Hawk used to be nume-
rous along the Schuylkill and Delaware, during the time the
seeds of the Zizania were ripening, and the Reed-birds abun-
dant; but they have of late years become less numerous here.

Pennant considers the " strong, thick, and short legs" of
this species as specific distinctions from the Ring-tailed Hawk;
the legs, however, are long and slender; and a Marsh Hawk
such as he has described, with strong, thick and short legs, is
no where to be found in the United States.

NOTE — Montagu, in the " Supplement to the Ornithological
Dictionary," an excellent work, positively asserts, that the F.
cyaneus, and the F. pygargus, are the same species. This opi-
nion the same writer had given in a paper, published in the ninth
volume of the Linnean Transactions. If this be the fact, the
name of pygargus must be retained for the species, it being that
which was given to it by Linnajus, in the tenth edition of the
Systema Nature, published in the year 1758. — G. Ord.

VOL. i. — R i

GENUS 3. STRIX. OWL.
SPECIES 1. STRIX NYCTEA.

SNOW OWL.
[Plate XXXII.— Fig. 1, Male.]

LATHAM i, 132, JVo. 17.— BUFFON, i, 387.— Great White Owl,
EDW. 61.— Snowy Owl, Jirct. Zool 233, JVo. 121.— PEALE'S
Museum, No. 458.*

THE Snow Owl represented in the plate, is reduced to half its
natural size. To preserve the apparent magnitude, the other
accompanying figures are drawn by the same scale.

This great northern hunter inhabits the coldest and most
dreary regions of the northern hemisphere, in both continents.
The forlorn mountains of Greenland, covered with eternal ice
and snows, where, for nearly half the year, the silence of death
and desolation might almost be expected to reign, furnish food
and shelter to this hardy adventurer; whence he is only driven
by the extreme severity of weather towards the seashore. He is
found in Lapland, Norway, and the country near Hudson's Bay,
during the whole year; is said to be common in Siberia, and
numerous in Kamtschatka. He is often seen in Canada, and the
northern districts of the United States; and sometimes extends
his visits to the borders of Florida. Nature, ever provident, has
so effectually secured this bird from the attacks of cold, that not
even a point is left exposed. The bill is almost completely hid
among a mass of feathers, that cover the face; the legs are clothed
with such an exuberance of long thick hair-like plumage, as to
appear nearly as large as those of a middle sized dog, nothing
being visible but the claws, which are large, black, much hooked,

* We add the following synonymes: — Slrix nj/ctea, LINN. Syst. ed. 10, i, ;>.
93.— -GMEL. Syst. r, p. 291.— LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 57. Slrix Candida, Id. Sup. 2, p.
14.— VIEIL. Ois. de I1 Jim, Sept. i, pi. IS.— TEMM. Man. cf Orn. j, p. 82.

SNOW OWL. ll5

and extremely sharp. The whole plumage, below the surface,
is of the most exquisitely soft, warm, and elastic kind; and so
closely matted together, as to make it a difficult matter to pene-
trate to the skin.

The usual food of this species is said to be hares, grous, rab-
bits, ducks, mice, and even carrion. Unlike most of his tribe,
he hunts by day as well as by twilight, and is particularly fond
of frequenting the shores and banks of shallow rivers, over the
surface of which he slowly sails, or sits on a rock, a little raised
above the water, watching for fish. These he seizes with a sud-
den and instantaneous stroke of the foot, seldom missing his aim.
In the more southern and thickly settled parts he is seldom seen;
and when he appears, his size, colour, and singular aspect, at-
tract general notice.

In the month of October I met with this bird on Oswego river,
New York, a little below the falls, vigilantly watching for fish.
At Pittsburg, in the month of February, I saw another, which
had been shot in the wing some time before. At a place on the
Ohio called Long Reach, I examined another, which was the
first ever recollected to have been seen there. In the town of
Cincinnati, state of Ohio, two of these birds alighted upon the
roof of the court-house, and alarmed the whole town. A people
more disposed to superstition, would have deduced some dire
or fortunate prognostication, from their selecting such a place;
but the only solicitude was how to get possession of them, which
after several vollies was at length effected. One of these, a fe-
male, I afterwards examined, when on my way through that
place to New Orleans. Near Bairdstown, in Kentucky, I met
with a large and very beautiful one, which appeared to be al-
together unknown to the inhabitants of that quarter, and excited
general surprise. A person living on the eastern shore of Mary-
land, shot one of these birds a few months ago, a female, and,
having stuffed the skin, brought it to Philadelphia, to Mr. Peale,
in expectation no doubt of a great reward. I have examined
eleven of these birds within these fifteen months last past, in
different and very distant parts of the country, all of which

116 SNOW OWL.

were shot either during winter, late in the fall, or early in
spring; so that it does not appear certain whether any remain
during summer within the territory of the United States; though
I think it highly probable that a few do, in some of the more
northern inland parts, where they are most numerous during
winter.

The colour of this bird is well suited for concealment, while
roaming over the general waste of snows; and its flight strong
and swift, very similar to that of some of our large Hawks. Its
hearing must be exquisite, if we judge from the largeness of
these organs in it; and its voice is so dismal, that, as Pennant
observes, it adds horror even to the regions of Greenland by its
hideous cries, resembling those of a man in deep distress.

The male of this species measures twenty-two inches and a
half in length, and four feet six inches in breadth; head and neck
nearly white, with a few small dots of dull brown interspersed;
eyes deep sunk under projecting eyebrows, the plumage at their
internal angles fluted or prest in, to admit direct vision, below
this it bristles up, covering nearly the whole bill; the irides are
of the most brilliant golden yellow, and the countenance, from
the proportionate smallness of the head, projection of the eye-
brow, and concavity of the plumage at the angle of the eye,
very different from that of any other of the genus; general co-
lour of the body white, marked with lunated spots of pale brown
above, and with semicircular dashes below; femoral feathers
long, and legs covered, even over the claws, with long shaggy
hair-like down, of a dirty white; the claws, when exposed, ap-
pear large, much hooked, of a black colour, and extremely sharp
pointed; back white, tail rounded at the end, white, slightly-
dotted with pale brown near the tips; wings, when closed, reach
near the extremity of the tail; vent feathers large, strong shafted,
and extending also to the point of the tail; upper part of the
breast and belly plain white; body very broad and flat.

The female, which measures two feet in length, and five feet
two inches in extent, is covered more thickly with spots of a
much darker colour than those on the male; the chin, throat,

SNOW OWL. 117

face, belly and vent, are white; femoral feathers white, long
and shaggy, marked with a few heart-shaped spots of brown;
legs also covered to the claws with long white hairy down; rest
of the plumage white, every feather spotted or barred with dark
brown, largest on the wing quills, where they are about two
inches apart; fore part of the crown thickly marked with round-
ish black spots; tail crossed with bands of broad brownish spots;
shafts of all the plumage white; bill and claws, as in the male,
black; third and fourth wing quill the longest, span of the foot
four inches.

From the various individuals of these birds which I have ex-
amined, I have reason to believe that the male alone approaches
nearly to white in his plumage, the female rarely or never. The
bird from which the figure in the plate was drawn, was killed
at Egg-Harbour, New Jersey, in the month of December. The
conformation of the eye of this bird forms a curious and inte-
resting subject to the young anatomist. The globe of the eye is
immoveably fixed in its socket, by a strong, elastic, hard, car-
tilaginous case, in form of a truncated cone; this case being
closely covered with a skin, appears at first to be of one con-
tinued piece; but on removing the exterior membrane it is found
to be formed of fifteen pieces, placed like the staves of a cask,
overlapping a little at the base or narrow end, and seem as if
capable of being enlarged or contracted, perhaps by the muscu-
lar membrane with which they are encased. In five other diffe-
rent species of Owls, which I have since examined, I found
nearly the same conformation of this organ, and exactly the
same number of staves. The eye being thus fixed, these birds,
as they view different objects, are always obliged to turn the
head; and nature has so excellently adapted their neck to this
purpose, that they can, with ease, turn it round, without mov-
ing the body, in almost a complete circle.

SPECIES 2. STRIX HUDSONM*

HAWK OWL.
[Plate L.— Fig. 6.]

Little Hawk Owl, EDW. 62.— LATH, i, 142, JV*o. 29.— Phil. Trans.
61. 385. — Le Chat-huant de Canada, Bmss. i, 518. — BUFF, i,
391. — Chouette A longue queue de Siberie, PL enl. 463. — Jlrct.
Zool. p. 234, No. 123.— PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 500.

THIS is another inhabitant of both continents, a kind of equi-
vocal species, or rather a connecting link between the Hawk
and Owl tribes, resembling the latter in the feet, and in the
radiating feathers round the eye and bill; but approaching
nearer to the former in the smallness of its head, narrowness
of its face, and in its length of tail. In short, it seems just such
a figure as one would expect to see generated between a Hawk
and an Owl of the same size, were it possible for them to pro-
duce; and yet it is as distinct, independent, and original a spe-
cies, as any other. The figure in the plate is reduced to one
half the size of life. It has also another strong trait of the Hawk
tribe, in flying and preying by day, contrary to the general
habit of Owls. It is characterized as a bold and active species,
following the fowler, and carrying off his game as soon as it is
shot. It is said to prey on Partridges and other birds; and is
very common at Hudson's Bay; where it is called by the Indi-
ans CoparacochA We are also informed that this same species
inhabits Denmark and Sweden, is frequent in all Siberia, and
on the west side of the Uralian chain, as far as Casan and the
Volga; but not in Russia.:}: It was also seen by the navigators
near Sandwich sound, in lat. 61° north.

* StrixJ \iner ca, Lisrx., which name must be adopted,
f Edwards. t Pennant.

HAWK OWL. 119

This species is very rare in Pennsylvania, and the more
southern parts of the United States. Its favourite range seems
to be along the borders of the arctic regions, making occasional
excursions southwardly, when compelled by severity of wea-
ther, and consequent scarcity of food. I sometime ago received
a drawing of this bird from the District of Maine, where it was
considered rare; that, and the specimen from which the draw-
ing in the plate was taken, which was shot in the neighbour-
hood of Philadelphia, are the only two that have come under
my notice. These having luckily happened to be male and
female, have enabled me to give a description of both. Of their
nest, or manner of breeding, we have no account.

The male of this species is fifteen inches long; the bill orange
yellow, and almost hid among the feathers; plumage of the chin
curving up over the under mandible; eyes bright orange; head
small; face narrow, and with very little concavity; cheeks white;
crown and hind-head dusky black, thickly marked with round
spots of white; sides of the neck marked with a large curving
streak of brown black, with another a little behind it of a tri-
angular form; back, scapulars, rump and tail-coverts, brown
olive, thickly speckled with broad spots of white; the tail ex-
tends three inches beyond the tips of the wings, is of a brown
olive colour, and crossed with six or seven narrow bars of white,
rounded at the end, and also tipt with white; the breast and
chin are marked with a large spot of brown olive; upper part
of the breast light, lower, and all the parts below, elegantly
barred with dark brown and white; legs and feet covered to,
and beyond the claws, with long whitish plumage, slightly yel-
low, and barred with fine lines of olive; claws horn colour. The
weight of this bird was twelve ounces.

The female is much darker above; the quills are nearly black,
and the upper part of the breast is blotched with deep blackish
brown.

It is worthy of remark, that in all Owls that fly by night,
the exterior edges and sides of the wing quills are slightly re-
curved, and end in fine hairs or points; by which means the bird

120 HAWK OWL.

is enabled to pass through the air with the greatest silence, a
provision necessary for enabling them the better to surprise their
prey. In the Hawk Owl now before us, which flies by day,
and to whom this contrivance would be of no consequence, it
is accordingly omitted, or at least is scarcely observable. So
judicious, so wise and perfectly applicable, are all the dispositions
of the Creator.

SPECIES 3. STRIX NEBULOSJ.

BARRED OWL.
[Plate XXXIII. —Fig. 2.]

TURTON, Syst. 169.— Arct. Zool. p. 234, JVo. 122. — LATH. 133. —
Strix acclamator, the Wliooting Owl, BARTHAM,289. — PEALE'S
Museum, No. 464.*

THIS is one of our most common Owls. In winter, particu-
larly, it is numerous in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, among
the woods that border the extensive meadows of Schuylkill
and Delaware. It is very frequently observed flying during
day, and certainly sees more distinctly, at that time, than many
of its genus. In one spring, at different times, I met with more
than forty of them, generally flying, or sitting exposed. I also
once met with one of their nests, containing three young, in
the crotch of a white-oak, among thick foliage. The nest was
rudely put together, composed outwardly of sticks, intermixed
with some dry grass, and leaves, and lined with smaller twigs.
At another time, in passing through the woods, I perceived
something white, on the high shaded branch of a tree, close to
the trunk, that, as I thought, looked like a cat asleep. Unable
to satisfy myself, I was induced to fire, when, to my surprise
and regret, four young Owls, of this same species, nearly full
grown, came down headlong, and fluttering for a few moments,
died at my feet. Their nest was probably not far distant. I have
also seen the eggs of this species, which are nearly as large as
those of a young pullet, but much more globular, and perfectly
white.

These birds sometimes seize on fowls, partridges, and young
rabbits; mice, and small game, are, however, their most usual

* We add the folio wing synonymes: Stri-x nebulosa, .LATH. 7/irf. Orn. p. 58. —
GMEL. Sjfs/. i, p. 291.— TKMM. Man. d'Orn. i, p. 88.
VOL. I S S

122 BARRED OWL.

food. The difference of size between the male and female of
this Owl is extraordinary, amounting, sometimes, to nearly
eight inches in the length. Both scream during the day like a
Hawk.

The male Barred Owl measures sixteen inches and a half in
length, and thirty-eight inches in extent; upper parts a pale
brown, marked with transverse spots of white; wings barred
with alternate bands of pale brown and darker; head smooth,
very large, mottled with transverse touches of dark brown, pale
brown and white; eyes large, deep blue, the pupil not per-
ceivable; face, or radiated circle of the eyes, gray, surrounded
by an outline of brown and white dots; bill yellow, tinged with
green; breast barred transversely with rows of brown and white;
belly streaked longitudinally with long stripes of brown, on a
yellowish ground; vent plain yellowish white; thighs and feath-
ered legs the same, slightly pointed with brown; toes nearly
covered with plumage; claws dark horn colour, very sharp; tail
rounded, and remarkably concave below, barred with six broad
bars of brown, and as many narrow ones of white; the back and
shoulders have a cast of chesnut; at each internal angle of the
eye is a broad spot of black; the plumage of the radiated circle
round the eye ends in long black hairs; and the bill is encom-
passed by others of a longer and more bristly kind. These,
probably, serve to guard, the eye when any danger approaches
it, in sweeping hastily through the woods; and those usually
found on Flycatchers, may have the same intention to fulfil;
for on the slightest touch of the point of any of these hairs, the
nictitating membrane was instantly thrown over the eye.

The female is twenty-two inches long, and four feet in ex-
tent; the chief difference of colour consists in her wings being
broadly spotted with white; the shoulder being a plain chocolate
brown; the tail extends considerably beyond the tips of the
wings; the bill is much larger, and of a more golden yellow;
iris of the eye the same as that of the male.

The different character of the feathers of this, and I believe
of most Owls, is really surprising. Those that surround the

* *

•
BARRED OWL. . 123

bill, differ little from bristles; those that surround the region
of the eyes, are exceeding open, and unwebbed ; these are bound-
ed by another set, generally proceeding from the external edge
of the ear, of a most peculiar, small, narrow, velvetty kind,
whose fibres are so exquisitely fine, as to be invisible to the
naked eye; above, the plumage has one general character at the
surface, calculated to repel rain and moisture; but towards the
roots, it is of the most soft, loose, and downy substance, in na-
ture, so much so, that it may be touched without being felt; the
webs of the wing quills are also of a delicate softness, covered
with an almost imperceptible hair, and edged with a loose silky
down, so that the owner passes through the air without inter-
rupting the most profound silence. Who cannot perceive the
hand of God in all these things!

SPECIES 4. STRIX FLAMMED.

WHITE, OR BARN OWL.

[Plate L.— Fig. 2.]

LATH, i, 138.— Jlrct. ZooL p. 235, «,Vo. 124.— Phil 7V«ns. in,
\58.-UEffraie, ou la Fresaie, BUFF, i, 366, pi. 26. PL enl.
440. — BEWICK'S British Birds, i, p. 89. — Common Owl, TURT.
Syst.p, 170.— -PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 486.

THIS Owl, though so common in Europe, is rare in this part
of the United States; and is only found here during very severe
winters. This may possibly be owing to the want of those fa-
vourite recesses, which it so much affects in the eastern conti-
nent. The multitudes of old ruined castles, towers, monaste-
ries and cathedrals, that every where rise to view in those
countries, are the chosen haunts of this well known species. Its
savage cries at night give, with vulgar minds, a cast of super-
natural horror to those venerable mouldering piles of antiquity.
This species, being common to both continents, doubtless ex-
tends to the arctic regions. It also inhabits Tartary, where,
according to Pennant, " the Monguls and natives almost pay it
divine honours, because they attribute to this species the pre-
servation of the founder of their empire, Cinghis Khan. That
prince, with his small army, happened to be surprised and put
to flight by his enemies, and forced to conceal himself in a little
coppice: an Owl settled on the bush under which he was hid,
and induced his pursuers not to search there, as they thought it
impossible that any man could be concealed in a place where
that bird would perch. From thenceforth they held it to be
sacred, and every one wore a plume of the feathers of this spe-
cies on his head. To this day the Kalmucs continue the custom

WHITE, Oli BARN OWL. 125

on all great festivals; and some tribes have an idol in form of an
Owl, to which they fasten the real legs of one."*

This species is rarely found in Pennsylvania in summer. Of
its place and manner of building I am unable, from my own
observation, to speak. The bird itself has been several times
found in the hollow of a tree, and was once caught in a barn in
my neighbourhood. European writers inform us, that it makes
no nest; but deposits its eggs in the holes of walls, and lays five
or six of a whitish colour; is said to feed on mice and small
birds, which, like the most of its tribe, it swallows whole, and
afterwards emits the bones, feathers, and other indigestible parts,
at its mouth, in the form of small round cakes, which are often
found in the empty buildings it frequents. During its repose it
is said to make a blowing noise, resembling the snoring of a
man.t

It is distinguished in England by various names, the Barn
Owl, the Church Owl, Gillihowlet and Screech Owl. In the
lowlands of Scotland it is universally called the Hoolet.

The White or Barn Owl is fourteen inches long, and upwards
of three feet six inches in extent; bill a whitish horn colour,
longer than is usual among its tribe; space surrounding each eye
remarkably concave, the radiating feathers meeting in a high
projecting ridge, arching from the bill upwards; between these
lies a thick tuft of bright tawny feathers, that are scarcely seen
unless the ridges be separated; face white, surrounded by a bor-
der of narrow, thickset, velvetty feathers, of a reddish cream
colour at the tip, pure silvery white below, and finely shafted
with black; whole upper parts a bright tawny yellow, thickly
sprinkled with whitish and pale purple, and beautifully inter-
spersed with larger drops of white, each feather of the back and
wing-coverts ending in an oblong spot of white, bounded by
black; head large, tumid; sides of the neck pale yellow ochre,
thinly sprinkled with small touches of dusky; primaries and
secondaries the same, thinly barred and thickly sprinkled with

* Arct. Zool. p. 235. t Bewick, i, p. 90.

126 WHITE, OR BARN OWL.

dull purplish brown; tail two inches shorter than the tips of the
wings, even, or very slightly forked, pale yellowish, crossed
with five bars of brown, and thickly dotted with the same;
whole lower parts pure white, thinly interspersed with small
round spots of blackish; thighs the same, legs long, thinly co-
vered with short white down, nearly to the feet, which are of
a dirty white, and thickly warted; toes thinly clad with white
hairs; legs and feet large and clumsy. The ridge or shoulder of
the wing is tinged with bright orange brown. The aged bird is
more white; in some, the spots of black on the breast are want-
ing, and the colour below a pale yellow; in others a pure" white.

The female measures fifteen inches and a half in length, and
three feet eight inches in extent; is much darker above; the
lower parts tinged with tawny, and marked also with round
spots of black. One of these was lately sent me, which was shot
on the border of the meadows below Philadelphia. Its stomach
contained the mangled carcasses of four large meadow mice,
hair, bones and all. The common practice of most Owls is,
after breaking the bones, to swallow the mouse entire; the
bones, hair, and other indigestible parts, are afterwards dis-
charged from the mouth, in large roundish dry balls, that are
frequently met with in such places as these birds usually haunt.

As the Meadow-mouse is so eagerly sought after by those
birds, and also by great numbers of Hawks, which regularly, at
the commencement of winter, resort to the meadows below Phi-
ladelphia, and to the marshes along the seashore, for the pur-
pose of feeding on these little animals, some account of them
may not be improper in this place. Fig. 3 represents the Mea-
dow-mouse drawn by the same scale, viz. reduced to one half
its natural dimensions. This species appears not to have been
taken notice of by Turton, in his translation of Gmelin's Lin-
naeus. From the nose to the insertion of the tail it measures
four inches; the tail is between three quarters and an inch long,
hairy, and usually curves upwards; the fore feet are short, five-
toed, the inner toe very short, but furnished with a claw; hind
feet also five-toed; the ears are shorter than the fur, through

WHITE, OR BARN OWL. 127

which, though large, they are scarcely noticeable; the nose is
blunt; the colour of the back is dark brown, that of the belly
hoary; the fur is long and extremely fine; the hind feet are
placed very far back, and are also short; the eyes exceeding
small. This mischievous creature is a great pest to the meadows,
burrowing in them in every direction; but is particularly inju-
rious to the imbankments raised along the river, perforating
them in numerous directions, and admitting the water, which
afterwards increases to dangerous breaches, inundating large ex-
tents of these low grounds, and thus becoming the instruments
of their own destruction. In their general figure they bear great
resemblance to the common musk-rat, and, like them, swim
and dive well. They feed on the bulbous roots of plants, and
also on garlic, of which they are remarkably fond.*

Another favourite prey of most of our Owls is the bat, one
species of which is represented at fig. 4, as it hung during the
day in the woods where I found it. This also appears to be a
nondescript. The length of this bat, from the nose to the tip of
the tail, is four inches; the tail itself is as long as the body, but
generally curls up inwards; the general colour is a bright iron

* As Wilson conj ectured, this animal was a nondescript. It being a Campagnol,
it may be classed under the name of rfrvicola Pennsylvanicus; as it is the same ani-
mal which was introduced into my catalogue of Mammalia, under that trivial de-
nomination. As far as our information extends, the female brings forth only two
young- at a litter. Her two teats are inguinal; and the young, by holding on to
them, are transported by the mother whithersoever she goes — that is, when
they are inclined to accompany her; when dragged along, their position is be-
tween her hind legs; and she can run with them hanging to her, as stated,
with considerable swiftness.

Dr. Leach, in the Zoological Miscellany, vol. i, p. 60, figured and described
a Campagnol, which had been received from Hudson's Bay. This animal,
which was named Jl. xanthognatha, has been mistaken, by some naturalists, for
the present species, which is not half its size: the Fulvous-cheeked Campag-
nol measures, from the tip of its nose to the base of its tail, at least nine inches,
whilst the admeasurement of ours is not more than four inches. Dr. Leach's
description is too imperfect: it lacks those details which are essential in dis-
criminating species. The size of his animal we infer from his figure, which he
says is " rather less than half of the natural size."— G. Ord.

128 WHITE, OR BARN OWL,

gray, the fur being of a reddish cream at bottom, then strongly
tinged with lake, and minutely tipt with white ; the ears are
scarcely half an inch long, with two slight valves; the nostrils
are somewhat tubular; fore teeth in the upper jaw, none — in
the lower, four, not reckoning the tusks; the eyes are very
small black points; the chin, upper part of the breast and head,
are of a plain reddish cream colour; the wings have a single
hook or claw each, and are so constructed, that the animal may
hang either with its head or tail downward. I have several
times found two hanging fast locked together behind a leaf, the
hook of one fixed in the mouth of the other; the hind feet are
furnished with five toes, sharp-clawed; the membrane of the
wings is dusky, shafts light brown; extent twelve inches. In a
cave, not far from Carlisle in Pennsylvania, I found a number
of these bats in the depth of winter, in very severe weather;
they were lying on the projecting shelves of the rocks, and
when the brand of fire was held near them, wrinkled up their
mouths, showing their teeth; when held in the hand for a short
time, they became active, and after being carried into a stove
room, flew about as lively as ever. *

* This species Dr. Godman calls the Vesjierlilio novcboracensis of Linnaeus.
See his American Natural History, vol. i, p. 48. Wilson, it should seem, was
of a different opinion.

SPECIES 5. STRIX PASSERINE.

LITTLE OWL.
[Plate XXXIV.— Fig. 1.]

Jirct. ZooL 236, No. 126. — TURTON, Syst. 172. — PEALE'S Museum,

No. 522.*

THIS is one of the least of its whole genus, but like many
other little folks, makes up in neatness of general form and ap-
pearance, for deficiency of size, and is perhaps the most shape-
ly of all our Owls. Nor are the colours and markings of its plu-
mage inferior in simplicity and effect to most others. It also
possesses an eye fully equal in spirit and brilliancy to the best
of them.

This species is a general and constant inhabitant of the mid-
dle and northern states; but is found most numerous in the
neighbourhood of the seashore, and among woods and swamps
of pine trees. It rarely rambles much during day; but if dis-
turbed, flies a short way, and again takes shelter from the
light; at the approach of twilight it is all life and activity; being
a noted and dexterous mouse-catcher. It is found as far north
as Nova Scotia, and even Hudson's Bay; is frequent in Russia;
builds its nest generally in pines, half way up the tree, and lays
two eggs, which, like those of the rest of its genus, are white.
The melancholy and gloomy umbrage of those solitary ever-
greens forms its favourite haunts; where it sits dosing and slum-
bering all day, lulled by the roar of the neighbouring ocean.

* We add the following1 synonymes: Slrix passtrina, LINX. Syst. ed. 10, vol.
i, p. 93.— GMEL. Syst. T, p. 296, No. 12.— Strix acadiensis, LATH. Ind. Om.
p. 65. — S. ucadica, GMEL. Syst. i, p. 296, No. 43. — TEJIM. Man. d'Orn. i, p.
92.

VOL. I. — T t

130 LITTLE OWL. ,J

The Little Owl is seven inches and a half long, and eighteen
inches in extent; the upper parts are a plain brown olive, the
scapulars, and some of the greater and lesser coverts, being
spotted with white; the first five primaries are crossed oblique-
ly with five bars of white; tail rounded, rather darker than the
body, crossed with two rows of white spots, and tipt with white;
whole interior vanes of the wings spotted with the same; auric-
ulars yellowish brown; crown, upper part of the neck, and cir-
cle surrounding the ears, beautifully marked with numerous
points of white, on an olive brown ground ; front pure white,
ending in long blackish hairs; at the internal angle of the eyes,
a broad spot of black, radiating outwards; irides pale yellow;
bill a blackish horn colour, lower parts streaked with yellow
ochre and reddish bay; thighs and feathered legs pale buff; toes
covered to the claws, which are black, large, and sharp pointed.

The bird from which the foregoing figure and description
were taken, was shot on the seashore, near Great Egg-harbour,
in New Jersey, in the month of November; and on dissection
was found to be a female. Turton describes a species called the
White-fronted Owl, (8. albifrons,) which in every thing, ex-
cept the size, agrees with this bird, and has very probably been
taken from a young male; which is sometimes found considera-
bly less than the female.

SPECIES 6. STRIX BRACHYO TOS.

SHORT-EARED OWL.

[Plate XXXIII. —Fig. 3.]

TURTON, St/st.p. 167,—Jlrct. Zool. p. 229, JVb. 116.— LATH, i,
124. — La Chomttt, ou la grand Cheveche, BUFF, i, PI. enl.
438.— PEALE'S Museum, «7Vo. 440.*

THIS is another species common to both continents, being
found in Britain as far north as the Orkney isles, where it also
breeds; building its nest upon the ground, amidst the heath; ar-
rives and disappears in the south parts of England with the
Woodcock, that is in October and April; consequently does not
breed there. It is called at Hudson's bay the Mouse Hawk;
and is described as not flying like other Owls in search of prey;
but sitting quiet on a stump of a tree, watching for mice. It is
said to be found in plenty in the woods near Chatteau bay, on
the coast of Labrador. In the United States it is also a bird of
passage, coming to us from the north in November, and depart-
ing in April. The bird represented in the plate was shot in
New Jersey, a few miles below Philadelphia, in a thicket of
pines. It has the stern aspect of a keen, vigorous, and active
bird; and is reputed to be an excellent mouser. It flies frequent-
ly by day, particularly in dark cloudy weather, takes short
flights, and, when sitting and looking sharply around, erects
the two slight feathers that constitute its horns, which are at
such times very noticeable; but otherwise not perceivable. No
person, on slightly examining this bird after being shot, would
suspect it to be furnished with horns; nor are they discovered
but by careful search, or previous observation on the living bird.

* We add the following1 synonymes: Strix brachyotos, LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 55.
— Strix Uhda, Liww. Syst. ed. 10, p. 93—TEMX. Man. d' Orn. i, p. 99.

132 SHORT-EARED OWL.

Bewick, in his History of British Birds, remarks, that this spe-
cies is sometimes seen in companies; twenty-eight of them being
once counted in a turnip field in November.

Length fifteen inches, extent three feet four inches; general
colour above dark brown, the feathers broadly skirted with pale
yellowish brown; bill large, black; irides rich golden yellow,
placed in a bed of deep black, which radiates outwards all around,
except towards the bill, where the plumage is whitish ; ears bor-
dered with a semicircular line of black and tawny yellow dots;
tail rounded, longer than usual with Owls, crossed with five
bands of dark brown, and as many of yellow ochre, some of the
latter have central spots of dark brown, the whole tipt with
white; quills also banded with dark brown and yellow ochre;
breast and belly streaked with dark brown, on a ground of yel-
lowish; legs, thighs and vent, plain dull yellow; tips of the three
first quill feathers black; legs clothed to the claws, which are
black, curved to about the quarter of a circle, and exceedingly
sharp.

The female I have never seen ; but she is said to be somewhat
larger and much darker; and the spots on the breast larger and
more numerous.

SPECIES 7. STRIX VIRGINIANS.

GREAT HORNED-OWL.

[Plate L.— Fig. 1.]

Arct. Zool. p. 228, No. 114.— EDW. 60. — LATH, r, 119.— TUBT.
Syst.p. 166. — PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 410.*

THE figure of this bird, as well as of those represented in
the same plate, is reduced to one half its natural dimensions.
By the same scale, the greater part of the Hawks and Owls of
the present volume! are drawn; their real magnitude rendering
this unavoidable.

This noted and formidable Owl is found in almost every
quarter of the United States. His favourite residence, how-
ever, is in the dark solitudes of deep swamps, covered with a
growth of gigantic timber; and here, as soon as evening draws
on, and mankind retire to rest, he sends forth such sounds, as
seem scarcely to belong to this world, startling the solitary pil-
grim as he slumbers by his forest fire,

" Making night hideous."

Along the mountainous shores of the Ohio, and amidst the deep
forests of Indiana, alone, and reposing in the woods, this ghost-
ly watchman frequently warned me of the approach of morn-
ing, and amused me with his singular exclamations; sometimes
sweeping down and around my fire, uttering a loud and sudden
Waugh O! Waugh 0! sufficient to have alarmed a whole gar-

* We add the following- synonymes: Hibou des Terres Magtllaniques, BUFF.
PI. Enl. 385.— Bubo Virginianus, BRISS. i, p. 484. — Strix Virginiana, Ind. Orn.
p. 52.— GMEI. Syst. i, p. 287.— Virginian Eared Owl, LATH. den. Syn. Supl
vi, p. 40.

f Volume vi of the original edition.

134 GREAT HORNED-OWL.

rison. He has other nocturnal solos, no less melodious, one of
which very strikingly resembles the half-suppressed screams of
a person suffocating, or throttled, and cannot fail of being ex-
ceedingly entertaining to a lonely benighted traveller, in the
midst of an Indian wilderness.

This species inhabits the country round Hudson's Bay; and,
according to Pennant, who considers it a mere variety of the
Eagle Owl, (Strix bubo) of Europe, is found in Kamtschatka;
extends even to the arctic regions, where it is often found white;
and occurs as low as Astrakan. It has also been seen white in
the United States; but this has doubtless been owing to disease
or natural defect, and not to climate. It preys on young rab-
bits, squirrels, rats, mice, Partridges, and small birds of various
kinds. It has been often known to prowl about the farm-house,
and carry off chickens from the roost. A very large one, wing-
broken while on a foraging excursion of this kind, was kept
about a house for several days, and at length disappeared, no
one knew how. Almost every day after this, hens and chic-
kens also disappeared, one by one, in an unaccountable man-
ner, till in eight or ten days very few were left remaining.
The fox, the minx and weasel, were alternately the reputed
authors of this mischief, until one morning, an old lady, rising
before day to bake, in passing towards the oven, surprized her
late prisoner the Owl, regaling himself on the body of a newly
killed hen. The thief instantly made for his hole under the
house, whence the enraged matron soon dislodged him with
the brush-handle, and without mercy despatched him. In this
snug retreat were found the greater part of the feathers, and
many large fragments, of her whole family of chickens.

There is something in the character of the Owl so recluse,
solitary and mysterious, something so discordant in the tones
of its voice, heard only amid the silence and gloom of night,
and in the most lonely and sequestered situations, as to have
strongly impressed the minds of mankind in general with sen-
sations of awe, and abhorrence of the whole tribe. The poets
have indulged freely in this general prejudice; and in their de-

GREAT HORNED-OWL. 135

scriptions and delineations of midnight storms, and gloomy
scenes of nature, the Owl is generally introduced to heighten
the horror of the picture. Ignorance and superstition, in all
ages, and in all countries, listen to the voice of the Owl, and
even contemplate its physiognomy with feelings of disgust, and
a kind of fearful awe. The priests, or conjurers, among some
of our Indian nations, have taken advantage of the reverential
horror for this bird, and have adopted the Great Horned-Owl,
the subject of the present account, as the symbol or emblem of
their office. " Among the Creeks/3 says Mr. Bartram, "the
junior priests, or students, constantly wear a white mantle, and
have a Great Owl skin cased and stuffed very ingeniously, so
well executed as almost to appear like the living bird, having
large sparkling glass beads, or buttons, fixed in the head for
eyes. This insignia of wisdom and divination they wear some-
times as a crest on the top of the head; at other times the image
sits on the arm, or is borne on the hand. These bachelors are
also distinguished from the other people by their taciturnity,
grave and solemn countenance, dignified step, and singing to
themselves songs or hymns in a low, sweet voice, as they stroll
about the town."*

Nothing is a more effectual cure for superstition than a know-
ledge of the general laws and productions of nature; nor more
forcibly leads our reflections to the first, great, self-existent
CAUSE of all, to whom our reverential awe is then humbly de-
voted, and not to any of his dependent creatures. With all
the gloomy habits, and ungracious tones, of the Owl, there is
nothing in this bird supernatural or mysterious, or more than
that of a simple bird of prey, formed for feeding by night, like
many other animals, and of reposing by day. The harshness
of its voice, occasioned by the width and capacity of its throat,
may be intended by heaven as an alarm and warning to the
birds and animals on which it preys, to secure themselves from
danger. The voices of all carnivorous birds and animals are

* Travels, p. 504.

136 GREAT HORNED-OWL-

also observed to be harsh and hideous, probably for this very
purpose.

The Great Horned-Owl is not migratory, but remains with
us the whole year. During the day he slumbers in the thick
evergreens of deep swamps, or seeks shelter in large hollow
trees. He is very rarely seen abroad by day, and never but
when disturbed. In the month of May they usually begin to
build. The nest is generally placed in the fork of a tall tree,
and is constructed of sticks, piled in considerable quantities,
lined with dry leaves, and a few feathers. Sometimes they
choose a hollow tree, and in that case carry in but few mate-
rials. The female lays four eggs, nearly as large as those of a
hen, almost globular, and of a pure white. In one of these
nests, after the young had flown, were found the heads and
bones of two chickens, the legs and head of the Golden-winged
Woodpecker, and part of the wings and feathers of several
other birds. It is generally conjectured that they hatch but
once in the season.

The length of the male of this species is twenty inches; the
bill is large, black and strong, covered at the base with a cere ;
the eyes golden yellow; the horns are three inches in length,
and very broad, consisting of twelve or fourteen feathers, their
webs black, broadly edged with bright tawny; face rusty,
bounded on each side by a band of black; space between the
eyes and bill whitish ; whole lower parts elegantly marked with
numerous transverse bars of dusky, on a bright tawny ground,
thinly interspersed with white; vent pale yellow ochre, barred
with narrow lines of brown; legs and feet large and covered
with feathers, or hairy down, of a pale brown colour; claws
very large, blue black; tail rounded, extending about an inch
beyond the tips of the wings, crossed with six or seven narrow
bars of brown, and variegated or marbled with brown and taw-
ny; whole upper parts finely pencilled with dusky, on a tawny
and whitish ground; chin pure white, under that a band of
brown, succeeded by another narrow one of white; eyes very
large.

GREAT HORNED-OWL. 137

The female is full two feet in length, and has not the white
on the throat so pure. She has also less of the bright ferrugi-
nous or tawny tint below; but is principally distinguished by
her superior magnitude.

VOL. i. — u u

.

SPECIES S. STRIX OTUS.

LONG-EARED OWL.
[Plate LI. —Fig. 3. Female.]

GMEL. Syst. i, p. 288. — BEWICK, i, p. 84. — PEALE'S Museum, JVo.

434*

THIS Owl is common to both continents, and is much more
numerous in Pennsylvania than the White, or Barn Owl: six
or seven were found in a single tree, about fifteen miles from
this city. There is little doubt but this species is found inhabit-
ing America to a high latitude; though we have no certain ac-
counts of the fact. Except in size, this species has more resem-
blance to the Great Horned-Owl than any other of its tribe. It
resembles it also in breeding among the branches of tall trees;
lays four eggs of nearly a round form, and pure white, t The
young are grayish white until nearly full grown, and roost du-
ring the day close together on a limb, among the thickest of the
foliage. This Owl is frequently seen abroad during the day, but
is not remarkable for its voice or habits.

The Long-eared Owl is fourteen inches and a half long, and
three feet two inches in extent; ears large, composed of six fea-
thers, gradually lengthening from the front one backwards,
black, edged with rusty yellow; irides vivid yellow; inside of
the circle of the face white, outside or cheeks rusty; at the in-
ternal angle of the eye a streak of black; bill blackish horn co-
lour; forehead and crown deep brown, speckled with minute
points of white and pale rusty; outside circle of the face black,

* We add the following synonymes: — Slrix otus, LINN. Syst. i, p. 92, JVb.
4, ed. 10.— BUFF. PL Enl. 29.— LATH. Gen. Syn. i, p. 121, Ind. Orn. p. 55.

f Buffon remarks, that it rarely constructs a nest of its own; but not unfre-
quently occupies that of others, particularly the Mag-pie.

LONG-EARED OWL. 139

finely marked with small curving spots of white; back and wings
dark brown, sprinkled and spotted with white, pale ferruginous
and dusky; primaries barred with brownish yellow and dusky,
darkening towards the tips; secondaries more finely barred, and
powdered with white and dusky ; tail rounded at the end, of the
same length with the wings, beautifully barred and marbled
with dull white and pale rusty, on a dark brown ground ; throat
and breast clouded with rusty, cream, black and white; belly
beautifully streaked with large arrow-heads of black; legs and
thighs plain pale rusty, feathered to the claws, which are blue
black, large and sharp; inside of the wing brownish yellow,
with a large spot of black at the root of the primaries.

This was a female. Of the male I cannot speak precisely;
though from the numbers of these birds which I have examined
in the Autumn, when it is difficult to ascertain their sex, I con-
jecture that they differ very little in colour.

About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far
from the Delaware, is a low swamp,* thickly covered with
trees, and inundated during great part of the year. This place
is the resort of great numbers of the Qua-bird, or Night Raven,
(JLrdea nycticorax) where they build in large companies. On
the twenty-fifth of April, while wading among the dark recesses
of this forest, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered
a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one of their
nests, and was sitting; on mounting to the nest, I found it con-
tained four eggs, and breaking one of these, the young appeared
almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of the
Qua-birds' nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of
them actually on the same tree. Thus we see how unvarying
are the manners of this species, however remote and different
the countries may be where it has taken up its residence.

* Commonly known by the name of Cocker's swamp, from time immemorial
a noted place for the shooting1 of Woodcocks.

SPECIES 9. STRIX NJEVM*

MOTTLED OWL.
[Plate XIX.— Fig. 1. Female.]

Jlrct. Zool.251. JVo. 118.— LVTHAM, i, 126.— -TuRTON, i, 167.—
PEALE'S Museum, No. 444.

ON contemplating the grave and antiquated figure of this
night wanderer, so destitute of every thing like gracefulness of
shape, I can scarcely refrain from smiling at the conceit, of the
ludicrous appearance this bird must have made, had nature be-
stowed on it the powers of song, and given it the faculty of
warbling out sprightly airs, while robed in such a solemn exte-
rior. But the great God of Nature hath, in his wisdom, assigned
to this class of birds a more unsocial, and less noble, though,
perhaps, not less useful, disposition, by assimilating them, not
only in form of countenance, but in voice, manners, and appe-
tite, to some particular beasts of prey; secluding them from the
enjoyment of the gay sunshine of day, and giving them little
more than the few solitary hours of morning and evening twi-
light, to procure their food, and pursue their amours; while all
the tuneful tribes, a few excepted, are wrapt in silence and re-
pose. That their true character, however, should not be con-
cealed from those weaker animals on whom they feed, (for hea-
ven abhors deceit and hypocrisy) He has stamped their coun-
tenance with strong traits of their murderer the Cat; and birds
in this respect are, perhaps, better physiognomists than men.

The Owl now before us is chiefly a native of the northern
regions, arriving here, with several others, about the commence-

* Strix asio. This is the adult of the following species, and the name asio
given to the young1, must be retained for the species, as the young was first
described. See LINN. Syst. r, p. 92, JVb. 3, Ed. 10.

MOTTLED OWL. 141

ment of cold weather; frequenting the uplands and mountainous
districts, in preference to the lower parts of the country; and
feeding on mice, small birds, beetles, and crickets. It is rather
a scarce species in Pennsylvania; flies usually in the early part
of night and morning; and is sometimes observed sitting on the
fences during day, when it is easily caught; its vision at that time
being very imperfect.

The bird represented in the plate was taken in this situation,
and presented to me by a friend. I kept it in the room beside
me for some time; during which its usual position was such as
I have given it. Its eyelids were either half shut, or slowly and
alternately opening and shutting, as if suffering from the glare
of day; but no sooner was the sun set, than its whole appearance
became lively and animated; its full and globular eyes shone
like those of a cat; and it often lowered its head, in the manner
of a cock when preparing to fight, moving it from side to side,
and also vertically, as if reconnoitring you with great sharpness.
In flying through the room, it shifted from place to place with
the silence of a spirit, (if I may be allowed the expression,) the
plumage of its wings being so extremely fine and soft as to oc-
casion little or no friction with the air: a wise provision of na-
ture, bestowed on the whole genus, to enable them, without
giving alarm, to seize their prey in the night. For an hour or
two in the evening, and about break of day, it flew about with
great activity. When angry, it snapped its bill repeatedly with
violence, and so loud as to be heard in the adjoining room,
swelling out its eyes to their full dimensions, and lowering its
head as before described. It swallowed its food hastily, in large
mouthfuls; and never was observed to drink. Of the eggs and
nest of this species I am unable to speak.

The Mottled Owl is ten inches long, and twenty-two in ex-
tent; the upper part of the head, the back, ears and lesser wing-
coverts, are dark brown, streaked and variegated with black,
pale brown, and ash; wings lighter, the greater coverts and
primaries spotted with white; tail short, even, and mottled with
black, pale brown, and whitish, on a dark brown ground; its

142 MOTTLED OWL.

lower side gray; horns (as they are usually called) very promi-
nent, each composed of ten feathers; increasing in length from
the front backwards, and lightest on the inside; face whitish,
marked with small touches of dusky, and bounded on each side
with a circlet of black; breast and belly white, beautifully varie-
gated with ragged streaks of black, and small transverse touches
of brown; legs feathered nearly to the claws, with a kind of
hairy down, of a pale brown colour; vent and under tail-coverts
white, the latter slightly marked with brown; iris of the eye a
brilliant golden yellow; bill and claws bluish horn colour.

This was a female. The male is considerably less in size; the
general colours darker; and the white on the wing-coverts not
so observable.

Hollow trees, either in the woods or orchard, or close ever-
greens, in retired situations, are the usual roosting places of this
and most of our other species. These retreats, however, are
frequently discovered by the Nuthatch, Titmouse, or Blue Jay,
who instantly raise the alarm ; a promiscuous group of feathered
neighbours soon collect round the spot, like crowds in the
streets of a large city, when a thief or murderer is detected; and
by their insults and vociferation oblige the recluse to seek for
another lodging elsewhere. This may account for the circum-
stance of sometimes finding them abroad during the day, on
fences and other exposed situations.

STRIX

RED OWL.
[Plate XLIL-— Fig. 1, Female.]

Little Owl, CATESB. i, 7. — LATH, i, 123. — LINN.%S£. 132. — Jlrct.
Zool. n, «7Vo. 117. — TURT. Syst* i, p. 166. — PEAI.E'S Museum,
No. 428.

THIS is another of our nocturnal wanderers, well known by
its common name, the Little Screech Owl; and noted for its
melancholy quivering kind of wailing in the evenings, particu-
larly towards the latter part of summer and autumn, near the
farm-house. On clear moonlight nights, they answer each other
from various parts of the fields or orchard; roost during the
day in thick evergreens, such as cedar, pine, or juniper trees,
and are rarely seen abroad in sunshine. In May they construct
their nest in the hollow of a tree, often in the orchard, in an
old apple-tree; the nest is composed of some hay and a few
feathers; the eggs are four, pure white and nearly round. The
young are at first covered with a whitish down.

The bird represented in the plate, I kept for several weeks
in the room beside me. It was caught in a barn, where it had
taken up its lodging, probably for the greater convenience of
mousing; and being unhurt, I had an opportunity of remarking
its manners. At first it struck itself so forcibly against the win-
dow, as frequently to deprive it, seemingly, of all sensation
for several minutes; this was done so repeatedly, that I began
to fear that either the glass, or the Owl's skull, must give way.
In a few days, however, it either began to comprehend some-
thing of the matter, or to take disgust at the glass, for it never
repeated its attempts; and soon became quite tame and familiar.

* This is the young bird.

144 RED OWL.

Those who have seen this bird only in the day, can form but
an imperfect idea of its activity, and even sprightliness, in its
proper season of exercise. Throughout the day, it was all still-
ness and gravity; its eyelids half shut, its neck contracted, and
its head shrunk seemingly into its body; but scarcely was the
sun set, and twilight began to approach, when its eyes became
full and sparkling, like two living globes of fire; it crouched
on its perch, reconnoitred every object around with looks of
eager fierceness; alighted and fed; stood on the meat with
clenched talons, while it tore it in morsels with its bill; flew
round the room with the silence of thought, and perching,
moaned out its melancholy notes, with many lively gesticula-
tions, not at all accordant with the pitiful tone of its ditty,
which reminded one of the shivering moanings of a half-frozen
puppy.

This species is found generally over the United States, and
is not migratory.

The Red Owl is eight inches and a half long, and twenty-one
inches in extent; general colour of the plumage above, a bright
nut brown or tawny red; the shafts black; exterior edges of the
outer row of scapulars white; bastard wing, the five first prima-
ries, and three or four of the first greater coverts, also spotted
with white; whole wing quills spotted with dusky on their ex-
terior webs; tail rounded, transversely barred with dusky and
pale brown; chin, breast, and sides, bright reddish brown, streak-
ed laterally with black, intermixed with white; belly and vent
white, spotted with bright brown; legs covered to the claws
with pale brown hairy down; extremities of the toes and claws
pale bluish, ending in black; bill a pale bluish horn colour; eyes
vivid yellow; inner angles of the eyes, eye-brows, and space
surrounding the bill, whitish; rest of the face nut brown; head
horned or eared, each consisting of nine or ten feathers, of a
tawny red, shafted with black.

ORDER II. PIC.E. PIES.

GENUS 4. LANIUS. SHRIKE.

SPECIES 1. LANIUS EXCUBITOR?*

GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE, OR BUTCHER-BIRD.

[Plate V.— Fig. 1.]

La Pie-grieche grise, BUFF, i, 296. PI. enl. 445. — White Whisky-
John, Phil. Trans, v. LXII, p. 386.— Jlrct. Zool. v. 11, JVb. 127.
— PEALE'S Museum, No. 664.

THE form and countenance of this bird bespeak him full of
courage and energy; and his true character does not belie his
appearance, for he possesses these qualities in a very eminent
degree. He is represented in the plate rather less than his true
size; but in just proportion; and with a fidelity that will enable
the European naturalist to determine, whether this be really
the same with the great Cinereous Shrike, (Lanius excubi-
for, Linn. ) of the eastern continent or not; though the progres-
sive variableness of the plumage, passing, according to age, and
sometimes to climate, from ferruginous to pale ash, and even
to a bluish white, renders it impossible that this should be an
exact representation of every individual.

This species is by no means numerous in the lower parts of
Pennsylvania; though most so during the months of November,
December and March. Soon after this it retires to the north,
and to the higher inland parts of the country to breed. It fre-
quents the deepest forests; builds a large and compact nest in
the upright fork of a small tree; composed outwardly of dry
grass, and whitish moss, and warmly lined within with feath-

* Lanius septentrionalis, GMEL.
VOL. I. X X

146 GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE.

ers. The female lays six eggs, of a pale cinereous colour, thick-
ly marked at the greater end with spots and streaks of rufous.
She sits fifteen days. The young are produced early in June,
sometimes towards the latter end of May; and during the great-
er part of the first season are of a brown ferruginous colour on
the back.

When we compare the beak of this species, with his legs and
claws, they appear to belong to two very different orders of
birds; the former approaching, in its conformation, to that of
the Accipitrine; the latter to those of the Pies; and, indeed, in
his food and manners he is assimilated to both. For though man
has arranged and subdivided this numerous class of animals into
separate tribes and families, yet nature has united these to each
other by such nice gradations, and so intimately, that it is hard-
ly possible to determine where one tribe ends, or the succeed-
ing commences. We therefore find several eminent naturalists
classing this genus of birds with the Accipitrine, others with the
Pies. Like the former he preys, occasionally, on other birds;
and like the latter on insects, particularly grasshoppers, which
I believe to be his principal food; having at almost all times,
even in winter, found them in his stomach. In the month of
December, and while the country was deeply covered with
snow, I shot one of these birds, near the head waters of the Mo-
hawk river, in the state of New York, the stomach of which
was entirely filled with large black spiders. He was of a much
purer white, above, than any I have since met with; though
evidently of the same species with the present; and I think it
probable, that the males become lighter coloured as they ad-
vance in age, till the minute transverse lines of brown on the
lower parts almost disappear.

In his manners he has more resemblance to the pies than to
birds of prey, particularly in the habit of carrying off his sur-
plus food, as if to hoard it for future exigences; with this dif-
ference, that Crows, Jays, Magpies, &c. conceal theirs at ran-
dom, in holes and crevices, where perhaps it is forgotten or
never again found; while the Butcher-bird sticks his on thorns

GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. 147

and bushes, where it shrivels in the sun, and soon becomes
equally useless to the hoarder. Both retain the same habits in
a state of confinement, whatever the food may be that is present-
ed to them.

This habit of the Shrike of seizing and impaling grasshoppers,
and other insects, on thorns, has given rise to an opinion, that
he places their carcasses there, by way of baits, to allure small
birds to them, while he himself lies in ambush to surprise and
destroy them. In this, however, they appear to allow him a
greater portion of reason and contrivance than he seems entitled
to, or than other circumstances will altogether warrant; for we
find that he not only serves grasshoppers in this manner, but
even small birds themselves, as those have assured me who
have kept them in cages in this country, and amused them-
selves with their manoeuvres. If so, we might as well suppose
the farmer to be inviting Crows to his corn, when he hangs
up their carcasses around it, as the Butcher-bird to be decoy-
ing small birds by a display of the dead bodies of their comrades !

In the " Transactions of the American Philosophical Socie-
ty," vol. iv, p. 124, the reader may find a long letter on this
subject, from Mr. John Heckewelder, of Bethlehem, to Dr.
Barton; the substance of which is as follows: That on the 17th
of December, 1795, he (Mr. Heckewelder) went to visit a
young orchard, which had been planted a few weeks before,
and was surprised to observe on every one of the trees one,
and on some, two and three grasshoppers, stuck down on the
sharp thorny branches; that on inquiring of his tenant the reason
of this, he informed him, that they were stuck there by a small
bird of prey called by the Germans Neuntoedter (Ninekiller,)
which caught and stuck nine grasshoppers a day; and he sup-
posed that as the bird itself never fed on grasshoppers, it must
do it for pleasure. Mr. Heckewelder now recollected that one
of those Ninekillers had, many years before, taken a favourite
bird of his out of his cage, at the window; since which he had
paid particular attention to it; and being perfectly satisfied that
it lived entirely on mice and small birds, and, moreover, ob-

148 GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE.

serving the grasshoppers on the trees all fixed in natural posi-
tions, as if alive, he began to conjecture that this was done to
decoy such small birds as feed on these insects to the spot, that
he might have an opportunity of devouring them. " If it were
true," says he, " that this little hawk had stuck them up for
himself, how long would he be in feeding on one or two hun-
dred grasshoppers? But if it be intended to seduce the smaller
birds to feed on these insects, in order to have an opportunity
of catching them, that number, or even one half, or less, may
be a good bait all winter," &c. &c.

This is indeed a very pretty fanciful theory, and would enti-
tle our bird to the epithet Fowler ', perhaps with more proprie-
ty than Lanius, or Butcher; but, notwithstanding the attention
which Mr. Heckewelder professes to have paid to this bird, he
appears not only to have been unacquainted that grasshoppers
were in fact the favourite food of this Ninekiller, but never once
to have considered, that grasshoppers would be but a very in-
significant and tasteless bait for our winter birds, which are
chiefly those of the Finch kind, that feed almost exclusively on
hard seeds and gravel; and among whom five hundred grass-
hoppers might be stuck up on trees and bushes, and remain
there untouched by any of them forever. Besides, where is his
necessity of having recourse to such refined stratagems, when
he can at any time seize upon small birds by mere force of flight !
I have seen him, in an open field, dart after one of our small
sparrows, with the rapidity of an arrow, and kill it almost in-
stantly. Mr. William Bartram long ago informed me, that one
of these Shrikes had the temerity to pursue a Snow-bird (F.
Hudsonia,) into an open cage, which stood in the garden ; and
before they could arrive to its assistance, had already strangled
and scalped it, though he lost his liberty by the exploit. In short
I am of opinion, that his resolution and activity are amply suf-
ficient to enable him to procure these small birds whenever he
wants them, which I believe is never but when hard pressed
by necessity, and a deficiency of his favourite insects; and that
the Crow or the Blue Jay may, with the same probability, be

GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. 149

supposed to be laying baits for mice and flying squirrels, when
they are hoarding their Indian corn, as he for birds while thus
disposing of the exuberance of his favourite food. Both the for-
mer and the latter retain the same habits in a state of confine-
ment; the one filling every seam and chink of his cage with
grain, crumbs of bread, &c. and the other sticking up, not only
insects, but flesh, and the bodies of such birds as are thrown in
to him, on nails or sharpened sticks, fixed up for the purpose.
Nor, say others, is this practice of the Shrike difficult to be ac-
counted for. Nature has given to this bird a strong, sharp, and
powerful beak, a broad head, and great strength in the muscles
of his neck; but his legs, feet and claws, are by no means pro-
portionably strong; and are unequal to the task of grasping and
tearing his prey, like those of the Owl and Falcon kind. He
therefore wisely avails himself of the powers of the former, both
in strangling his prey, and in tearing it to pieces while feeding.

The character of the Butcher-bird is entitled to no common
degree of respect. His activity is visible in all his motions;
his courage and intrepidity beyond every other bird of his size
(one only excepted, the King-bird, L. tyrannus, Linn.) and
in affection for his young he is surpassed by no other. He asso-
ciates with them in the latter part of summer, the whole fam-
ily hunting in company. He attacks the largest Hawk, or Ea-
gle, in their defence, with a resolution truly astonishing; so that
all of them respect him; and on every occasion decline the con-
test. As the snows of winter approach, he descends from the
mountainous forests, and from the regions of the north, to the
more cultivated parts of the country, hovering about our hedge-
rows, orchards and meadows, and disappears again early in
April.

The Great American Shrike is ten inches in length, and thir-
teen in extent; the upper part of the head, neck and back, is
pale cinereous; sides of the head nearly white, crossed with a
bar of black, that passes from the nostril through the eye to the
middle of the neck; the whole under parts, in some specimens,
are nearly white, and thickly marked with minute transverse

150 GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE.

curving lines of light brown; the wings are black, tipt with
white, with a single spot of white on the primaries, just below
their coverts; the scapulars, or long downy feathers that fall
over the upper part of the wing, are pure white; the rump and
tail-coverts a very fine gray or light ash; the tail is cuneiform,
consisting of twelve feathers, the two middle ones wholly black,
the others tipt more and more with white to the exterior ones,
which are nearly all white; the legs, feet and claws, are black;
the beak straight, thick, of a light blue colour; the upper man-
dible furnished with a sharp process, bending down greatly at
the point, where it is black, and beset at the base with a number
of long black hairs or bristles; the nostrils are also thickly covered
with recumbent hairs; the iris of the eye is a light hazel, pupil
black. The figure in the plate will give a perfect idea of the
bird. The female is easily distinguished by being ferruginous
on the back and head; and having the band of black extending
only behind the eye, and of a dirty brown or burnt colour, the
under parts are also something rufous, and the curving lines
more strongly marked; she is rather less than the male, which
is different from birds of prey in general, the females of which
are usually the larger of the two.

In the Arctic Zoology we are told that this species is fre-
quent in Russia, but does not extend to Siberia; yet one was ta-
ken within Behring's straits, on the Asiatic side, in lat. 66°;
and the species probably extends over the whole continent of
North America, from the Western ocean. Mr. Bell, while on
his travels through Russia, had one of these birds given him,
which he kept in a room, having fixed up a sharpened stick for
him in the wall; and on turning small birds loose in the room,
the Butcher-bird instantly caught them by the throat in such a
manner as soon to sufjpcate them; and then stuck them on the
stick, pulling them on with bill and claws; and so served as
many as were turned loose, one after another, on the same stick.*

* Edwards, v. vu, p. 231.

SPECIES 2. LANIUS CAROLINENS1S.*

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE.

[Plate XXII. —Fig. 5.]

PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 557.

THIS species has a considerable resemblance to the Great
American Shrike. It differs, however, from that bird in size,
being a full inch shorter, and in colour, being much darker on
the upper parts; and in having the frontlet black. It also inha-
bits the warmer parts of the United States; while the Great
American Shrike is chiefly confined to the northern regions,
and seldom extends to the south of Virginia.

This species inhabits the rice plantations of Carolina and
Georgia, where it is protected for its usefulness in destroying
mice. It sits, for hours together, on the fence, beside the stacks
of rice, watching like a cat; and as soon as it perceives a mouse,
darts on it like a Hawk. It also feeds on crickets and grasshop-
pers. Its note, in March, resembled the clear creaking of a sign
board, in windy weather. It builds its nest, as I was informed,
generally in a detached bush, much like that of the Mocking-
bird; but as the spring was not then sufficiently advanced, I had
no opportunity of seeing its eggs. It is generally known by the
name of the Loggerhead.

This species is nine inches long and thirteen in extent; the
colour above is cinereous or dark ash; scapulars, and line over
the eye, whitish; wings black, with a small spot of white at the
base of the primaries, and tipt with white; a stripe of black pas-

* Lanius Ludovicianus, LINX. which name must be adopted. In Buffon, pi.
enl. 528, there is a figure of a young bird. — Synonymes: La Pie-griesche de la
Louisiane, Jiuiss. 2, p. 162. — LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 69.

152 LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE.

ses along the front through each eye, half way down the side
of the neck; eye dark hazel, sunk below the eyebrow; tail cunei-
form, the four middle feathers wholly black, the four exterior
ones on each side tipt more and more with white to the outer
one which is nearly all white; whole lower parts white, and in
some specimens, both of males and females, marked with trans-
verse lines of very pale brown; bill and legs black.

The female is considerably darker both above and below, but
the black does not reach so high on the front; it is also rather
less in size.

GENUS 5. PSITTACUS. PARROT.
P. CAROLINENSIS.
CAROLINA PARROT.

[Plate XXVL— Fig. 1.]

LINN. Syst. i, 2}- 97, ed. 10. — CATESBY, i, 11. — LATHAM, i, 227.—
Arct. Zuol. 242, No. 132. Ibid. 133.— PEALE'S Museum, No.

762.*

OF one hundred and sixty-eight kinds of Parrots, enumerated
by European writers as inhabiting the various regions of the
globe, this is the only species found native within the territory
of the United States. The vast and luxuriant tracts lying within
the torrid zone, seem to be the favourite residence of those
noisy, numerous, and richly-plumaged tribes. The count de
Buffon has, indeed, circumscribed the whole genus of Parrots
to a space not extending more than twenty-three degrees on
each side of the equator; but later discoveries have shown this
statement to be incorrect; as these birds have been found on
our continent as far south as the straits of Magellan, and even
on the remote shores of Van Diemen's Land, in Terra Aus-
tralasia. The species now under consideration is also known to
inhabit the interior of Louisiana, and the shores of the Missis-
sippi and Ohio, and their tributary waters, even beyond the
Illinois river, to the neighbourhood of lake Michigan, in lat.
42° North; and, contrary to the generally received opinion, is
chiefly resident in all these places. Eastward, however, of the
great range of the Alleghany, it is seldom seen farther north

* We add the following synonymes: La Perruche de la Caroline. Bmss. 4,
p. 350. — Orange-headed Parrot, LATH. Gen. Sijn. 1, p. 304. 1ml. 0/w. p.
93.
VOL. i. — Y y

154 CAROLINA PARROT.

than the state of Maryland; though straggling parties have been
occasionally observed among the vallies of the Juniata; and ac-
cording to some, even twenty-five miles to the northwest of
Albany, in the state of New York. * But such accidental visits
furnish no certain criteria by which to judge of their usual ex-
tent of range; those aerial voyagers, as well as others who na-
vigate the deep, being subject to be cast away, by the violence
of the elements, on distant shores and unknown countries.

From these circumstances of the .northern residence of this
species, we might be justified in concluding it to be a very
hardy bird, more capable of sustaining cold than nine-tenths of
its tribe; and so I believe it is; having myself seen them, in the
month of February, along the banks of the Ohio, in a snow
storm, flying about like pigeons, and in full cry.

The preference, however, which this bird gives to the west-
ern countries, lying in the same parallel of latitude with those
eastward of the Alleghany mountains, which it rarely or never
visits, is worthy of remark; and has been adduced, by different
writers, as a proof of the superior mildness of climate in the
former to that of the latter. But there are other reasons for this
partiality equally powerful, though hitherto overlooked; name-
ly, certain peculiar features of country, to which these birds
are particularly and strongly attached; these are, low, rich, al-
luvial bottoms, along the borders of creeks, covered with a
gigantic growth of sycamore trees or button-wood — deep and
almost impenetrable swamps, where the vast and towering cy-
press lift their still more majestic heads; and those singular
salines, or, as they are usually called, licks, so generally inter-
spersed over that country, and which are regularly and eagerly
visited by the Paroquets. A still greater inducement is the su-
perior abundance of their favourite fruits. That food which the
Paroquet prefers to all others, is the seeds of the cockle-burr,
a plant rarely found in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, or
New York; but which unfortunately grows in too great abund-

* BARTON'S Fragments, &c. p. 6, Introd.

CAROLINA PARROT. 155

ance along the shores of the Ohio and Mississippi, so much so
as to render the wool of those sheep, that pasture where it most
abounds, scarcely worth the cleaning, covering them with one
solid mass of burrs, wrought up and imbedded into the fleece,
to the great annoyance of this valuable animal. The seeds of
the cypress-tree and hackberry, as well as beech-nuts, are also
great favourites with these birds; the two former of which are
not commonly found in Pennsylvania, and the latter by no
means so general or so productive. Here then are several pow-
erful reasons, more dependent on soil than climate, for the pre-
ference given by these birds to the luxuriant regions of the
west. Pennsylvania, indeed, and also Maryland, abound with
excellent apple orchards, on the ripe fruit of which the Paro-
quets occasionally feed. But I have my doubts whether their
depredations in the orchard be not as much the result of wanton
play and mischief, as regard for the seeds of the fruit, which
they are supposed to be in pursuit of. I have known a flock
of these birds alight on an apple-tree, and have myself seen
them twist off the fruit, one by one, strewing it in every di-
rection around the tree, without observing that any of the de-
predators descended to pick them up. To a Paroquet which I
wounded, and kept for some considerable time, I very often
offered apples, which it uniformly rejected; but burrs, or beech-
nuts never. To another very beautiful one, which I brought
from New Orleans, and which is now sitting in the room beside
me, I have frequently offered this fruit, and also the seeds se-
parately, which I never knew it to taste. Their local attach-
ments also prove that food more than climate determines their
choice of country. For even in the states of Ohio, Kentucky,
and the Mississippi territory, unless in the neighbourhood of
such places as have been described, it is rare to see them. The
inhabitants of Lexington, as many of them assured me, scarcely
ever observe them in that quarter. In passing from that place
to Nashville, a distance of two hundred miles, I neither heard
nor saw any, but at a place called Madison's lick. In passing
on, I next met with them on the banks and rich flats of the

156 CAROLINA PARROT.

Tennessee river; after this I saw no more till I reached Bayo
St. Pierre, a distance of several hundred miles; from all which
circumstances, I think we cannot, from the residences of these
birds, establish with propriety, any correct standard by which
to judge of the comparative temperatures of different climates.
In descending the river Ohio, by myself, in the month of
February, I met with the first flock of Paroquets at the mouth
of the Little Sioto. I had been informed, by an old and re-
spectable inhabitant of Marietta, that they were sometimes,
though rarely, seen there. I observed flocks of them, afterwards,
at the mouth of the Great and little Miami, and in the neigh-
bourhood of numerous creeks, that discharge themselves into
the Ohio. At Big-Bone lick, thirty miles above the mouth of
Kentucky river, I saw them in great numbers. They came
screaming through the woods in the morning, about an hour
after sunrise, to drink the salt water, of which they, as well as
the pigeons, are remarkably fond. When they alighted on the
ground, it appeared, at a distance, as if covered with a carpet
of the richest green, orange and yellow. They afterwards set-
tled, in one body, on a neighbouring tree, which stood detached
from any other, covering almost every twig of it, and the sun
shining strongly on their gay and glossy plumage, produced a
very beautiful and splendid appearance. Here I had an oppor-
tunity of observing some very particular traits of their character.
Having shot down a number, some of which were only wound-
ed, the whole flock swept repeatedly around their prostrate com-
panions, and again settled on a low tree, within twenty yards of
the spot where I stood. At each successive discharge, though
showers of them fell, yet the affection of the survivors seemed
rather to increase; for after a few circuits around the place, they
again alighted near me, looking down on their slaughtered
companions, with such manifest symptoms of sympathy and
concern, as entirely disarmed me. I could not but take notice
of the remarkable contrast between their elegant manner of
flight, and their lame and crawling gait among the branches.
They fly very much like the Wild Pigeon, in close, compact

CAROLINA PARROT. 157

bodies, and with great rapidity, making a loud and outrageous
screaming, not unlike that of the Red-headed Woodpecker.
Their flight is sometimes in a direct line; but most usually cir-
cuitous, making a great variety of elegant and easy serpentine
meanders, as if for pleasure. They are particularly attached to
the large sycamores, in the hollow of the trunks, and branches
of which, they generally roost, thirty or forty, and sometimes
more, entering at the same hole. Here they cling close to the
sides of the tree, holding fast by the claws, and also by the
bills. They appear to be fond of sleep, and often retire to their
holes during the day, probably to take their regular siesta.
They are extremely sociable with and fond of each other, often
scratching each other's heads and necks, and always at night
nestling as close as possible to each other, preferring, at that
time, a perpendicular position, supported by their bill and claws.
In the Fall, when their favourite cockle-burrs are ripe, they
swarm along the coast, or high grounds of the Mississippi,
above New Orleans, for a great extent. At such times they
are killed and eaten by many of the inhabitants; though I con-
fess I think their flesh very indifferent I have several times
dined on it from necessity in the woods; but found it merely
passable, with all the sauce of a keen appetite to recommend
it.*

A very general opinion prevails, that the brains and intes-
tines of the Carolina Paroquet are a sure and fatal poison to
cats. I had determined, when at Big-Bone, to put this to the
test of experiment; and for that purpose collected the brains and
bowels of more than a dozen of them. But after close search
Mrs. Puss was not to be found, being engaged perhaps oh more
agreeable business. I left the medicine with Mr. Colquhoun's

* Had our author been provided with proper apparatus to cook these birds,
and suitable condiments, he would, doubtless, have been of a different opinion.
Mr. T. Peale and myself, when in East Florida, where this species is found
in great numbers, thought them excellent eating. In Florida the Paroquets
are migratory. We saw the first flock of them, at the Cowford, on the river
St. John, on the first of March: the greater part of them were males. G. Ord.

158 CAROLINA PARROT.

agent, to administer it by the first opportunity, and write me
the result; but I have never yet heard from him. A respectable
lady near the town of Natchez, and on whose word I can rely,
assured me, that she herself had made the experiment, and that,
whatever might be the cause, the cat had actually died either
on that or the succeeding day. A French planter near Bayo
Fourche pretended to account to me for this effect, by positively
asserting, that the seeds of the cockle-burrs, on which the Pa-
roquets so eagerly feed, were deleterious to cats; and thus their
death was produced by eating the intestines of the bird. These
matters might easily have been ascertained on the spot, which,
however, a combination of trifling circumstances prevented me
from doing. I several times carried a dose of the first descrip-
tion in my pocket, till it became insufferable, without meeting
with a suitable patient, on whom, like other professional gen-
tlemen, I might conveniently make a fair experiment.

I was equally unsuccessful in my endeavours to discover the
time of incubation or manner of building among these birds. All
agreed that they breed in hollow trees; and several affirmed to
me that they had seen their nests. Some said they carried in
no materials; others that they did. Some made the eggs white;
others speckled. One man assured me that he had cut down a
large beech-tree, which was hollow, and in which he found the
broken fragments of upwards of twenty Paroquets' eggs, which
were of a greenish yellow colour. The nests, though destroyed
in their texture by the falling of the tree, appeared, he said, to
be formed of small twigs glued to each other, and to the side
of the tree, in the manner of the Chimney Swallow. He added,
that if it were the proper season, he could point out to me the
weed from which they procured the gluey matter. From all
these contradictory accounts, nothing certain can be deduced,
except that they build in companies, in hollow trees. That they
commence incubation late in summer, or very early in spring,
I think highly probable, from the numerous dissections I made
in the months of March, April, May and June; and the great
variety which I found in the colour of the plumage of the head

CAROLINA PARROT. 159

and neck, of both sexes, during the two former of these months,
convinces me, that the young birds do not receive their full
colours until the early part of the succeeding summer.

While Parrots and Paroquets, from foreign countries, abound
in almost every street of our large cities, and become such great
favourites, no attention seems to have been paid to our own,
which in elegance of figure, and beauty of plumage, is certainly
superior to many of them. It wants, indeed, that disposition
for perpetual screaming and chattering, that renders some of the
former, pests, not only to their keepers, but to the whole neigh-
bourhood in which they reside. It is alike docile and sociable;
soon becomes perfectly familiar; and until equal pains be taken
in its instruction, it is unfair to conclude it incapable of equal
improvement in the language of man.

As so little has hitherto been known of the disposition and
manners of this species, the reader will not, I hope, be displeased
at my detailing some of these, in the history of a particular fa-
vourite, my sole companion in many a lonesome day's march,
and of which the figure in the plate is a faithful resemblance.

Anxious to try the effects of education on one of those which
I procured at Big-Bone lick, and which was but slightly wound-
ed in the wing, I fixed up a place for it in the stern of my boat,
and presented it with some cockle-burrs, which it freely fed on
in less than an hour after being on board. The intermediate
time, between eating and sleeping, was occupied in gnawing the
sticks that formed its place of confinement, in order to make a
practicable breach, which it repeatedly effected. When I aban-
doned the river, and travelled by land, I wrapt it up closely in
a silk handkerchief, tying it tightly around, and carried it in
my pocket. When I stopped for refreshment, I unbound my
prisoner, and gave it its allowance, which it generally despatched
with great dexterity, unhusking the seeds from the burr in a
twinkling; in doing which it always employed its left foot to
hold the burr, as did several others that I kept for some time.
I began to think that this might be peculiar to the whole tribe,
and that the whole were, if I may use the expression, left-footed;

160 CAROLINA PARROT.

but by shooting a number afterwards, while engaged in eating
mulberries, I found sometimes the left, sometimes the right
foot, stained with the fruit; the other always clean; from which,
and the constant, practice of those I kept, it appears, that like
the human species in the use of their hands, they do not prefer
one or the other indiscriminately, but are either left or right-
footed. But to return to my prisoner. In recommitting it to
"durance vile," we generally had a quarrel; during which it
frequently paid me in kind for the .wound I had inflicted, and
for depriving it of liberty, by cutting and almost disabling se-
veral of my fingers with its sharp and powerful bill. The path
through the wilderness, between Nashville and Natchez, is in
some places bad beyond description. There are dangerous creeks
to swim, miles of morass to struggle through, rendered almost
as gloomy as night by a prodigious growth of timber, and an
underwood of canes and other evergreens; while the descent
into these sluggish streams is often ten or fifteen feet perpen-
dicular into a bed of deep clay. In some of the worst of these
places, where I had, as it were, to fight my way through, the
Paroquet frequently escaped from my pocket, obliging me to
dismount and pursue it through the worst of the morass, before
I could regain it. On these occasions I was several times tempt-
ed to abandon it; but I persisted in bringing it along. When at
night I encamped in the woods, I placed it on the baggage be-
side me, where it usually sat, with great composure, dozing and
gazing at the fire till morning. In this manner I carried it up-
wards of a thousand miles in my pocket, where it was exposed
all day to the jolting of the horse, but regularly liberated at meal
times, and in the evening, at which it always expressed great
satisfaction. In passing through the Chickasaw and Chactaw
nations, the Indians, wherever I stopped to feed, collected
around me, men, women and children, laughing and seeming
wonderfully amused with the novelty of my companion. The
Chickasaws called it in their language " Kelinky;" but when
they heard me call it Poll, they soon repeated the name; and
wherever I chanced to stop among these people, we soon became

CAROLINA PARROT. 161

familiar with each other through the medium of Poll. On ar-
riving at Mr. Dunbar's, below Natchez, I procured a cage, and
placed it under the piazza, where by its call it soon attracted
the passing flocks, such is the attachment they have for each
other. Numerous parties frequently alighted on the trees im-
mediately above, keeping up a constant conversation with the
prisoner. One of these I wounded slightly in the wing, and the
pleasure Poll expressed on meeting with this new companion
was really amusing. She crept close up to it, as it hung on the
side of the cage, chattered to it in a low tone of voice, as if
sympathizing in its misfortune, scratched about its head and
neck with her bill; and both at night nestled as close as possible
to each other, sometimes Poll's head being thrust among the
plumage of the other. On the death of this companion, she ap-
peared restless and inconsolable for several days. On reaching
New Orleans, I placed a looking-glass beside the place where
she usually sat, and the instant she perceived her image, all her
former fondness seemed to return, so that she could scarcely
absent herself from it a moment. It was evident that she was
completely deceived. Always when evening drew on, and often
during the day, she laid her head close to that of the image in
the glass, and began to doze with great composure and satisfac-
tion. In this short space she had learnt to know her name; to
answer and come when called on; to climb up my clothes, sit
on my shoulder, and eat from my mouth. I took her with me to
sea, determined to persevere in her education; but, destined to
another fate, poor Poll, having one morning about day-break
wrought her way through the cage, while I was asleep, instantly
flew overboard, and perished in the gulf of Mexico.

The Carolina, or Illinois Parrot, (for it has been described
under both these appellations) is thirteen inches long, and twen-
ty-one in extent; forehead and cheeks orange red; beyond this,
for an inch and a half, down and round the neck, a rich and
pure yellow; shoulder and bend of the wing also edged with
rich orange red; the general colour of the rest of the plumage

is a bright yellowish silky green, with light blue reflections,
VOL. i. — z z

162 CAROLINA PARROT.

lightest and most diluted with yellow below; greater wing-cov-
erts, and roots of the primaries, yellow, slightly tinged with
green; interior webs of the primaries deep dusky purple, almost
black, exterior ones bluish green ; tail long, cuneiform, consist-
ing of twelve feathers, the exterior one only half the length,
the others increasing to the middle ones, which are streaked
along the middle with light blue; shafts of all the larger feath-
ers, and of most part of the green plumage, black; knees and
vent orange yellow; feet a pale whitish flesh colour; claws black;
bill white, or slightly tinged with pale cream; iris of the eye
hazel; round the eye is a small space, without feathers, covered
with a whitish skin; nostrils placed in an elevated membrane
at the base of the bill, and covered with feathers; chin wholly
bare of feathers, but concealed by those descending on each side;
from each side of the palate hangs a lobe or skin of a blackish
colour; tongue thick and fleshy; inside of the upper mandible,
near the point, grooved exactly like a file, that it may hold with
more security.

The female differs very little in her colours and markings
from the male. After examining numerous specimens, the fol-
lowing appear to be the principal differences. The yellow on
the neck of the female does not descend quite so far; the inte-
rior vanes of the primaries are brownish instead of black; and
the orange red on the bend and edges of the wing is considera-
bly narrower; in other respects the colours and markings are
nearly the same.

The young birds of the preceding year, of both sexes, are
generally destitute of the yellow on the head and neck, until
about the beginning or middle of March, having those parts
wholly green, except the front and cheeks, which are orange
red in them, as in the full grown birds. Towards the middle
of March, the yellow begins to appear in detached feathers, in-
terspersed among the green, varying in different individuals.
In some which I killed about the last of that month, only a few
green feathers remained among the yellow; and these were fast
assuming the yellow tint; for the colour changes without change

CAROLINA PARROT. 163

of plumage. A number of these birds, in all their grades of
progressive change from green to yellow, have been deposited
in Peale's museum.

What is called by Europeans the Illinois Parrot, (Psittacus
pertinax) is evidently the young bird in its imperfect colours.
Whether the present species be found as far south as Brasil, as
these writers pretend, I am unable to say; but from the great
extent of country in which I have myself killed and examined
these birds, I am satisfied that the present species, now described,
is the only one inhabiting the United States.

Since the foregoing was written, I have had an opportunity,
by the death of a tame Carolina Paroquet, to ascertain the fact
of the poisonous effects of their head and intestines on cats.
Having shut up a cat and her two kittens, (the latter only a few
days old, ) in a room with the head, neck, and whole intestines
of the Paroquet, I found on the next morning the whole eaten,
except a small part of the bill. The cat exhibited no symptom
of sickness; and at this moment, three days after the experiment
has been made, she and her kittens are in their usual health.
Still, however, the effect might have been different, had the
daily food of the bird been cockle burrs, instead of Indian corn.

Note — From Mr. T. Peale, who was attached to the expe-
dition commanded by Major Long, I learn, that during the
time the party wintered at Engineer Cantonment, nearly eight
hundred miles up the Missouri, they observed this species, at
various periods, from the beginning of December, until the mid-
dle of February, although the thermometer (Fahrenheit) once
sunk as low as 22° below zero. Mr. Peale is of opinion that the
Paroquet migrates rather in quest of food, than in consequence
of the cold. Being, like the wild Pigeon, a bird of vigorous
wing, and of a roving disposition, a journey of a few hundred
miles can occasion it but a very little trouble. G. Ord.

GENUS 13. CORVUS. CROW.

SPECIES 1. C. CORrfX.

RAVEN.

[Plate LXXV.— Fig. 3.]

GMEL. 8yst. i, p. 364.— Ind. Orn. p. 150.— Le Corbeau, BRISS. 2,
p. 8, et van— BUFF. Ois. 3, p. 13. Pi. enZ. 495. — TEMM. Man.
d' 0rw. p. 107. — 72avew, LATH. Gen. Syn. i, p. 367. /tJ. swp. p.
74.— PENN. flri*. Zool. JVo. 74. .flrc*. ZooZ. JVo. 134.— SHAW,
Gen. ZooL 7, p. 341. — BEWICK, i,^p. 100.— Low, Fauna Orca-
densis,p. 45. — PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 175.

A KNOWLEDGE of this celebrated bird has been handed down
to us from the earliest ages; and its history is almost coeval
with that of man. In the best and most ancient of all books,
we learn, that at the end of forty days, after the great flood had
covered the earth, Noah, wishing to ascertain whether or not
the waters had abated, sent forth a raven, which did not return
into the ark. * This is the first notice that is taken of this spe-
cies. Though the Raven was declared unclean by the law of
Moses, yet we are informed, that when the prophet Elijah pro-
voked the enmity of Ahab, by prophesying against him, and
hid himself by the brook Cherith, the Ravens were appointed
by Heaven to bring him his daily food.! The colour of the
Raven gave rise to a similitude in one of the most beautiful of
eclogues, which has been perpetuated in all subsequent ages,
and which is not less pleasing for being trite or proverbial. The
favourite of the royal lover of Jerusalem, in the enthusiasm of
affection, thus describes the object of her adoration, in reply to
the following question:

* Genesis, viii, 7. t 1 King's, xvii, 5, 6.

RAVEN. 165

" What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 0 thou
fairest among women?" " My beloved is white and ruddy,
the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine
gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a JRaven."*

The above mentioned circumstances taken into consideration,
one should suppose that the lot of the subject of this chapter
would have been of a different complexion from what history
and tradition inform us is the fact. But in every country, we
are told, the Raven is considered an ominous bird, whose croak-
ings foretel approaching evil; and many a crooked beldam has
given interpretation to these oracles, of a nature to infuse terror
into a whole community. Hence this ill-fated bird, immemori-
ally, has been the innocent subject of vulgar obloquy and de-
testation.

Augury, or the art of foretelling future events by the flight,
cries, or motions of birds, descended from the Chaldeans to the
Greeks, thence to the Etrurians, and from them it was transmit-
ted to the Romans.! The crafty legislators of these celebrated
nations, from a deep knowledge of human nature, made super-
stition a principal feature of their religious ceremonies; well
knowing that it required a more than ordinary policy to govern
a multitude, ever liable to the fatal influences of passion; and

* Song of Solomon, v, 9, 10, 11.

t That the science of augury is very ancient, we learn from the Hebrew
lawgiver, who prohibits it, as well as every other kind of divination. Deut.
chap, xviii. The Romans derived their knowledge of augury chiefly from
the Tuscans or Etrurians, who practised it in the earliest times. This art
was known in Italy before the time of Romulus, since that prince did not
commence the building1 of Rome till he had taken the auguries. The succes-
sors of Romulus, from a conviction of the usefulness of the science, and at
the same time not to render it contemptible, by becoming too familiar, em-
ployed the most skilful augurs from Etruria, to introduce the practice of it
into their religious ceremonies. And by a decree of the senate, some of the
youth of the best families in Rome were annually sent into Tuscany, to be
instructed in this art. Vide Ciceron. de Divin, Also Calmet, and the abbe
Banier,

166 RAVEN.

who, without some timely restraints, would burst forth like a
torrent, whose course is marked by wide-spreading desolation.
Hence, to the purposes of polity the Raven was made subser-
vient; and the Romans having consecrated it to Apollo, as to
the god of divination, its flight was observed with the greatest
solemnity; and its tones and inflections of voice were noted
with a precision, which intimated a belief in its infallible pre-
science.

But the ancients have not been the only people infected with
this species of superstition; the moderns, even though favoured
with the light of Christianity, have exhibited as much folly,
through the impious curiosity of prying into futurity, as the
Romans themselves. It is true that modern nations have not
instituted their sacred colleges or sacerdotal orders, for the pur-
poses of divination; but in all countries there have been self-
constituted augurs, whose interpretations of omens have been
received with religious respect by the credulous multitude.
Even at this moment, in some parts of the world, if a Raven
alight on a village church, the whole fraternity is in an uproar;
and Heaven is importuned, in all the ardour of devotion, to
avert the impending calamity.

The poets have taken advantage of this weakness of human
nature, and in their hands the Raven is a fit instrument of ter-
ror. Shakspeare puts the following malediction into the mouth
of his Caliban:

" As wicked dew, as ere my mother brush'd,
With Raven's feather, from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both!"*

The ferocious wife of Macbeth, on being advised of the ap-
proach of Duncan, whose death she had conspired, thus ex-
claims:

" The Raven himself is hoarse,
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements !"f

* Tempest, act i, scene 2. t Act i, scene 5.

RAVEN. 167

The Moor of Venice says:

" It comes o'er my memory,
As doth the Raven o'er the infected house,
Boding to all."*

The last quotation alludes to the supposed habit of this bird's
flying over those houses which contain the sick, whose dissolu-
tion is at hand, and thereby announced. Thus Marlowe, in the
Jew of Malta, as cited by Malone:

" The sad presaging Raven tolls

The sick man's passport in her hollow beak,

And in the shadow of the silent night

Doth shake contagion from her sable wing."

But it is the province of philosophy to dispel those illusions
which bewilder the mind, by pointing out the simple truths
which Nature has been at no pains to conceal, but which the
folly of mankind has shrouded in all the obscurity of mystery.

The Raven is a general inhabitant of the United States, but
is more common in the interior. On the lakes, and particularly
in the neighbourhood of the Falls of the river Niagara, they
are numerous; and it is a remarkable fact, that where they so
abound, the Common Crow, C. corone, seldom makes its ap-
pearance; being intimidated, it is conjectured, by the superior
size and strength of the former, or by an antipathy which the
two species manifest towards each other. This I had an oppor-
tunity of observing myself, in a journey during the months of
August and September, along the lakes Erie and Ontario. The
Ravens were seen every day, prowling about in search of the
dead fish, which the waves are continually casting ashore, and
which afford them an abundance of a favourite food; but I did
not see or hear a single Crow within several miles of the lakes;
and but very few through the whole of the Gennesee country.

The food of this species is dead animal matter of all kinds,

* Othello, act iv, scene 1.

168 RAVEN.

not excepting the most putrid carrion, which it devours in com-
mon with the Vultures; worms, grubs, reptiles and shell-fish,
the last of which, in the manner of the Crow, it drops from a
considerable height in the air, on the rocks, in order to break
the shells; it is fond of birds' eggs, and is often observed sneak-
ing around the farm-house, in search of the eggs of the domestic
poultry, which it sucks with eagerness; it is likewise charged
with destroying young ducks and chickens, and lambs which
have been yeaned in a sickly state. The Raven, it is said, fol-
lows the hunters of deer, for the purpose of falling heir to the
offal;* and the huntsmen are obliged to cover their game, when
it is left in the woods, with their hunting frocks, to protect it
from this thievish connoisseur, who, if he have an opportunity,
will attack the region of the kidneys, and mangle the saddle
without ceremony.

Buffon says that " the Raven plucks out the eyes of Buffa-
loes, and then, fixing on the, back, it tears off the flesh deli-
berately; and what renders the ferocity more detestable, it is
not incited by the cravings of hunger, but by the appetite for
carnage; for it can subsist on fruits, seed of all kinds, and indeed
may be considered as an omnivorous animal." This is mere
fable, and of a piece with many other absurdities of the same
agreeable, but fanciful author.

This species is found almost all over the habitable globe.
We trace it in the north from Norway to Greenland, and hear
of it in Kamtschatka. It is common every where in Russia and
Siberia, except within the Arctic circle ;t and all through Eu-
rope. Kolben enumerates the Raven among the birds of the
Cape of Good Hope;:): De Grandpre represents it as numerous
in Bengal, where they are said to be protected for their useful-
ness ;§ and the unfortunate La Perouse saw them at Bale de

* This is the case in those parts of the United States where the deer are
hunted without dogs: where these are employed, they are generally rewarded
with the offal.

f Latham. % Medley's Kolben, vol. ii, p. 136.

§ Voy. in the Indian Ocean, p. 148.

RAVEN. 169

Castries, on the east coast of Tartary ; likewise at Port des Fran-
§ois; 58° 37' north latitude, and 139° 50' west longitude ; and at
Monterey Bay, north California. * The English circumnaviga-
tors met with them at Nootka Sound ;t and at the Sandwich
Islands, two being seen in the village of Kakooa; also at Owhy-
hee, and supposed to be adored there, as they were called
Eatoos.J Our intrepid American travellers, under the com-
mand of Lewis and Clark, shortly after they embarked on the
river Columbia, saw abundance of Ravens, which were attracted
thither by the immense quantity of dead salmon which lined
the shores. § They are found at all seasons at Hudson's Bay;||
are frequent in Mexico ;! and it is more than probable that they
inhabit the whole continent of America.

The Raven measures, from the tip of the bill to the end of
the tail, twenty-six inches, and is four feet in extent; the bill
is large and strong, of a shining black, notched near the tip, and
three inches long, the setaceous feathers which cover the nos-
trils extend half its length; the eyes are black; the general colour
is a deep glossy black, with steel-blue reflections; the lower
parts are less glossy; the tail is rounded, and extends about two
inches beyond the wings; the legs are two inches and a half in
length, and, with the feet, are strong and black; the claws are
long.

This bird is said to attain to a great age; and its plumage to
be subject to change, from the influence of years and of climate.
It is found in Iceland and Greenland entirely white.

The Raven was the constant attendant of Lewis and Clark's
party, in their long and toilsome journey. During the winter,
at Fort Mandan, they were observed in immense numbers,
notwithstanding the cold was so excessive, that, on the seven-
teenth of December, 1804, the thermometer of Fahrenheit stood
at 45° below 0.

* Voy. par I. F. G. De la Pe"rouse, ii, p. 129, 203, 443.
f Cook's last voy. ii, p. 236. Am. ed. \ Idem, iii, p. 329.

§ Gass's Journal, p. 153. || Charlevoix. Kalm. Hearne's Journey.

II Fernandez.
VOL. I. 3 A

-•-,

170 RAVEN.

Like the Crow, this species may be easily domesticated, and
in that state would afford amusement, by its familiarity, frolics
and sagacity. But such noisy and mischievous pets, in common
with Parrots and Monkeys, are not held in high estimation in
this quarter of the globe; and are generally overlooked for those
universal favourites, which either gratify the eye by the neat-
ness or brilliancy of their plumage, or delight the ear by the
simplicity or variety of their song.

SPECIES 2. CORPUS CORONE.*

CROW.
[Plate XXXV.— Fig. 3.]

PEALE'S Museum, No. 1246.

THIS is perhaps the most generally known, and least beloved,
of all our land birds; having neither melody of song, nor beau-
ty of plumage, nor excellence of flesh, nor civility of manners,
to recommend him; on the contrary, he is branded as a thief
and a plunderer; a kind of black-coated vagabond, who hovers
over the fields of the industrious, fattening on their labours; and
by his voracity often blasting their expectations. Hated as he
is by the farmer, watched and persecuted by almost every bear-
er of a gun, who all triumph in his destruction, had not heaven
bestowed on him intelligence and sagacity far beyond common,
there is reason to believe that the whole tribe (in these parts at
least) would long ago have ceased to exist.

The Crow is a constant attendant on agriculture, and a gene-
ral inhabitant of the cultivated parts of North America. In the
interior of the forest he is more rare, unless during the season
of breeding. He is particularly attached to low flat corn coun-
tries, lying in the neighbourhood of the sea or of large rivers;
and more numerous in the northern than southern states, where
Vultures abound, and with whom the Crows are unable to con-
tend. A strong antipathy, it is also said, prevails between the
Crow and the Raven, insomuch that, where the latter are nu-
merous, the former rarely resides. Many of the first settlers of
the Gennesee country informed me, that, for a long time, Ra-
vens were numerous with them, but no Crows; and even now

* We give the following synonymes: Corvus cor one, LINN. Syst. ed. 10, i, p.
105.— GMEL. Syst. 1, p. 365.— LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 151 — TEMM. Man. d'Orn.
i, p. 108.

172 CROW.

the latter are seldom observed in that country. In travelling
from Nashville to Natchez, a distance of four hundred and sev-
enty miles, I saw few or no Crows, but Ravens frequently, and
Vultures in great numbers.

The usual breeding time of the Crow, in Pennsylvania, is in
March, April, and May, during which season they are dispers-
ed over the woods in pairs, and roost in the neighbourhood of
the tree they have selected for their nest. About the middle of
March they begin to build, generally choosing a high tree;
though I have also known them prefer a middle sized cedar.
One of their nests, now before me, is formed externally of sticks,
wet moss, thin bark mixed with mossy earth, and lined with
large quantities of horse hair, to the amount of more than half
a pound, some cow hair, and some wool, forming a very soft and
elastic bed. The eggs are four, of a pale green colour, marked
with numerous specks and blotches of olive.

During this interesting season, the male is extremely watch-
ful, making frequent excursions of half a mile or so in circuit,
to reconnoitre; and the instant he observes a person approaching,
he gives the alarm, when both male and female retire to a dis-
tance, till the intruder has gone past. He also regularly carries
food to his mate while she is sitting; occasionally relieves her;
and when she returns, again resigns up his post. At this time
also, as well as until the young are able to fly, they preserve
uncommon silence, that their retreat may not be suspected.

It is in the month of May, and until the middle of June, that
the Crow is most destructive to the corn-fields, digging up the
newly planted grains of maize, pulling up by the roots those
that have begun to vegetate, and thus frequently obliging the
farmer to replant, or lose the benefit of the soil; and this
sometimes twice, and even three times, occasioning a consider-
able additional expense and inequality of harvest. No mercy is
now shown him. The myriads of worms, moles, mice, caterpil-
lars, grubs and beetles, which he has destroyed, are altogether
overlooked on these occasions. Detected in robbing the hens'
nests, pulling up the corn, and killing the young chickens, he

CROW. 173

is considered as an outlaw, and sentenced to destruction. But
the great difficulty is, how to put this sentence in execution.
In vain the gunner skulks along the hedges and fences; his faith-
ful centinels, planted on some commanding point, raise the alarm,
and disappoint vengeance of its object. The coast again clear,
he returns once more in silence to finish the repast he had be-
gun. Sometimes he approaches the farm-house by stealth, in
search of young chickens, which he is in the habit of snatching
off, when he can elude the vigilance of the mother hen, who
often proves too formidable for him. A few days ago a Crow
was observed eagerly attempting to seize some young chickens
in an orchard, near the room where I write; but these cluster-
ing close round the hen, she resolutely defended them, drove
the Crow, into an apple-tree, whither she instantly pursued him
with such spirit and intrepidity, that he was glad to make a
speedy retreat, and abandon his design.

The Crow himself sometimes falls a prey to the superior
strength and rapacity of the Great Owl, whose weapons of of-
fence are by far the more formidable of the two. *

* "A few years ago," says an obliging1 correspondent, " I resided on the
banks of the Hudson, about seven miles from the city of New York. Not far
from the place of my residence was a pretty thick wood or swamp, in which,
great numbers of Crows, who used to cross the river from the opposite shore,
were accustomed to roost. Returning homeward one afternoon from a shoot-
ing excursion, I had occasion to pass through this swamp. It was near sunset,
and troops of Crows were flying in all directions over my head. While en-
gaged in observing their flight, and endeavouring to select from among them
an object to shoot at, my ears were suddenly assailed by the distressful cries of
a Crow, who was evidently struggling under the talons of a merciless and rapa-
cious enemy. I hastened to the spot whence the sounds proceeded, and to my
great surprise, found a Crow lying on the ground, just expiring, and seated
upon the body of the yet warm and bleeding quarry, a large brown Owl, who was
beginning to make a meal of the unfortunate robber of corn-fields. Perceiving
my approach, he forsook his prey with evident reluctance, and flew into a tree
at a little distance, where he sat watching all my movements, alternately re-
garding, with longing eyes, the victim he had been forced to leave, and darting
at me no very friendly looks, that seemed to reproach me for having deprived

174 CROW.

Towards the close of summer, the parent Crows, with their
new families, forsaking their solitary lodgings, collect together,
as if by previous agreement, when evening approaches. About
an hour before sunset, they are first observed, flying somewhat
in Indian file, in one direction, at a short height above the tops
of the trees, silent and steady, keeping the general curvature of
the ground, continuing to pass sometimes till after sunset, so
that the whole line of march would extend for many miles.
This circumstance, so familiar and picturesque, has not been
overlooked by the poets, in their descriptions of a rural even-
ing. Burns, in a single line, has finely sketched it

" The black'ning train of Craws to their repose."

The most noted Crow-roost with which I am acquainted is
near Newcastle, on an island in the Delaware. It is there known
by the name of the Pea-Patch, and is a low flat alluvial spot,
of a few acres, elevated but a little above high- water mark, and
covered with a thick growth of reeds. This appears to be the

him of his expected regale. I confess that the scene before me was altogether
novel and surprising. I am but little conversant with natural history 5 but I
had always understood, that the depredations of the Owl were confined to the
smaller birds, and animals of the lesser kind; such as mice, young rabbits, &c.
and that he obtained his prey rather by fraud and stratagem, than by open
rapacity and violence. I was the more confirmed in this belief, from the recol-
lection of a passage in Macbeth, which now forcibly recurred to my mem-
ory. The courtiers of King Duncan are recounting to each other the various
prodigies that preceded liis death, and one of them relates to his wondering
auditors, that

* An Eagle, tow'ring in his pride of place,

* Was, by a mousing Owl, hawk'd at and kill'd.'

But to resume my relation. That the Owl was the murderer of the unfortu-
nate Crow, there could be no doubt. No other bird of prey was in sight; I
had not fired my gun since I entered the wood; nor heard any one else shoot:
besides, the unequivocal situation in which I found the parties, would have
been sufficient before any * twelve good men and true,' or a jury of Crows,
to have convicted him of his guilt. It is proper to add, that I avenged the
death of the hapless Crow, by a well-aimed shot at the felonious robber, that
extended him breathless on the ground. "

CROW.

175

grand rendezvous, or head-quarters of the greater part of the
Crows within forty or fifty miles of the spot. It is entirely des-
titute of trees, the Crows alighting and nestling among the
reeds, which by these means are broken down and matted to-
gether. The noise created by those multitudes, both in their
evening assembly, and re-ascension in the morning; and the
depredations they commit in the immediate neighbourhood of
this great resort, are almost incredible. Whole fields of corn
are sometimes laid waste, by thousands alighting on it at once,
with appetites whetted by the fast of the preceding night; and
the utmost vigilance is unavailing to prevent, at least, a partial
destruction of this their favourite grain. Like the stragglers of an
immense, undisciplined, and rapacious, army, they spread them-
selves over the fields, to plunder and destroy wherever they
alight. It is here that the character of the Crow is universally
execrated; and to say to the man who has lost his crop of corn by
these birds, that Crows are exceedingly useful for destroying
vermin, would be as consolatory as to tell him who had just
lost his house and furniture by the flames, that fires are excel-
lent for destroying bugs.

The strong attachment of the Crows to this spot may be illus-
trated by the following circumstance. Some years ago, a sud-
den and violent north-east storm came on during the night, and
the tide rising to an uncommon height inundated the whole isl-
and. The darkness of the night, the suddenness and violence
of the storm, and the incessant torrents of rain that fell, it is
supposed, so intimidated the Crows, that they did not attempt
to escape, and almost all perished. Thousands of them, were
next day seen floating in the river; and the wind shifting to the
north-west, drove their dead bodies to the Jersey side, where
for miles they blackened the whole shore.

This disaster, however, seems long ago to have been repair-
ed; for they now congregate on the Pea-Patch in as immense
multitudes as ever. *

* The following is extracted from a late number of a newspaper printed in
that neighbourhood: " The farmers of Red Lion Hundred held a meeting at

176 CROW.

So universal is the hatred to Crows, that few states, either
here or in Europe, have neglected to offer rewards for their de-
struction. In the United States they have been repeatedly rank-
ed in our laws with -the wolves, the panthers, foxes and squir-
rels, and a proportionable premium offered for their heads, to be
paid by any justice of the peace to whom they are delivered.
On all these accounts various modes have been invented for cap-
turing them. They have been taken in clap-nets commonly
used for taking pigeons; two or three live Crows being pre-
viously procured as decoys, or as they are called Stool-crows.
Corn has been steeped in a strong decoction of hellebore, which
when eaten by them produces giddiness, and finally, it is said,
death. Pieces of paper, formed into the shape of a hollow cone,
besmeared within with birdlime, and a grain or two of corn
dropped on the bottom, have also been adopted. Numbers of
these being placed on the ground, where corn has been plant-
ed, the Crows attempting to reach the grains are instantly hood-
winked, fly directly upwards to a great height; but generally
descend near the spot whence they rose, and are easily taken.
The reeds of their roosting places are sometimes set on fire du-
ring a dark night, and the gunners having previously posted
themselves around, the Crows rise in great uproar, and amidst
the general consternation, by the light of the burnings, hundreds
of them are shot down.

Crows have been employed to catch Crows, by the following

the village of St. Georges, in the state of Delaware, on Monday, the 6th inst,
to receive pix>posals of John Deputy, on a plan for banishing or destroying the
Crows. Mr. Deputy's plan, being heard and considered, was approved, and a
committee appointed to contract with him, and to procure the necessary funds
to carry the same into effect. Mr. Deputy proposes that for five hundred dol-
lars he will engage to kill or banish the Crows from their roost on the Pea-Patch,
and give security to return the money on failure.

" The sum of five hundred dollars being thus required, the committee beg
leave to address the farmers and others of Newcastle county, and elsewhere,
on the subject"

CROW. 177

stratagem. A live Crow is pinned by the wings down to the
ground on his back, by means of two sharp, forked sticks. Thus
situated, his cries are loud and incessant, particularly if any oth-
er Crows are within view. These sweeping down about him,
are instantly grappled by the prostrate prisoner, by the same
instinctive impulse that urges a drowning person to grasp at
every thing within his reach. Having disengaged the game
from his clutches, the trap is again ready for another experiment;
and by pinning down each captive, successively, as soon as ta-
ken, in a short time you will probably have a large flock scream-
ing above you, in concert with the outrageous prisoners below.
Many farmers, however, are content with hanging up the
skins, or dead carcasses, of Crows, in their corn-fields by way
of terrorem; others depend altogether on the gun, keeping one
of their people supplied with ammunition, and constantly on
the look-out. In hard winters, the Crows suffer severely, so
that they have been observed to fall down in the fields, and on
the roads, exhausted with cold and hunger. In one of these
winters, and during a long continued deep snow, more than
six hundred Crows were shot on the carcass of a dead horse,
which was placed at a proper distance from the stable, from a
hole of which the discharges were made. The premiums awar-
ded for these, with the price paid for the quills, produced near-
ly as much as the original value of the horse, besides, as the
man himself assured me, saving feathers sufficient for filling a
bed.

The Crow is easily raised and domesticated; and it is only
when thus rendered unsuspicious of, and placed on terms of fa-
miliarity with, man, that the true traits of his genius, and na-
tive disposition, fully develop themselves. In this state he
soon learns to distinguish all the members of the family; flies
towards the gate, screaming at the approach of a stranger; learns
to open the door by alighting on the latch ; attends regularly at
the stated hours of dinner and breakfast; which he appears
punctually to recollect; is extremely noisy and loquacious; im-
itates the sound of various words, pretty distinctly ; is a great

VOL. i. — 3 c

178 CROW.

thief and hoarder of curiosities, hiding in holes, corners and
crevices, every loose article he can carry off, particularly small
pieces of metal, corn, bread, and food of all kinds; is fond of
the society of his master, and will know him even after a long
absence; of which the following is a remarkable instance, and
may be relied on as a fact. A very worthy gentleman, now liv-
ing in the Gennesee country, but who, at the time alluded to,
resided on the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had raised
a Crow, with whose tricks and society he used frequently to
amuse himself. This Crow lived long in the family; but at
length disappeared, having, as was then supposed, been shot
by some vagrant gunner, or destroyed by accident. About ele-
ven months after this, as the gentleman, one morning, in com-
pany with several others, was standing on the river shore, a
number of Crows happening to pass by, one of them left the
flock, and flying directly towards the company, alighted on the
gentleman's shoulder, and began to gabble away with great vo-
lubility, as one long absent friend naturally enough does on
meeting with another. On recovering from his surprise, the
gentleman instantly recognised his old acquaintance; and en-
deavoured by several civil but sly manoeuvres to lay hold of
him; but the Crow, not altogether relishing quite so much fa-
miliarity, having now had a taste of the sweets of liberty, cau-
tiously eluded all his attempts; and suddenly glancing his eye
on his distant companions, mounted in the air after them, soon
overtook and mingled with them, and was never afterward seen
to return.

The habits of the Crow, in his native state, are so generally
known, as to require little further illustration. His watchful-
ness, and jealous sagacity in distinguishing a person with a gun,
are notorious to every one. In spring, when he makes his ap-
pearance among the groves and low thickets, the whole feath-
ered songsters are instantly alarmed, well knowing the depre-
dations and murders he commits on their nests, eggs and young.
Few of them, however, have the courage to attack him, except
the King-bird, who on these occasions teases and pursues him

CROW. 179

from place to place, diving on his back while high in air, and
harassing him for a great distance. A single pair of these noble-
spirited birds, whose nest was built near, have been known to
protect a whole field of corn from the depredations of the Crows,
not permitting one to approach it.

The Crow is eighteen inches and a half long, and three feet
two inches in extent; the general colour is a shining glossy blue
black, with purplish reflections; the throat and lower parts are
less glossy; the bill and legs a shining black, the former two
inches and a quarter long, very strong, and covered at the base
with thick tufts of recumbent feathers; the wings, when shut,
reach within an inch and a quarter of the tip of the tail, which
is rounded; fourth primary the longest; secondaries scallopped
at the ends, and minutely pointed, by the prolongation of the
shaft; iris dark hazel.

The above description agrees so nearly with the European
species as to satisfy me that they are the same; though the voice
of ours is said to be less harsh, not unlike the barking of a small
spaniel; the pointedness of the ends of the tail feathers, men-
tioned by European naturalists, and occasioned by the extension
of the shafts, is rarely observed in the present species, though
always very observable in the secondaries.

The female differs from the male in being more dull colour-
ed, and rather deficient in the glossy and purplish tints and re-
flections. The difference, however, is not great.

Besides grain, insects and carrion, they feed on frogs, tad-
poles, small fish, lizards and shell-fish; with the latter they fre-
quently mount to a great height, dropping them on the rocks
below, and descending after them to pick up the contents. The
same habit is observable in the Gull, the Raven, and Sea-side
Crow. Many other aquatic insects, as well as marine plants,
furnish them with food; which accounts for their being so gen-
erally found, and so numerous, on the sea-shore, and along the
banks of our large rivers.

-

SPECIES 3. CORVUS COLUMBMNUS.
CLARK'S CROW.
[Plate XX.— Fig. 2.]

PEALE'S Museum, 'No. 1371.

THIS species resembles, a little, the Jackdaw of Europe ( Cor-
vus monedula;} but is remarkable for its formidable claws, which
approach to those of the Falco genus; and would seem to inti-
mate, that its food consists of living animals, for whose destruc-
tion these weapons must be necessary. In conversation with
different individuals of Lewis and Clark's party, I understood
that this bird inhabits the shores of the Columbia, and the ad-
jacent country, » in great numbers, frequenting the rivers and
seashore, probably feeding on fish; and that it has all the grega-
rious and noisy habits of the European species, several of the
party supposing it to be the same.

The figure in the plate was drawn with particular care, after
a minute examination and measurement of the only preserved
skin that was saved; and which is now deposited in Peale's
Museum.

This bird measures thirteen inches in length; the wings, the
two middle tail feathers, and the interior vanes of the next (ex-
cept at the tip) are black, glossed with steel blue; all the second-
aries, except the three next the body, are white for an inch at
their extremities, forming a large spot of white on that part,
when the wing is shut; the tail is rounded; yet the two middle
feathers are somewhat shorter than those adjoining; all the rest
are pure white, except as already described; the general colour
of the head, neck, and body, above and below, is a light silky
drab, darkening almost to a dove colour on the breast and belly;

CLARK'S CROW. 181

vent white; claws black, large, and hooked, particularly the
middle and hind-claw; legs also black; bill a dark horn colour;
iris of the eye unknown.

In the state of Georgia, and several parts of the Mississippi Ter-
ritory, I discovered a Crow,* not hitherto taken notice of by natu-
ralists, rather larger than the present species; but much resembling
it in the form and length of its wings, in its tail, and particularly
its claws. This bird is a constant attendant along the borders of
streams and stagnating ponds, feeding on small fish and lizards,
which I have many times seen him seize as he swept along the
surface. A well preserved specimen of this bird was presented
to Mr. Peale, and is now in his Museum. It is highly probable
that, with these external resemblances, the habits of both may
be nearly alike.

* The Crow above alluded to is the Fish-Crow. See the next article.

SPECIES 4. CORPUS OSSIFRAGUS.

FISH-CROW.
[Plate XXX VII. —Fig. 2.]

PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 1369.

THIS is another roving inhabitant of our coasts, ponds, and
river shores; though a much less distinguished one than the pre-
ceding,* this being the first time, as far as I can learn, that he
has ever been introduced to the notice of the world.

I first met with this species on the coast of Georgia, and ob-
served that they regularly retired to the interior as evening ap-
proached, and came down to the shores of the river Savannah,
by the first appearance of day. Their voice first attracted my
notice, being very different from that of the common Crow,
more hoarse and guttural, uttered as if something stuck in their
throat, and varied into several modulations as they flew along.
Their manner of flying was also unlike the others, as they fre-
quently sailed about, without flapping the wings, something in
the manner of the Raven; and I soon perceived that their food,
and their mode of procuring it, were also both different; their
favourite haunts being about the banks of the river, along which
they usually sailed, dexterously snatching up, with their claws,
dead fish, or other garbage, that floated on the surface. At the
country seat of Stephen Elliot, Esq. near the Ogechee river, I
took notice of these Crows frequently perching on the backs of
the cattle, like the Magpie and Jackdaw of Britain; but never
mingling with the common Crows; and differing from them in
this particular, that the latter generally retire to the shore, the

* The Fish-Hawk, figured in the same plate, and which immediately pre-
cedes the Fish-Crow, in the text of the original edition.

FISH-CROW. 183

reeds and marshes, to roost; while the Fish-Crow, always a little
before sunset, seeks the interior high woods to repose in.

In my journey through the Mississippi Territory, last year,
I resided for some time at the seat of my hospitable friend, Dr.
Samuel Brown, a few miles from Fort Adams, on the Missis-
sippi. In my various excursions there among the lofty fragrance-
breathing magnolia woods, and magnificent scenery, that adorn
the luxuriant face of nature in those southern regions, this species
of Crow frequently made its appearance, distinguished by the
same voice and habits it had in Georgia, There is in many of
the ponds there, a singular kind of lizard, that swims about with
its head above the surface, making a loud sound, not unlike the
harsh jarring of a door. These the Crow now before us would
frequently seize with his claws, as he flew along the surface, and
retire to the summit of a dead tree to enjoy his repast. Here I
also observed him a pretty constant attendant at the pens, where
the cows were usually milked, and much less shy, less suspicious
and more solitary, than the common Crow. In the county of
Cape May, New Jersey, I again met with these Crows, partic-
ularly along Egg-Harbour river; and latterly on the Schuylkill
and Delaware, near Philadelphia, during the season of shad and
herring fishing, viz. from the middle of March till the begin-
ning of June. A small party of these Crows, during this period,
regularly passed Bartram's gardens, to the high woods, to roost,
every evening a little before sunset, and as regularly returned
at or before sunrise every morning, directing their course to-
wards the river. The fishermen along these rivers also inform
me, that they have particularly remarked this Crow, by his
croaking voice, and his fondness for fish; almost always hover-
ing about their fishing places, to glean up the refuse. Of their
manner of breeding I can only say, that they separate into pairs,
and build in tall trees, near the sea or river shore; one of their
nests having been built this season in a piece of tall woods, near
Mr. Beasley's, at Great Egg-Harbour. The male of this nest
furnished me with the figure in the plate, which was drawn of
full size, and afterwards reduced to one-third the size of life, to

184 FISH-CROW.

correspond with the rest of the figures in the same plate. From
the circumstance of six or seven being usually seen here together,
in the month of July, it is probable that they have at least four
or five young at a time.

I can find no description of this species by any former writer.
Mr. Bartram mentions a bird of this tribe, which he calls the
Great Sea-side Crow; but the present species is considerably
inferior in size to the common Crow; and having myself seen
and examined it in so many, and remotely situated, parts of the
country, and found it in all these places alike, I have no hesita-
tion in pronouncing it to be a new and hitherto undescribed spe-
cies.

The Fish-Crow is sixteen inches long, and thirty-three in
extent; black all over, with reflections of steel-blue and purple;
the chin is bare of feathers around the base of the lower mandi-
ble;* upper mandible notched near the tip, the edges of both
turned inwards about the middle; eye very small, placed near
the corner of the mouth, and of a dark hazel colour; recumbent
hairs or bristles large and long; ear feathers prominent; first
primary little more than half the length of the second, fourth
the longest; wings, when shut, reach within two inches of the
tip of the tail; tail rounded, and seven inches long from its in-
sertion; thighs very long; legs stout; claws sharp, long and hook-
ed, hind one the largest, all jet black. Male and female much
alike.

I would beg leave to recommend to the watchful farmers of
the United States, that in their honest indignation against the
common Crow, they would spare the present species, and not
shower destruction, indiscriminately, on their black friends and
enemies; at least on those who sometimes plunder them, and
those who never molest or injure their property.

* This must have been an accidental circumstance, as I have seen speci-
mens, the chin of which was entirely covered. In the month of April, I shot a
fine male, on the Delaware, seventeen inches long, thirty-three broad. The chin
covered. This species is greatly infested with lice, insomuch that when one
handles them, one gets covered with these disagreeable vermin. — G. Ore/.

..- .

'
SPECIES 5. CORVUS PICA.

MAGPIE.

Tlate XXXV.— Fig. 2.]

& j

Jlrct. Zool. JVo. 136.— LATH. Syn. i, 392.— BUFF, in, 85. PL Enl
488.— PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 1333.*

THIS bird is much better known in Europe than in this coun-
try, where it has not been long discovered; although it is now
found to inhabit a wide extent of territory, and in great num-
bers. The drawing was taken from a very beautiful specimen,
sent from the Mandan nation, on the Missouri, to Mr. Jefferson,
and by that gentleman to Mr. Peale of this city, in whose Mu-
seum it lived for several months, and where I had an opportu-
nity of examining it. On carefully comparing it with the Eu-
ropean Magpie in the same collection, no material difference
could be perceived. The figure in the plate is reduced to ex-
actly half the size of life.

This bird unites in its character courage and cunning, turbu-
lency and rapacity. Not inelegantly formed, and distinguished
by gay as well as splendid plumage, he has long been noted in
those countries where he commonly resides, and his habits and
manners are there familiarly known. He is particularly perni-
cious to plantations of young oaks, tearing up the acorns; and
also to birds, destroying great numbers of their eggs and young,
even young chickens, partridges, grous and pheasants. It is
perhaps on this last account that the whole vengeance of the
game laws has lately been let loose upon him, in some parts of
Britain; as appears by accounts from that quarter, where pre-

* We add the following synonymes: — Corvus pica, LINN. Syst. ed. 10, i, p.
106.— GMEL. Syst. i, p. 373.— LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 162.— La Pie, BHISS. Orn,
vvl. IT, p. 35.— TEMM. Man. d'Qrn, i, p. 113.
VOL. I. 3 C

Ig6 MAGPIE.

miums, it is said, are offered for his head, as an arch poacher;
and penalties inflicted on all those who permit him to breed on
their premises. Under the lash of such rigorous persecution, a
few years will probably exterminate the whole tribe from the
island. He is also destructive to gardens and orchards; is noisy
and restless, almost constantly flying from place to place; alights
on the backs of the cattle, to rid them of the larvae that fester
in the skin; is content with carrion when nothing better offers;
eats various kinds of vegetables, and devours greedily grain,
worms, and insects of almost every description. When domes-
ticated, he is easily taught to imitate the human voice, and to
articulate words pretty distinctly; has all the pilfering habits of
his tribe, filling every chink, nook and crevice, with whatever
he can carry off; is subject to the epilepsy, or some similar dis-
order; and is, on the whole, a crafty, restless, and noisy bird.

He generally selects a tall tree adjoining the farm-house, for
his nest, which is placed among the highest branches; this is
large, composed outwardly of sticks, roots, turf and dry weeds,
and well lined with wool, cow hair and feathers; the whole is
surrounded, roofed and barricadoed, with thorns, leaving only
a narrow entrance. The eggs are usually five, of a greenish
colour, marked with numerous black or dusky spots. In the
northern parts of Europe, he migrates at the commencement of
winter.

In this country the Magpie was first taken notice of at the
factories or trading houses, on Hudson's Bay, where the Indians
used sometimes to bring it in, and gave it the name of Heart-
bird^ for what reason is uncertain. It appears, however, to be
rather rare in that quarter. These circumstances are taken notice
of by Mr. Pennant and other British naturalists.

In 1804, the exploring party under the command of Lewis
and Clark, on their route to the Pacific ocean across the conti-
nent, first met with the Magpie somewhere near the great bend
of the Missouri, and found that the number of these birds in-
creased as they advanced. Here also the Blue Jay disappeared;
as if the territorial boundaries and jurisdiction of these two noisy

MAGPIE. 187

and voracious families of the same tribe, had been mutually
agreed on, and distinctly settled. But the Magpie was found
to be far more daring than the Jay, dashing into their very
tents, and carrying off the meat from the dishes. One of the
hunters, who accompanied the expedition, informed me, that
they frequently attended him while he was engaged in skinning
and cleaning the carcass of the deer, bear or buffaloe he had
killed, often seizing the meat that hung within a foot or two of
his head. On the shores of the Kooskoos-ke river, on the west
side of the great range of the Rocky mountains, they were found
to be equally numerous.

It is highly probable that those vast plains or prairies, abound-
ing with game and cattle, frequently killed for the mere hides,
tallow, or even marrow-bones, may be one great inducement
for the residency of these birds, so fond of flesh and carrion.
Even the rigorous severity of winter in the high regions along
the head waters of Rio du Nord, the Arkansaw and Red river,
seems insufficient to force them from those favourite haunts;
though it appears to increase their natural voracity to a very
uncommon degree. Pike relates, that, in the month of Decem-
ber, in the neighbourhood of the North mountain, N. lat. 41°,
W. long. 34°, Reaumur's thermometer standing at 17° below 0,
these birds were seen in great numbers. "Our horses," says
he, " were obliged to scrape the snow away to obtain their mi-
"serable pittance; and to increase their misfortunes, the poor
" animals were attacked by the Magpies, who, attracted by the
( 'scent of their sore backs, alighted on them, and in defiance
" of their wincing and kicking, picked many places quite raw.
" The difficulty of procuring food rendering those birds so bold
" as to light on our men's arms, and eat meat out of their hands. "*

The Magpie is eighteen inches in length; the head, neck,
upper part of the breast and back, are a deep velvetty black;
primaries brownish black, streaked along their inner vanes with
white ; secondaries rich purplish blue; greater coverts green blue;

* Pike's Journal, p. 170.

188 MAGPIE.

scapulars, lower part of the breast and belly, white; thighs and
vent black; tail long, the two exterior feathers scarcely half the
length of the longest, the others increasing to the two middle
ones, which taper towards their extremities. The colour of this
part of the plumage is very splendid, being glossy green, dashed
with blue and bright purple; this last colour bounds the green;
nostrils covered with a thick tuft of recumbent hairs, as are also
the sides of the mouth j bill, legs and feet, glossy black. The
female differs only in the less brilliancy of her plumage.

SPECIES 6. CORPUS CRISTATUS.

BLUE JAY.
[Plate!.— Fig 1.]

LINN. Syst. i, p. 106, JVo. 8, ed. 10. — Garrulus canadensis coeru-
leus, BRISS. n, p. 55. — Pica glandaria cristata, KLEIN, p. 61,
3. — Le Geai bleu de I'Jlmerique Septentrionale, BUFF, in, p.
120. PL EnL 529.— JW«e Jay, CATESB. Car. i, 15.— -Bow. 239.
—Arct. Zool. n, JVo. 138.— LATH. 8yn. i,p. 386, 20.— BARTRAM,
;;. 290. — PEALE'S Museum, No. 1290.

THIS elegant bird, which, as far as I can learn, is peculiar
to North America, is distinguished as a kind of beau among the
feathered tenants of our woods, by the brilliancy of his dress;
and like most other coxcombs, makes himself still more con-
spicuous by his loquacity, and the oddness of his tones and
gestures. The Jay measures eleven inches in length; the head
is ornamented with a crest of light blue or purple feathers, which
he can elevate or depress at pleasure; a narrow line of black
runs along the frontlet, rising on each side higher than the eye,
but not passing over it, as Catesby has represented, and as Pen-
nant and many others have described it; back and upper part of
the neck a fine light purple, in which the blue predominates; a
collar of black proceeding from the hind-head, passes with a
graceful curve down each side of the neck, to the upper part of
the breast, where it forms a crescent; chin, cheeks, throat and
belly, white, the three former slightly tinged with blue; greater
wing coverts a rich blue; exterior sides of the primaries light
blue, those of the secondaries a deep purple, except the three
feathers next the body, which are of a splendid light blue; all
these, except the primaries, are beautifully barred with cres-

190 BLUE JAY.

cents of black, and tipt with white; the interior sides of the
wing feathers are dusky black; tail long and cuneiform, com-
posed of twelve feathers of a glossy light blue, marked at half
inches with transverse curves of black, each feather being tipt
with white, except the two middle ones, which deepen into a
dark purple at the extremities. Breast and sides under the wings
a dirty white, faintly stained with purple; inside of the mouth,
the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black; iris of the eye hazel.

The Blue Jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the woods,
frequenting the thickest settlements, as well as the deepest re-
cesses of the forest, where his squalling voice often alarms the
deer, to the disappointment and mortification of the hunter; one
of whom informed me, that he made it a point, in summer, to
kill every Jay he could meet with. In the charming season of
spring, when every thicket pours forth harmony, the part per-
formed by the Jay always catches the ear. He appears to be,
among his fellow-musicians what the trumpeter is in a band,
some of his notes having no distant resemblance to the tones of
that instrument. These he has the faculty of changing through
a great variety of modulations, according to the particular hu-
mour he happens to be in. When disposed for ridicule, there is
scarce a bird whose peculiarities of song he cannot tune his notes
to. When engaged in the blandishments of love, they resemble
the soft chatterings of a duck; and while he nestles among the
thick branches of the cedar, are scarce heard at a few paces dis-
tance; but no sooner does he discover your approach, than he
sets up a sudden and vehement outcry, flying off, and screaming
with all his might, as if he called the whole feathered tribes of
the neighbourhood to witness some outrageous usage he had re-
ceived. When he hops undisturbed among the high branches of
the oak and hickory, they become soft and musical; and his calls
of the female, a stranger would readily mistake for the repeated
creakings of an ungreased wheelbarrow. All these he accompa-
nies with various nods, jerks, and other gesticulations, for which
the whole tribe of Jays are so remarkable, that, with some other
peculiarities, they might have very well justified the great Swe-

BLUE JAY. 191

dish naturalist in forming them into a separate genus by them-
selves.

The Blue Jay builds a large nest, frequently in the cedar,
sometimes in an apple-tree, lines it with dry fibrous roots, and
lays five eggs, of a dull olive, spotted with brown. The male
is particularly careful of not being heard near the place, making
his visits as silently and secretly as possible. His favourite food
is chesnuts, acorns, and Indian corn. He occasionally feeds on
bugs and caterpillars, and sometimes pays a plundering visit to
the orchard, cherry-rows, and potatoe-patch ; and has been
known, in times of scarcity, to venture into the barn, through
openings between the weather-boards. In these cases he is ex-
tremely active and silent, and if surprised in the fact makes his
escape with precipitation, but without noise, as if conscious of
his criminality.

Of all birds he is the most bitter enemy to the Owl. No sooner
has he discovered the retreat of one of these, than he summons
the whole feathered fraternity to his assistance, who surround
the glimmering solitaire, and attack him from all sides, raising
such a shout, as may be heard, in a still day, more than half a
mile off. When in my hunting excursions I have passed near this
scene of tumult, I have imagined to myself that I heard the
insulting party venting their respective charges with all the
virulency of a Billingsgate mob; the owl, meanwhile, returning
every compliment with a broad goggling stare. The war becomes
louder and louder, and the owl, at length forced to betake him-
self to flight, is followed by the whole train of his persecutors,
until driven beyond the boundaries of their jurisdiction.

But the Blue Jay himself is not guiltless of similar depreda-
tions with the owl, and becomes, in his turn, the very tyrant
he detested, when he sneaks through the woods, as he frequently
does, and among the thickets and hedge-rows, plundering every
nest he can find of its eggs, tearing up the callow young by
piecemeal, and spreading alarm and sorrow around him. The
cries of the distressed parents soon bring together a number of
interested spectators, (for birds, in such circumstances, seem

192 BLUE JAY.

truly to sympathize with each other,) and he is sometimes at-
tacked with such spirit, as to be under the necessity of making
a speedy retreat.

He will sometimes assault small birds, with the intention of
killing and devouring them; an instance of which I myself once
witnessed, over a piece of woods, near the borders of Schuyl-
kill ; where I saw him engaged for more than five minutes pur-
suing what I took to be a species of Motacilla, wheeling, dart-
ing, and doubling in the air, and at last, to my great satisfaction,
got disappointed, by the escape of his intended prey. In times
of great extremity, when his hoard or magazine is frozen up,
buried in snow, or perhaps exhausted, he becomes very vora-
cious, and will make a meal of whatever carrion or other ani-
mal substance comes in the way; and has been found regaling
himself on the bowels of a Robin, in less than five minutes after
it was shot.

There are, however, individual exceptions to this general
character for plunder and outrage, a proneness for which is
probably often occasioned by the wants and irritations of neces-
sity. A Blue Jay, which I have kept for some time, and with
whom I am on terms of familiarity, is in reality a very notable
example of mildness of disposition, and sociability of manners.
An accident in the woods first put me in possession of this bird,
while in full plumage, and in high health and spirits; I carried
him home with me, and put him into a cage already occupied
by a Gold-winged Woodpecker, where he was saluted with such
rudeness, and received such a drubbing from the lord of the
manor, for entering his premises, that, to save his life, I was
obliged to take him out again. I then put him into another
cage, where the only tenant was a female Orchard Oriole. She
also put on airs of alarm, as if she considered herself endangered
and insulted by the intrusion; the Jay, meanwhile, sat mute and
motionless on the bottom of the cage, either dubious of his own
situation, or willing to allow time for the fears of his neighbour
to subside. Accordingly, in a few minutes, after displaying
various threatening gestures, (like some of those Indians we

BLUE JAY. 193

read of, in their first interviews with the whites,) she began to
make her approaches, but with great circumspection, and readi-
ness for retreat. Seeing, however, the Jay begin to pick up
some crumbs of broken chesnuts, in a humble and peaceable
way, she also descended, and began to do the same; but at the
slightest motion of her new guest, wheeled round and put her-
self on the defensive. All this ceremonious jealousy vanished
before evening, and they now roost together, feed, and play to-
gether, in perfect harmony and good humour. When the Jay
goes to drink, his messmate very impudently jumps into the
water to wash herself, throwing the water in showers over her
companion, who bears it all patiently; venturing now and then
to take a sip between every splash, without betraying the small-
est token of irritation. On the contrary, he seems to take plea-
sure in his little fellow-prisoner, allowing her to pick (which
she does very gently) about his whiskers, and to clean his claws
from the minute fragments of chesnuts which happen to adhere
to them. This attachment on the one part, and mild condescen-
sion on the other, may, perhaps, be partly the effect of mutual
misfortunes, which are found not only to knit mankind, but
many species of inferior animals, more closely together; and
shows that the disposition of the Blue Jay may be humanized,
and rendered susceptible of affectionate impressions, even for
those birds, which, in a state of nature, he would have no hesi-
tation in making a meal of.

He is not only bold and vociferous, but possesses a considera-
ble talent for mimicry, and seems to enjoy great satisfaction in
mocking and teasing other birds, particularly the little hawk,
(F. sparverius,) imitating his cry wherever he sees him, and
squealing out as if caught; this soon brings a number of his own
tribe around him, who all join in the frolic, darting about the
hawk, and feigning the cries of a bird sorely wounded, and al-
ready under the clutches of its devourer; while others lie con-
cealed in bushes, ready to second their associates in the attack.
But this ludicrous farce often terminates tragically. The hawk

singling out one of the most insolent and provoking, sweeps
VOL. i. — 3 D

194 BLUE JAY.

upon him in an unguarded moment, and offers him up a sacri-
fice to his hunger and resentment. In an instant the tune is
changed; all their buffoonery vanishes, and loud and incessant
screams proclaim their disaster.

Wherever the Jay has had the advantage of education from
man, he has not only shown himself an apt scholar, but his sua-
vity of manners seems equalled only by his art and contrivances;
though it must be confessed that his itch for thieving keeps pace
with all his other acquirements. Dr. Mease, on the authority
of Colonel Postell, of South Carolina, informs me, that a Blue
Jay, which was brought up in the family of the latter gentle-
man, had all the tricks and loquacity of a parrot; pilfered every
thing he could conveniently carry off, and hid them in holes
and crevices; answered to his name with great sociability,
when called on; could articulate a number of words pretty dis-
tinctly; and when he heard any uncommon noise or loud talking,
seemed impatient to contribute his share to the general festivity,
(as he probably thought it) by a display of all the oratorial
powers he was possessed of.

Mr. Bartram relates an instance of the Jay's sagacity, worthy
of remark. " Having caught a Jay in the winter season," says
he, "I turned him loose in the green-house, and fed him with
"corn, (zea, maize,) the heart of which they are very fond of.
6 ' This grain being ripe and hard, the bird at first found a diffi-
"culty in breaking it, as it would start from his bill when he
"struck it. After looking about, and as if considering for a
"moment, he picked up his grain, carried and placed it close
" up in a corner on the shelf, between the wall and a plant-box,
" where being confined on three sides he soon effected his pur-
"pose, and continued afterwards to make use of this same
" practical expedient. The Jay," continues this judicious ob-
server, "is one of the most useful agents in the economy of
" nature, for disseminating forest trees, and other ruciferous and
" hard-seeded vegetables on which they feed. Their chief em-
ployment during the autumnal season is foraging to supply
" their winter stores. In performing this necessary duty, they

BLUE JAY. 195

" drop abundance of seed in their flight over fields, hedges, and
" by-fences, where they alight to deposit them in the post holes,
" &c. It is remarkable what numbers of young trees rise up in
" fields and pastures after a wet winter and spring. These birds
" alone are capable, in a few years time, to replant all the cleared
"lands."*

The Blue Jays seldom associate in any considerable numbers,
except in the months of September and October, when they
hover about in scattered parties of from forty to fifty, visiting the
oaks, in search of their favourite acorns. At this season they
are less shy than usual; and keep chattering to each other in a
variety of strange and querulous notes. I have counted fifty -three,
but never more, at one time; and these generally following each
other in straggling irregularity from one range of woods to
another. Yet we are told by the learned Dr. Latham, and his
statement has been copied into many respectable European
publications, that the Blue Jays of North America " often unite
"into flocks of twenty thousand at least! which alighting on a
field of ten or twelve acres, soon lay waste the whole, "t If this
were really so, these birds would justly deserve the character he
gives them, of being the most destructive species in America. But
I will venture the assertion, that the tribe Oriolus phceniceus,
or red-winged Blackbirds, in the environs of the river Delaware
alone, devour and destroy more Indian corn than the whole
Blue Jays of North America. As to their assembling in such
immense multitudes, it may be sufficient to observe, that a flock
of Blue Jays of twenty thousand, would be as extraordinary an
appearance in America, as the same number of Magpies or Cuc-
koos would be in Britain.

It has been frequently said, that numbers of birds are com-
mon to the United States and Europe; at present, however, I
am not certain of many. Comparing the best descriptions and
delineations of the European ones with those of our native

* Letter of Mr. William Bartram to the Author.

f Synopsis of Birds, vol. i, p. 387. See also Encyclopedia Britannica, art.
Corvus.

196 BLUE JAY.

birds, said to be of the same species, either the former are very
erroneous, or the difference of plumage and habits in the latter
justify us in considering a great proportion of them to be really
distinct species. Be this however as it may, the Blue Jay ap-
pears to belong exclusively to North America. I cannot find
it mentioned by any writer or traveller among the birds of
Guiana, Brazil, or any other part of South America. It is
equally unknown in Africa. In Europe, and even in the east-
ern parts of Asia, it is never seen in its wild state. To ascer-
tain the exact limits of its native regions would be difficult.
These, it is highly probable, will be found to be bounded by
the extremities of the temperate zone. Dr. Latham has indeed
asserted, that the Blue Jay of America is not found farther north
than the town of Albany. * This, however, is a mistake. They
are common in the eastern states, and are mentioned by Dr.
Belknap in his enumeration of the birds of New Hampshire.!
They are also natives of Newfoundland. I myself have seen
them in Upper Canada. Blue Jays and Yellow-birds were found
by Mr. M'Kenzie, when on his journey across the continent,
at the head waters of the Unjigah, or Peace river, in N. lat.
54°, W. long. 121°, on the west side of the great range of Stony
mountains. § Steller, who in 1741 accompanied captain Beh-
ring in his expedition for the discovery of the north-west coast
of America, and who wrote the journal of the voyage, relates,
that he himself went on shore near cape St. Elias, in N. lat.
58° 28'. W. long. 141° 46', according to his estimation, where
he observed several species of birds not known in Siberia;
and one, in particular, described by Catesby under the name
of the Blue Jay* || Mr. William Bartram informs me, that they
are numerous in the peninsula of Florida, and that he also found
them at Natchez, on the Mississippi. Captains Lewis and Clark,
and their intrepid companions, in their memorable expedition
across the continent of North America to the Pacific ocean,

* Synopsis, vol. i, p. 387. t Hist. N. Hamp. vol. iii, p. 163.

§ Voyage from Montreal, &c. p. 216, quarto, Lond. 1801.
j| See Steller's Journal apud Pallas.

BLUE JAY. 197

continued to see Blue Jays for six hundred miles up the Mis-
souri.* From these accounts it follows, that this species occupies,
generally or partially, an extent of country stretching upwards
of seventy degrees from east to west, and more than thirty
degrees from north to south; though, from local circumstances,
there may be intermediate tracts in this immense range, which
they seldom visit.

* This fact I had from Captain Lewis.

SPECIES 7. CORPUS CANADENSIS.

CANADA JAY.
[Plate XXL— Fig. 1.]

LINN. Syst. 158. — Cinereous Crow, Jlrct. Zool. p. 248, No. 137.
— LATHAM i, 389. — Le Geay Brun de Canada, BRISSON, n, 54.
— BUFFON, in, 117.

WERE I to adopt the theoretical reasoning of a celebrated
French naturalist, I might pronounce this bird to be a debased
descendant from the common Blue Jay of the United States,
degenerated by the influence of the bleak and chilling regions
of Canada; or perhaps a spurious production, between the Blue
Jay and the Cat-bird; or what would be more congenial to the
Count's ideas, trace its degradation to the circumstance of mi-
grating, some thousand years ago, from the genial shores of
Europe, where nothing like degeneracy or degradation ever
takes place among any of God's creatures. I shall, however, on
the present occasion, content myself with stating a few particu-
lars better supported by facts, and more consonant to the plain
homespun of common sense.

This species inhabits the country extending from Hudson's
Bay, and probably farther north, to the river St. Lawrence ; also
in winter the inland parts of the District of Maine, and northern
tracts of the states of Vermont and New York. When the season
is very severe, with deep snow, they sometimes advance farther
south; but generally return northward as the weather becomes
more mild.

The character given of this bird by the people of those parts
of the country where it inhabits, is, that it feeds on black moss,
worms, and even flesh; — when near habitations or tents, pilfers
every thing it can come at — is bold, and comes even into the

CANADA JAY. 190

tent to eat meat out of the dishes; — watches the hunters while
baiting their traps for martens, and devours the bait as soon as
their backs are turned; that they breed early in spring, building
their nests on pine trees, forming them of sticks and grass, and
lay blue eggs; that they have two, rarely three young at a time,
which are at first quite black, and continue so for some time;
that they fly in pairs; lay up hoards of berries in hollow trees;
are seldom seen in January, unless near houses; are a kind of
Mock-bird; and when caught pine away, though their appetite
never fails them ; notwithstanding all which ingenuity and good
qualities, they are, as we are informed, detested by the natives.*
The only individuals of this species that I ever met with in
the United States were on the shores of the Mohawk, a short
way above the Little Falls. It was about the last of November,
and the ground deeply covered with snow. There were three
or four in company, or within a small distance of each other,
flitting leisurely along the road side, keeping up a kind of low
chattering with one another, and seemed nowise apprehensive
at my approach. I soon secured the whole; from the best of
which the drawing in the plate was carefully made. On dissec-
tion I found their stomachs occupied by a few spiders and the
aureliae of some insects. I could perceive no difference between
the plumage of the male and female.

The Canada Jay is eleven inches long, and fifteen in extent;
back, wings, and tail, a dull leaden gray, the latter long, cunei-
form, and tipt with dirty white; interior vanes of the wings
brown, and also partly tipt with white; plumage of the head
loose and prominent; the forehead and feathers covering the
nostril, as well as the whole lower parts, a dirty brownish white,
which also passes round the bottom of the neck like a collar;
part of the crown and hind-head black; bill and legs also black;
eye dark hazel. The whole plumage on the back is long, loose,
unwebbed, and in great abundance, as if to protect it from the
rigours of the regions it inhabits.

* HEARNE'S Journey, p. 405.

200 CANADA JAY.

A gentleman of observation, who resided for many years near
the North river, not far from Hudson, in the state of New York,
informs me, that he has particularly observed this bird to arrive
there at the commencement of cold weather — he has often re-
marked its solitary habits; it seemed to seek the most unfrequent-
ed shaded retreats, keeping almost constantly on the ground, yet
would sometimes, towards evening, mount to the top of a small
tree, and repeat its notes (which a little resemble those of the
Baltimore) for a quarter of an hour together; and this it gene-
rally did immediately before snow, or falling weather.

GENUS 15. ORIOLUS.*

SPECIES 1. ORIOLUS BALTIMORUSA

BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

[Plate. 1. -Fig. 3. Male.]

LINN. Syst. I, p. 165, 10. — Icterus minor, BRISS. n, p. 109, pL 12,
fig. \.-Le Baltimore, BUFF. in,;?. 231. PL Enl. 506, fg. 1.—
Baltimore Bird, CATESB. Car. 1, 48. — Arct. Zool. n, p, 142.
— LATH. Syn. n, p. 432, 19. BARTUAM, p, 290. — PEALK'S Mu-
seum, No. 1506.

THIS is a bird of passage, arriving in Pennsylvania, from the
south, about the beginning of May, and departing towards the
latter end of August, or beginning of September. From the
singularity of its colours, the construction of its nest, and its
preferring the apple-trees, weeping-willows, walnut and tulip-
trees, adjoining the farm-house, to build on, it is generally
known, and, as usual, honoured with a variety of names, such
as Hang-nest, Hanging-bird, Golden Robin, Fire-bird (from
the bright orange seen through the green leaves, resembling a
flash of fire), &c. but more generally the Baltimore-bird, so
named, as Catesby informs us, from its colours, which are black
and orange, being those of the arms or livery of lord Baltimore,
formerly proprietary of Maryland.

The Baltimore Oriole is seven inches in length; bill almost
straight, strong, tapering to a sharp point, black, and sometimes

* This genus has been variously divided by modern ornithologists. Tem-
minck has separated it into four sections, viz. Cassicus, Quiscala, Icterus, and
Emberizoides. The two species described by Wilson, belong to the third section,
Icterus.

| Coracias Galbula, LIXK. Syst. ed. 10, torn. 1, 108. — Oriolus Baltimore, LATH,
Ind. Om. 180.

VOL. I. 3 E

202 BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

lead coloured above, the lower mandible light blue towards the
base. Head, throat, upper part of the back and wings, black;
lower part of the back, rump, and whole under parts, a bright
orange, deepening into vermilion on the breast; the black on
the shoulders is also divided by a band of orange; exterior
edges of the greater wing-coverts, as well as the edges of the
secondaries, and part of those of the primaries, white; the tail
feathers, under the coverts, orange ; the two middle ones thence
to the tips are black, the next five, on each side, black near the
coverts, and orange toward the extremities, so disposed, that
when the tail is expanded, and the coverts removed, the black
appears in the form of a pyramid, supported on an arch of orange,
tail slightly forked, the exterior feather on each side a quarter
of an inch shorter than the others; legs and feet light blue or
lead colour; iris of the eye hazel.

The female has the head, throat, upper part of the neck and
back, of a dull black, each feather being skirted with olive yel-
low, lower part of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and
whole lower parts, orange yellow, but much duller than that of
the male; the whole wing feathers are of a deep dirty brown,
except the quills, which are exteriorly edged, and the greater
wing-coverts, and next superior row, which are broadly tipt,
with a dull yellowish white; tail olive yellow; in some speci-
mens the two middle feathers have been found partly black, in
others wholly so; the black on the throat does not descend so
far as in the male, is of a lighter tinge, and more irregular; bill,
legs and claws, light blue.

Buffon, and Latham, have both described the male of the
bastard Baltimore ( Oriolus spurius), as the female Baltimore.
Pennant has committed the same mistake; and all the ornithol-
ogists of Europe, with whose works I am acquainted, who have
undertaken to figure and describe these birds, have mistaken
the proper males and females, and confounded the two species
together in a very confused and extraordinary manner, for
which indeed we ought to pardon them, on account of their

BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 203

distance from the native residence of these birds, and the strange
alterations of colour which the latter are subject to.

This obscurity I have endeavoured to clear up in the present
volume of this work, PI. iv, by exhibiting the male and female
of the Oriolus spurius in their different changes of dress, as well
as in their perfect plumage; and by introducing representations
of the eggs of both, have, I hope, put the identity of these two
species beyond all further dispute or ambiguity.

Almost the whole genus of Orioles belong to America, and
with a few exceptions build pensile nests. Few of them, how-
ever, equal the Baltimore in the construction of these recepta-
cles for their young, and in giving them, in such a superior de-
gree, convenience, warmth and security. For these purposes he
generally fixes on the high bending extremities of the branches,
fastening strong strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs,
corresponding to the intended width of the nest; with the same
materials, mixed with quantities of loose tow, he interweaves
or fabricates a strong firm kind of cloth, not unlike the substance
of a hat in its raw state, forming it into a pouch of six or seven
inches in depth, lining it substantially with various soft substan-
ces, well interwoven with the outward netting, and lastly, fin-
ishes with a layer of horse hair; the whole being shaded from
the sun and rain by a natural pent-house, or canopy of leaves.
As to a hole being left in the side for the young to be fed, and
void their excrements through, as Pennant and others relate,
it is certainly an error: I have never met with any thing of the
kind in the nest of the Baltimore.

Though birds of the same species have, generally speaking,
a common form of building, yet, contrary to the usually re-
ceived opinion, they do not build exactly in the same manner.
As much difference will be found in the style, neatness, and
finishing of the nests of the Baltimores, as in their voices. Some
appear far superior workmen to others; and probably age may
improve them in this as it does in their colours. I have a num-
ber of their nests now before me, all completed, and with eggs.
One of these, the neatest, is in the form of a cylinder, of five

204 BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

inches diameter, and seven inches in depth, rounded at bot-
tom. The opening at top is narrowed, by a horizontal cover-
ing, to two inches and a half in diameter. The materials are
flax, hemp, tow, hair, and wool, woven into a complete cloth;
the whole tightly sewed through and through with long horse
hairs, several of which measure two feet in length. The bot-
tom is composed of thick tufts of cow hair, sewed also with
strong horse hair. This nest was hung on the extemity of the
horizontal branch of an apple-tree, fronting the south-east; was
visible one hundred yards off, 'though shaded by the sun; and
was the work of a very beautiful and perfect bird. The eggs
are five, white, slightly tinged with flesh colour, marked on
the greater end with purple dots, and on the other parts with
long hair-like lines, intersecting each other in a variety of di-
rections. I am thus minute in these particulars, from a wish to
point out the specific difference between the true and bastard
Baltimore, which Dr. Latham and some others suspect to be
only the same bird in different stages of colour.

So solicitous is the Baltimore to procure proper materials for
his nest, that, in the season of building, the women in the coun-
try are under the necessity of narrowly watching their thread
that may chance to be out bleaching, and the farmer to secure
his young grafts; as the Baltimore finding the former, and the
strings which tie the latter, so well adapted for his purpose, fre-
quently carries off both ; or should the one be too heavy, and
the other too firmly tied, he will tug at them a considerable
time before he gives up the attempt. Skeins of silk, and hanks
of thread, have been often found, after the leaves were fallen,
hanging round the Baltimore's nest; but so woven up, and en-
tangled, as to be entirely irreclaimable. Before the introduc-
tion of Europeans, no such material could have been obtained
here; but with the sagacity of a good architect, he has improved
this circumstance to his advantage; and the strongest and best
materials are uniformly found in those parts by which the
whole is supported.

Their principal food consists of caterpillars, beetles and bugs,

BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 205

particularly one of a brilliant glossy green, fragments of which
I have almost always found in their stomach, and sometimes
these only.

The song of the Baltimore is a clear mellow whistle, repeat-
ed at short intervals as he gleans among the branches. There is
in it a certain wild plaintiveness and naivete, extremeJy in-
teresting. It is not uttered with the rapidity of the ferruginous
thrush ( Turdus rufus), and some other eminent songsters; but
with the pleasing tranquillity of a careless plough-boy, whistling
merely for his own amusement. When alarmed by an approach
to his nest, or any such circumstances, he makes a kind of rapid
chirruping, very different from his usual note. This, however,
is always succeeded by those mellow tones, which seem so
congenial to his nature.

High on yon poplar, clad in glossiest green,
The orange, black-capp'd Baltimore is seen,
The broad extended boughs still please him best;
Beneath their bending- skirts he hangs his nest;
There his sweet mate, secure from every harm,
Broods o'er her spotted store, and wraps them warm;
Lists to the noontide hum of busy bees,
Her partner's mellow song> the brook, the breeze;
These, day by day, the lonely hours deceive,
From dewy morn to slow descending- eve.
Two weeks elaps'd, behold a helpless crew!
Claim all her care and her affection too;
On wings of love th' assiduous nurses fly,
Flowers, leaves and boughs, abundant food supply;
Glad chants their gnardian as abroad he goes,
And waving breezes rock them to repose.

The Baltimore inhabits North America, from Canada to Mex-
ico, and is even found as far south as Brazil. Since the streets
of our cities have been planted with that beautiful and stately
tree, the Lombardy poplar, these birds are our constant visitors
during the early part of summer; and amid the noise and
tumult of coaches, drays, wheelbarrows, and the din of the
multitude, they are heard chanting " their native wood notes

206 BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

wild;" sometimes too within a few yards of an oysterman, who
stands bellowing with the lungs of a Stentor, under the shade
of the same tree; so much will habit reconcile even birds to the
roar of the city, and to sounds and noises, that in other cir-
cumstances, would put a whole grove of them to flight.

These birds are several years in receiving their complete plu-
mage. Sometimes the whole tail of a male individual, in spring,
is yellow, sometimes only the two middle feathers are black,
and frequently the black on the back is skirted with orange,
and the tail tipt with the same colour. Three years, I have rea-
son to believe, are necessary to fix the full tint of the plumage,
and then the male bird appears as already described.

ORIOLUS BALTIMORUS,
BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

[Plate LIIL— Fig. 4. Female.]

THE history of this beautiful species has been already par-
ticularly detailed; to this representation of the female, drawn
of half the size of nature, a few particulars may be added. The
males generally arrive several days before the females, saunter
about their wonted places of residence, and seem lonely and
less sprightly than after the arrival of their mates. In the spring
and summer of 1811, a Baltimore took up its abode in Mr.
Bartram's garden, whose notes were so singular as particularly
to attract my attention; they were as well known to me as the
voice of my most intimate friend. On the thirtieth of April,
1812, I was again surprised and pleased at hearing this same
Baltimore in the garden, whistling his identical old chant; and
I observed that he particularly frequented that quarter of the
garden where the tree stood, on the pendent branches of which
he had formed his nest the preceding year. This nest had been
taken possession of by the House Wren, a few days after the
Baltimore's brood had abandoned it; and curious to know how
the little intruder had furnished it within, I had taken it down
early in the fall, after the Wren herself had also raised a brood
of six young in it, and which was her second that season. I
found it stript of its original lining, floored with sticks, or small
twigs, above which were laid feathers; so that the usual com-
plete nest of the Wren occupied the interior of that of the Bal-
timore.

The chief difference between the male and female Baltimore
Oriole, is the superior brightness of the orange colour of the for-
mer to that of the latter. The black on the head, upper part of

208 BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

the back and throat, of the female, is intermixed with dull
orange; whereas in the male those parts are of a deep shining
black; the tail of the female also wants the greater part of the
black, and the whole lower parts are of a much duskier orange.
I have observed that these birds are rarely seen in pine woods,
or where these trees generally prevail. On the ridges of our
high mountains, they are also seldom to be met with. In or-
chards, and on well cultivated farms, they are most numerous,
generally preferring such places to build in, rather than the
woods or forest

SPECIES 2. ORIOL US MUTA TU£*
ORCHARD ORIOLE.

[Plate IV.]

Bastard Baltimore, CATESBY, i, 49. — Le Baltimore batard, BUF-
FON, m, 233. PI. enl. 506, — Oriolus spurius, GMEL. Syst. i,p.
389.— LATH. Syn. n, p. 433, 20, p. 437, 24.— BARTRAM, p. 290.
— PEALE'S Museum, No. 1508.

THERE are no circumstances, relating to birds, which tend
so much to render their history obscure and perplexing, as the
various changes of colour which many of them undergo. These
changes are in some cases periodical, in others progressive; and
are frequently so extraordinary, that, unless the naturalist has
resided for years in the country where the birds inhabit, and
has examined them at almost every season, he is extremely lia-
ble to be mistaken and imposed on by their novel appearance.
Numerous instances of this kind might be cited, from the pages
of European writers, in which the same bird has been described
two, three, and even four different times, by the same person;
and each time as a different kind. The species we are now about
to examine is a remarkable example of this; and as it has never
to my knowledge been either accurately figured or described, I
have devoted one plate to the elucidation of its history.

The Count de Buffon, in introducing what he supposed to be
the male of this bird, but which appears evidently to have been
the female of the Baltimore Oriole, makes the following obser-

* 0. Spwius Liiftf. which name must be adopted. Icterus minor spurius,
Bmss. u, 111, pi 10, fig. 3.— Carouge de Cayenne, Burr. PL Enl. 607, fig. 1,
(adult male.) Carouge du Cap de bonne. Esptrance, BUFF. PI. Enl. 607, fig. 2,
(female.) Merle ti gorge noire de Sf. Domingue, BUFF. Pi. Enl. 559, (young
male. )

VOL. i. — 3 r

210 ORCHARD ORIOLE.

vations, which I give in the words of his translator. " This bird
"is so called (Spurious Baltimore,) because the colours of its
" plumage are not so lively as in the preceding (Baltimore 0.)
" In fact, when we compare these birds, and find an exact cor-
" respondence in every thing except the colours, and not even
" in the distribution of these, but only in the different tints they
"assume, we cannot hesitate to infer, that the Spurious Balti-
" more is a variety of a more generous race, degenerated by the
" influence of climate, or some other accidental cause."

How the influence of climate could affect one portion of a spe-
cies and not the other, when both reside in the same climate,
and feed nearly on the same food; or what accidental cause could
produce a difference so striking, and also so regular, as exists
between the two, are, I confess, matters beyond my compre-
hension. But, if it be recollected, that the bird which the Count
was thus philosophizing upon, was nothing more than the female
Baltimore Oriole, which exactly corresponds to the description
of his male Bastard Baltimore, the difficulties at once vanish, and
with them the whole superstructure of theory founded on this
mistake. Dr. Latham also, while he confesses the great confu-
sion and uncertainty that prevail between the true and bastard
Baltimore and their females, considers it highly probable that
the whole will be found to belong to one and the same species,
in their different changes of colour. In this conjecture, however,
the worthy naturalist has likewise been mistaken; and I shall
endeavour to point out the fact as well as the source of this mis-
take.

And here I cannot but take notice of the name which natu-
ralists have bestowed on this bird, and which is certainly re-
markable. Specific names, to be perfect, ought to express some
peculiarity, common to no other of the genus; and should, at
least, be consistent with truth; but in the case now before us,
the name has no one merit of the former, nor even that of the
latter to recommend it, and ought henceforth to be rejected as
highly improper, and calculated, like that of Goatsucker, and
many others equally ridiculous, to perpetuate that error from

ORCHARD ORIOLE. 211

which it originated. The word bastard among men has its de-
terminate meaning; but when applied to a whole species of birds,
perfectly distinct from any other, originally deriving their pe-
culiarities of form, manners, colour, &c. from the common source
of all created beings, and perpetuating them, by the usual laws
of generation, as unmixed and independent as any other, is, to
call it by no worse a name, a gross absurdity. Should the reader
be displeased at this, I beg leave to remind him, that as the
faithful historian of our feathered tribes, I must be allowed the
liberty of vindicating them from every misrepresentation what-
ever, whether originating in ignorance or prejudice; and of al-
lotting to each respective species, as far as I can distinguish, that
rank and place in the great order of nature, to which it is enti-
tled.

To convince the foreigner (for Americans have no doubt on
the subject) that the present is a distinct species from the Balti-
more, it might be sufficient to refer to the figure of the latter, in
Plate I, and to fig. 4, Plate IV, of this work. I will however
add, that I conclude this bird to be specifically different from
the Baltimore, from the following circumstances: its size — it is
less, and more slender; its colours, which are different, and very
differently disposed; the form of its bill, which is sharper point-
ed, and more bent; the form of its tail, which is not even but
wedged; its notes, which are neither so full nor so mellow, and
uttered with much more rapidity; its mode of building, and the
materials it uses, both of which are different; and lastly, the
shape and colour of the eggs of each (see figs, a and £,) which
are evidently unlike. If all these circumstances, and I could
enumerate a great many more, be not sufficient to designate this
as a distinct species, by what criterion, I would ask, are we to
discriminate between a variety and an original species, or to
assure ourselves, that the Great-horned Owl is not in fact a bas-
tard Goose, or the Carrion-crow a mere variety of the Hum-
ming-bird?

These mistakes have been occasioned by several causes. Prin-
cipally by the changes of colour, to which the birds are subject,

212 ORCHARD ORIOLE.

and the distance of Europeans from the country they inhabit.
Catesby, it is true, while in Carolina, described and figured the
Baltimore, and perhaps was the first who published figures of
either species; but he entirely omitted saying any thing of the
female; and instead of the male and female of the present spe-
cies, as he thought, he has only figured the male in two of his
different dresses; and succeeding compilers have followed and
repeated the same error. Another cause may be assigned, viz.
the extreme shyness of the female Orchard Oriole, represented
at fig. 1. This bird has hitherto escaped the notice of European
naturalists, or has been mistaken for another species, or perhaps
for a young bird of the first season, which it almost exactly re-
sembles. In none of the numerous works on ornithology has it
ever before appeared in its proper character; though the male
has been known to Europeans for more than a century, and has
usually been figured in one of his dresses as male, and in another
as female; these varying according to the fluctuating opinions
of different writers. It is amusing to see how gentlemen have
groped in the dark in pairing these two species of Orioles, of
which the following examples may be given:

Buffon's and Latham's 1 Male — Male Baltimore.

Baltimore Oriole, j Female — Male Orchard Oriole, fig. 4.
Spurious Baltimore of") Male — Female Baltimore

Ditto. J Female — Male Orchard Oriole, fig. 2.

T> +? -R u- n 1 Male — Male Baltimore.

Pennant'sBalt,moreO.

Spurious 0. of Ditto. 1 ^-Male Orchard Q. fig. 4.
J Female — Ditto, ditto, fig. 2.

Catesby >, Baltimore 0. ^eTM£e Baltimore
9 J Female — Not mentioned.

G v 10 TI f TV** 1 Male — Male Orchard 0. fig. 2.
Spurious B. of Ditto, j Female_miOy ditto? % {

Among all these authors, Catesby is doubtless the most inex-
cusable, having lived for several years in America, where he
had an opportunity of being more correct; yet when it is con-
sidered, that the female of this bird is so much shyer than the

ORCHARD ORIOLE. 213

male, that it is seldom seen; and that while the males are flying
around and bewailing an approach to their nest, the females
keep aloof, watching every movement of the enemy in restless
but silent anxiety; it is less to be wondered at, I say, that two
birds of the same kind, but different in plumage, making their
appearance together at such times, should be taken for male and
female of the same nest, without doubt or examination, as from
that strong sympathy for each other's distress, which prevails
so universally among them at this season, it is difficult sometimes
to distinguish between the sufferer and the sympathizing neigh-
bour.

The female of the Orchard Oriole, fig. 1, is six inches and a
half in length, and eleven inches in extent, the colour above is
a yellow olive, inclining to a brownish tint on the back; the
wings are dusky brown, lesser wing-coverts tipt with yellowish
white, greater coverts and secondaries exteriorly edged with
the same, primaries slightly so; tail rounded at the extremity,
the two exterior feathers three quarters of an inch shorter than
the middle ones; whole lower parts yellow; bill and legs light
blue, the former bent a little, very sharp pointed, and black to-
wards the extremity; iris of the eye hazel, pupil black. The
young male of the first season corresponds nearly with the above
description. But in the succeeding spring, he makes his appear-
ance with a large patch of black marking the front, lores and
throat, as represented in fig. 2. In this stage, too, the black
sometimes makes its appearance on the two middle feathers of
the tail; and slight stains of reddish are seen commencing on
the sides and belly. The rest of the plumage as in the female.
This continuing nearly the same, on the same bird during the
remainder of the season. At the same time other inviduals are
found as represented by fig. 3, which are at least birds of the
third summer. These are mottled with black and olive on the
upper parts of the back, and with reddish bay and yellow on
the belly, sides and vent, scattered in the most irregular manner,
not alike in any two individuals; and generally the two middle
feathers of the tail are black, and the others centred with the

214 ORCHARD ORIOLE.

same colour. This bird is now evidently approaching to its per-
fect plumage, as represented in fig. 4, where the black spreads
over the whole head, neck, upper part of the back, breast, wings
and tail, the reddish bay or bright chestnut occupying the lower
part of the breast, the belly, vent, rump, tail-coverts, and three
lower rows of the lesser wing-coverts. The black on the head
is deep and velvety ; that of the wings inclining to brown; the
greater wing-coverts are tipt with white. In the same orchard,
and at the same time, males in each of these states of plumage
may be found, united to their repective plain-coloured mates.

In all these the manners, mode of building, food and notes
are, generally speaking, the same, differing no more than those
of any other individuals belonging to one common species. The
female appears always nearly the same.

I have said that these birds construct their nests very differ-
ently from the Baltimores. They are so particularly fond of
frequenting orchards, that scarcely one orchard in summer is
without them. They usually suspend their nest from the twigs
of the apple tree; and often from the extremities of the outward
branches. It is formed exteriorly of a particular species of long,
tough and flexible grass, knit or sewed through and through in
a thousand directions, as if actually done with a needle. An old
lady of my acquaintance, to whom I was one day showing this
curious fabrication, after admiring its texture for some time,
asked me in a tone between joke and earnest, whether I did not
think it possible to learn these birds to darn stockings. This
nest is hemispherical, three inches deep by four in breadth ; the
concavity scarcely two inches deep by two in diameter. I had
the curiosity to detach one of the fibres, or stalks, of dried grass
from the nest, and found it to measure thirteen inches in length,
and in that distance was thirty-four times hooked through and
returned, winding round and round the nest! The inside is
usually composed of wool, or the light downy appendages at-
tached to the seeds of the Platanus occidentalis, or button-
wood, which form a very soft and commodious bed. Here and
there the outward work is extended to an adjoining twig, round

ORCHARD ORIOLE. 215

which it is strongly twisted, to give more stability to the whole,
and prevent it from being overset by the wind.

When they choose the long pendent branches of the Weeping-
willow to build in, as they frequently do, the nest, though formed
of the same materials, is made much deeper, and of slighter
texture. The circumference is marked out by a number of these
pensile twigs, that descend on each side like ribs, supporting
the whole; their thick foliage, at the same time, completely con-
cealing the nest from view. The depth in this case is increased
to four or five inches, and the whole is made much slighter.
These long pendent branches, being sometimes twelve and even
fifteen feet in length, have a large sweep in the wind, and ren-
der the first of these precautions necessary, to prevent the eggs
or young from being thrown out; and the close shelter afforded
by the remarkable thickness of the foliage is, no doubt, the
cause of the latter. Two of these nests, such as I have here de-
scribed, are now lying before me, and exhibit not only art in
the construction, but judgment in adapting their fabrication so
judiciously to their particular situations. If the actions of birds
proceeded, as some would have us believe, from the mere im-
pulses of that thing called instinct, individuals of the same spe-
cies would uniformly build their nest in the same manner, wher-
ever they might happen to fix it; but it is evident from these
just mentioned, and a thousand such circumstances, that they
reason a priori from cause to consequence; providently manag-
ing with a constant eye to future necessity and convenience.

The eggs, one of which is represented in the same plate (fig.
«,) are usually four, of a very pale bluish tint, with a few small
specks of brown and spots of dark purple. An egg of the Balti-
more Oriole is exhibited beside it (fig. £,); both of these were
minutely copied from nature, and are sufficient of themselves
to determine, beyond all possibility of doubt, the diversity of
the two species. I may add, that Charles W. Peale, proprietor
of the Museum in Philadelphia, who, as a practical naturalist,
stands deservedly first in the first rank of American connoisseurs,
has expressed to me his perfect conviction of the changes which

216 ORCHARD ORIOLE.

these birds pass through; having himself examined them both
in spring, and towards the latter part of summer, and having,
at the present time, in his possession thirty or forty individuals
of this species, in almost every gradation of change.

The Orchard Oriole, though partly a dependent on the indus-
try of the farmer, is no sneaking pilferer, but an open and truly
beneficent friend. To all those countless multitudes of destruc-
tive bugs and caterpillars, that infest the fruit trees in spring
and summer, preying on the leaves, blossoms and embryo of
the fruit, he is a deadly enemy; devouring them wherever he
can find them; and destroying, on an average, some hundreds
of them every day; without offering the slightest injury to the
fruit, however much it may stand in his way. I have witnessed
instances where the entrance to his nest was more than half
closed up by a cluster of apples, which he could have easily de-
molished in half a minute; but, as if holding the property of his
patron sacred, or considering it as a natural bulwark to his own,
he slid out and in with the greatest gentleness and caution. I
am not sufficiently conversant in entomology to particularize
the different species of insects on which he feeds; but I have
good reason for believing that they are almost altogether such
as commit the greatest depredations on the fruits of the orchard;
and, as he visits us at a time when his services are of the great-
est value, and, like a faithful guardian, takes up his station where
the enemy is most to be expected, he ought to be held in re-
spectful esteem, and protected by every considerate husbandman.
Nor is the gayety of his song one of his least recommendations.
Being an exceedingly active, sprightly and restless bird, he is
on the ground — on the trees — flying and carolling in his hurried
manner, in almost one and the same instant. His notes are shrill
and lively, but uttered with such rapidity and seeming confu-
sion, that the ear is unable to follow them distinctly. Between
these he has a single note, which is agreeable and interesting.
Wherever he is protected, he shows his confidence and gratitude,
by his numbers and familiarity. In the Botanic Garden of my
worthy and scientific friends, the Messrs. Bartrams of Kingsess,

ORCHARD ORIOLE. 217

— which present an epitome of almost every thing that is rare,
useful, and beautiful in the vegetable kingdom of this western
continent, and where the murderous gun scarce ever intrudes,
— the Orchard Oriole revels without restraint, through thickets
of aromatic flowers and blossoms; and, heedless of the busy
gardener that labours below, hangs his nest, in perfect security,
on the branches over his head.

The female sits fourteen days; the young remain in the nest
ten days afterwards,* before they venture abroad, which is ge-
nerally about the middle of June. Nests of this species, with
eggs, are sometimes found so late as the twentieth of July, which
must belong to birds that have lost their first nest; or it is pro-
bable that many of them raise two broods in the same season,
though I am not positive of the fact.

The Orchard Orioles arrive in Pennsylvania rather later than
the Baltimores, commonly about the first week in May; and
extend as far as the province of Maine. They are also more
numerous towards the mountains than the latter species. In
traversing the country near the Blue ridge, in the month of
August, I have seen at least five of this species for one of the
Baltimore. Early in September, they take their departure for
the south; their term of residence here being little more than
four months. Previous to their departure, the young birds be-
come gregarious, and frequent the rich extensive meadows of
the Schuylkill, below Philadelphia, in flocks of from thirty to
forty or upwards. They are easily raised from the nest, and
soon become agreeable domestics. One which I reared and kept
through the winter, whistled with great clearness and vivacity
at two months old. It had an odd manner of moving its head
and neck slowly and regularly, and in various directions, when
intent on observing any thing, without stirring its body. This
motion was as slow and regular as that of a snake. When at
night a candle was brought into the room, it became restless

* There is evidently some mistake here, as the young could hardly be
fledged in ten days.
VOL. I. — 3 G

218 ORCHARD ORIOLE.

and evidently dissatisfied, fluttering about the cage as if seeking
to get out; but when the cage was placed on the same table with
the candle, it seemed extremely well pleased, fed and drank,
drest, shook, and arranged its plumage, sat as close to the light
as possible, and sometimes chanted a few broken irregular notes
in that situation, as I sat writing or reading beside it. I also
kept a young female of the same nest, during the greatest part
of winter, but could not observe, in that time, any change in its
plumage.

p

GENUS 16. GRACULA. GRAKLE.

SPECIES 1. GRACULA FERRUGINEA.

RUSTY GRAKLE.*
[Plate XXL— Fig. 3.]

Black Oriole, Arct. Zool. p. 259, JVo. \W.— Rusty Oriole, Ibid,
p. 260, JVb. 146.— JVete? Fork Thrush, Ibid. p. 339, JVo. 205.—
Hudsonian Thrush, Ibid. «7Vo. 234, female. — Labrador Thrush,
Ibid. p. 340, No. 206. — PEALE'S Museum, JVb. 5514.

HERE is a single species described by one of the most judi-
cious naturalists of Great Britain no less than five different times !
The greater part of these descriptions is copied by succeeding
naturalists, whose synonymes it is unnecessary to repeat. So
great is the uncertainty in judging, from a mere examination of
their dried or stuffed skins, of the particular tribes of birds,
many of which, for several years, are constantly varying in the
colours of their plumage ; and at different seasons, or different
ages, assuming new and very different appearances. Even the
size is by no means a safe criterion, the difference in this respect
between the male and female of the same species (as in the one
now before us) being sometimes very considerable.

This bird arrives in Pennsylvania, from the north, early in
October; associates with the Red-wings, and Cow-pen Buntings,
frequents corn fields, and places where grasshoppers are plenty ;
but Indian corn, at that season, seems to be its principal food.
It is a very silent bird, having only now and then a single note,
or chuck. We see them occasionally until about the middle of

* The Genus Gracula, as at present restricted, consists of only a single spe-
cies; the others formerly included in it have been distributed in other genera.
The two species described by Wilson belong to the genus Icterus as adopted
by Temminck.

220 RUSTY GRAKLK.

November, when they move off to the south. On the twelfth of
January I overtook great numbers of these birds in the woods
near Petersburgh, Virginia, and continued to see occasional
parties of them almost every day as I advanced southerly, par-
ticularly in South Carolina, around the rice plantations, where
they were numerous; feeding about the hog-pens, and wherev-
er Indian corn was to be procured. They also extend to a con-
siderable distance westward. On the fifth of March, being on
the banks of the Ohio, a few miles below the mouth of the Ken-
tucky river, in the midst of a heavy snow-storm, a flock of these
birds alighted near the door of the cabin where I had taken shel-
ter, several of which I shot, and found their stomachs, as usual,
crammed with Indian corn. Early in April they pass hastily
through Pennsylvania, on their return to the north to breed.

From the accounts of persons who have resided near Hud-
son's Bay, it appears, that these birds arrive there in the begin-
ning of June, as soon as the ground is thawed sufficiently for
them to procure their food, which is said to be worms and mag-
gots; sing with a fine note till the time of incubation, when
they have only a chucking noise, till the young take their flight:
at which time they resume their song. They build their nests
in trees; about eight feet from the ground, forming them with
moss and grass, and lay five eggs of a dark colour, spotted with
black. It is added, they gather in great flocks, and retire south-
erly in September.*

The male of this species, when in perfect plumage, is nine
inches in length, and fourteen in extent; at a small distance ap-
pears wholly black; but on a near examination is of a glossy
dark green; the irides of the eye are silvery, as in those of the
Purple Grakle; the bill is black, nearly of the same form with
that of the last mentioned species; the lower mandible a little
rounded, with the edges turned inward, and the upper one fur-
nished with a sharp bony process on the inside, exactly like that
of the purple species. The tongue is slender, and lacerated at

* Arct. Zool. p. 259.

RUSTY GRAKLE. 221

the tip; legs and feet black and strong, the hind claw the larg-
est; the tail is slightly rounded. This is the colour of the male
when of full age; but three-fourths of these birds which we meet
with, have the whole plumage of the breast, head, neck, and
back, tinctured with brown, every feather being skirted with
ferruginous; over the eye is a light line of pale brown, below
that one of black passing through the eye. This brownness
gradually goes off towards spring, for almost all those I shot in
the southern states were but slightly marked with ferruginous.
The female is nearly an inch shorter; head, neck, and breast,
almost wholly brown; a light line over the eye, lores black;
belly and rump ash; upper and under tail-coverts skirted with
brown; wings black, edged with rust colour; tail black, glossed
with green; legs, feet and bill, as in the male.

These birds might easily be domesticated. Several that I had
winged, and kept for some time, became in a few days quite
familiar, seeming to be very easily reconciled to confinement.

SPECIES 2. GRACULA QUISKMLd.
PURPLE GRAKLE.
[Plate XXL— Fig. 4.]

La Fie de la Jamaique, BRISSON, n, 41. — BUFFON, in, 97, PL Enl.
538. — Arct. Zool.p. 309, JVo. 154. — Gracula purpurea, the les-
ser Purple Jackdaw, or Crow Blackbird, BARTRAM, p. 291. —
PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 1582.*

THIS noted depredator is well known to every farmer of the
northern and middle states. About the twentieth of March the
Purple Grakles visit Pennsylvania from the south, fly in loose
flocks, frequent swamps and meadows, and follow in the furrows
after the plough; their food at this season consisting of worms,
grubs, and caterpillars, of which they destroy prodigious num-
bers, as if to recompense the husbandman before hand for the
havock they intend to make among his crops of Indian corn.
Towards evening they retire to the nearest cedars and pine
trees to roost; making a continual chattering as they fly along.
On the tallest of these trees they generally build their nests in
company, about the beginning or middle of April; some-
times ten or fifteen nests being on the same tree. One of these
nests, taken from a high pine tree, is now before me. It mea-
sures full five inches in diameter within, and four in depth; is
composed outwardly of mud, mixed with long stalks and roots
of a knotty kind of grass, and lined with fine bent and horse
hair. The eggs are five, of a bluish olive colour, marked with
large spots and straggling streaks of black and dark brown, also

* We add the following synonymes: Boat-tailed Grakle, LATH. Gen. Syn. 1,
p. 460, JVb. 5.— Maize-thief, KALM'S Travels.— Sturnus quiscala, DAUDIN, 2, p.
316.— Gracula barita, Journal Acad. Nat. Sciences of Philad. vol. 1, p. 254.—
Quiscala versicolor, BONAPARTE'S Ornithology, vol. i, p. 42, pi. V, female.

PURPLE GRAKLE. 223

with others of a fainter tinge. They rarely produce more than
one brood in a season.

The trees where these birds build are often at no great dis-
tance from the farm-house, and overlook the plantations. From
thence they issue, in all directions, and with as much confidence,
to make their daily depredations among the surrounding fields,
as if the whole were intended for their use alone. Their chief
attention, however, is directed to the Indian corn in all its pro-
gressive stages. As soon as the infant blade of this grain begins
to make its appearance above ground, the Grakles hail the wel-
come signal with screams of peculiar satisfaction; and without
waiting for a formal invitation from the proprietor, descend on
the fields, and begin to pull up and regale themselves on the
seed, scattering the green blades around. While thus eagerly
employed, the vengeance of the gun sometimes overtakes them ;
but these disasters are soon forgotten, and those

' who live to get away,

Return to steal, another day.'

About the beginning of August, when the young ears are in
their milky state, they are attacked with redoubled eagerness
by the Grakles and Red-wings, in formidable and combined
bodies. They descend like a blackening, sweeping tempest, on
the corn, dig off the external covering of twelve or fifteen coats
of leaves, as dexterously as if done by the hand of man, and
having laid bare the ear, leave little behind to the farmer but
the cobs, and shrivelled skins that contained their favourite fare.
I have seen fields of corn of many acres, where more than one
half was thus ruined. Indeed the farmers in the immediate vi-
cinity of the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, generally allow
one-fourth of this crop to the Blackbirds, among whom our
Grakle comes in for his full share. During these depredations,
the gun is making great havock among their numbers, which
has no other effect on the survivors than to send them to anoth-
er field, or to another part of the same field. This system of
plunder and of retaliation continues until November, when to-

224 PURPLE GRAKLE.

wards the middle of that month they begin to sheer off towards
the south. The lower parts of Virginia, North and South Car-
olina, and Georgia, are the winter residences of these flocks.
Here numerous bodies, collecting together from all quarters of
the interior and northern districts, and darkening the air with
their numbers, sometimes form one congregated multitude of
many hundred thousands. A few miles from the banks of the
Roanoke, on the twentieth of January, I met with one of those
prodigious armies of Grakles. They rose from the surrounding
fields with a noise like thunder, and descending on the length
of road before me, covered it and the fences completely with
black; and when they again rose, and after a few evolutions de-
scended on the skirts of the high timbered woods, at that time
destitute of leaves, they produced a most singular and striking
effect; the whole trees for a considerable extent, from the top
to the lowest branches, seeming as if hung in mourning; their
notes and screaming the meanwhile resembling the distant sound
of a great cataract, but in more musical cadence, swelling and
dying away on the ear according to the fluctuation of the breeze-
In Kentucky, and all along the Mississippi, from its junction
with the Ohio to the Balize, I found numbers of these birds, so
that the Purple Grakle may be considered as a very general in-
habitant of the territory of the United States.

Every industrious farmer complains of the mischief commit-
ted on his corn by the Crow Blackbirds, as they are usually
called; though were the same means used, as with pigeons, to
take them in clap-nets, multitudes of them might thus be de-
stroyed; and the products of them in market, in some measure
indemnify him for their depredations. But they are most nu-
merous and most destructive at a time when the various har-
vests of the husbandman demand all his attention, and all his
hands to cut, cure, and take in; and so they escape with a few
sweeps made among them by some of the younger boys, with
the gun; and by the gunners from the neighbouring towns and
villages; and return from their winter quarters, sometimes ear-
ly in March, to renew the like scenes over again. As some

PURPLE GRAKLE. 225

consolation, however, to the industrious cultivator, I can assure
him, that were I placed in his situation, I should hesitate wheth-
er to consider these birds most as friends or enemies, as they
are particularly destructive to almost all the noxious worms,
grubs, and caterpillars, that infest his fields, which, were they
allowed to multiply unmolested, would soon consume nine-tenths
of all the production of his labour, and desolate the country
with the miseries of famine ! Is not this another striking proof
that the Deity has created nothing in vain; and that it is the du-
ty of man, the lord of the creation, to avail himself of their use-
fulness, and guard against their bad effects as securely as possi-
ble, without indulging in the barbarous, and even impious, wish
for their utter extermination?

The Purple Grakle is twelve inches long, and eighteen in ex-
tent; on a slight view seems wholly black, but placed near, in
a good light, the whole head, neck, and breast, appear of a rich
glossy steel blue, dark violet and silky green; the violet prevails
most on the head and breast, and the green on the hind part of
the neck; the back, rump, and whole lower parts, the breast
excepted, reflect a strong coppery gloss; wing-coverts, seconda-
ries, and coverts of the tail, rich light violet, in which the red
prevails; the rest of the wings, and cuneiform tail, are black,
glossed with steel blue. All the above colours are extremely
shining, varying as differently exposed to the light; iris of the
eye silvery; bill more than an inch long, strong, and furnished
on the inside of the upper mandible with a sharp process, like
the stump of the broken blade of a penknife, intended to assist
the bird in masticating its food; tongue thin, bifid at the end,
and lacerated along the sides.

The female is rather less; has the upper part of the head,
neck and the back, of a dark sooty brown; chin, breast, and
belly, dull pale brown, lightest on the former; wings, tail, low-
er parts of the back and vent, black, with a few reflections of
dark green; legs, feet, bill, and eyes, as in the male.

The Purple Grakle is easily tamed, and sings in confinement.

VOL. i. — 3 H

226 PURPLE GRAKLE.

They have also, in several instances, been taught to articulate
some few words pretty distinctly.

A singular attachment frequently takes place between this
bird and the Fish-Hawk. The nest of this latter is of very large
dimensions, often from three to four feet in breadth, and from
four to five feet high; composed, externally, of large sticks, or
faggots, among the interstices of which sometimes three or four
pairs of Crow Blackbirds will construct their nests, while the
Hawk is sitting, or hatching above. Here each pursues the du-
ties of incubation, and of rearing their young; living in the
greatest harmony, and mutually watching and protecting each
other's property from depredators.

NOTE — The Gracula quiscala of the tenth edition of the
Systema Naturae was established upon Catesby's Purple Jack-
daw. This bird is common in Carolina, Georgia, and Florida,
where it is still known by the name of Jackdaw; whereas the
Purple Grakle of Wilson is called Blackbird, or Crow Black-
bird. The latter is also common in the States south of Virginia;
but the Jackdaw, after rearing its young, retires further south
on the approach of Winter; whereas the Purple Grakle hyemates
in the southern section of our union, and migrates, in the spring,
to the middle and northern states, to breed. The female of the
Crow Blackbird is dark sooty-brown and black; the female of the
Jackdaw, is " all over brown," agreeably to Catesby's descrip-
tion. This author states the weight of the Jackdaw to be six
ounces: the weight of the Crow Blackbird seldom exceeds four
ounces and a half. That the two species have been confounded
there is no doubt; and it is not easy to disembroil the confusion
into which they have been thrown by naturalists, who have
never had an opportunity of visiting the native regions of both.
It is evident that Catesby thought there was but one species of
these birds in Carolina, otherwise he would have discovered,
that those which he observed, during the winter, in great flocks,
were different from his Jackdaws, which is the proper summer
resident of that State, although it is probable that some of the

PURPLE GRAKLE. 227

Crow Blackbirds are also indigenous. The true Gracula barita
of Linnaeus is not yet satisfactorily ascertained; the Boat-tailed
Grakle of Latham's General Synopsis, is unquestionably the
Purple Grakle of Wilson. The best figures of the Purple Jack-
daw which we have seen, are those given in Bonaparte's Ornith-
ology, vol. 1, pi. 4. They were drawn by Mr. Alexander Ri-
der of Philadelphia, (not by Mr. Audubon, as is stated,) from
specimens brought from East Florida, by Mr. Titian Peale and
myself. — G. Ord.

GENUS 20. CUCULUS CUCKOO*

SPECIES 1. CUCULUS CAROLINENSIS.

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.

[Plate XX VIII. —Fig. 1.]

M|.

Cuculus Jlmericanus, LINN. %s£. erf. 10, p. Ill — CATESB. i, 9. —
LATH, i, 537. — Le Coucou de la Caroline. Baiss. iv, 112. —
Arct. Zool 265, JVo. 155.— PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 1778.

A STRANGER who visits the United States for the purpose
of examining their natural productions, and passes through our
woods in the month of May or June, will sometimes hear, as
he traverses the borders of deep, retired, high timbered hol-
lows, an uncouth guttural sound or note, resembling the sylla-
bles kowe, kowe, kowe kowe kowe! beginning slowly, but end-
ing so rapidly, that the notes seem to run into each other, and
vice versa; he will hear this frequently without being able to
discover the bird or animal from which it proceeds, as it is
both shy and solitary, seeking always the thickest foliage for
concealment. This is the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, the subject of
the present account. From the imitative sound of its note, it is
known in many parts by the name of the Cow-bird; it is also
called in Virginia the Rain-Crow, being observed to be most
clamorous immediately before rain.

This species arrives in Pennsylvania, from the south, about
the twenty-second of April, and spreads over the country as
far at least as lake Ontario; is numerous in the Chickasaw and
Chactaw nations; and also breeds in the upper parts of Georgia;
preferring in all these places the borders of solitary swamps,

* This genus has been considerably restricted by recent ornithologists.
The two species referred by Wilson to their genus belong1 to the genus Coa«'f
ci/cus of Vieillot, adopted by Temminck.

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 229

and apple orchards. It leaves us, on its return southward, about
the middle of September.

The singular, I will not say unnatural, conduct of the Euro-
pean Cuckoo, (Cuculus canorus) which never constructs a
nest for itself, but drops its eggs in those of other birds, and
abandons them to their mercy and management, is so univer-
sally known, and so proverbial, that the whole tribe of Cuckoos
have, by some inconsiderate people, been stigmatized as desti-
tute of all parental care and affection. Without attempting to
account for this remarkable habit of the European species, far
less to consider as an error what the wisdom of Heaven has
imposed as a duty on the species, I will only remark, that the
bird now before us builds its own nest, hatches its own eggs,
and rears its own young; and in conjugal and parental affection
seems nowise behind any of its neighbours of the grove.

Early in May they begin to pair, when obstinate battles take
place among the males. About the tenth of that month they
commence building. The nest is usually fixed among the hor-
izontal branches of an apple-tree; sometimes in a solitary thorn,
crab or cedar, in some retired part of the woods. It is construct-
ed with little art, and scarcely any concavity, of small sticks
and twigs, intermixed with green weeds, and blossoms of the
common maple. On this almost flat bed, the eggs, usually three
or four in number, are placed; these are of a uniform greenish
blue colour, and of a size proportionable to that of the bird.
While the female is sitting, the male is generally not far dis-
tant, and gives the alarm by his notes, when any person is ap-
proaching. The female sits so close, that you may almost reach
her with your hand, and then precipitates herself to the ground,
feigning lameness to draw you away from the spot, fluttering,
trailing her wings, and tumbling over, in the manner of the
Partridge, Woodcock, and many other species. Both parents
unite in providing food for the young. This consists for the
most part of caterpillars, particularly such as infest apple-trees.
The same insects constitute the chief part of their own suste-
nance. They are accused, and with some justice, of sucking the

230 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.

eggs another birds, like the Crow, the Blue Jay, and other pil-
lagers.? They also occasionally eat various kinds of berries.
But from the circumstance of destroying such numbers of very
noxious larvae, they prove themselves the friends of the farmer,
and are highly deserving of his protection.

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is thirteen inches long, and six-
teen inches in extent; the whole upper parts are of a dark glos-
sy drab, or what is usually called a Quaker colour, with green-
ish silky reflections; from this must however be excepted, the
inner vanes of the wings, which are bright reddish cinnamon;
the tail is long, composed of ten feathers, the two middle ones
being of the same colour as the back, the others which gradual-
ly shorten to the exterior ones, are black, largely tipt with
white; the two outer ones are scarcely half the length of the
middle ones; the whole lower parts are pure white; the feath-
ers covering the thighs being large like those of the Hawk tribe;
the legs and feet are light blue, the toes placed two before, and
two behind, as in the rest of the genus; the bill is long, a little
bent, very broad at the base, dusky black above, and yellow
below; the eye hazel, feathered close to the eyelid, which is
yellow. The female differs little from the male; the four mid-
dle tail-feathers in her are of the same uniform drab ; and the
white, with which the others are tipt, not so pure as in the male.

In examining this bird by dissection, the inner membrane of
the gizzard, which in many other species is so hard and mus-
cular, in this is extremely lax and soft, capable of great disten-
sion; and, what is remarkable, is covered with a growth of fine
down or hair, of a light fawn colour. It is difficult to ascertain
the particular purpose which nature intends by this excrescence;
perhaps it may serve to shield the tender parts from the irrita-
ing effects produced by the hairs of certain caterpillars, some
of which are said to be almost equal to the sting of a nettle.

SPECIES 2. CUCULUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS.

BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.

[Plate XXVIII. —Fig. 2.]

PE ALE'S Museum , JVo. 1854.

THIS Cuckoo is nearly as numerous as the former; but has
hitherto escaped the notice of European naturalists; or from its
general resemblance has been confounded with the preceding.
Its particular markings, however, and some of its habits, suffi-
ciently characterize it as a distinct species. Its general colour
above is nearly that of the former, inclining more to a pale ash
on the cheeks and front; it is about an inch less in length; the
tail is of a uniform dark silky drab, except at the tip, where
each feather is marked with a spot of white, bordered above
with a slight touch of dull black; the bill is wholly black, and
much smaller than that of the preceding; and it wants the bright
cinnamon on the wings. But what constitutes its most distin-
guishing trait is a bare wrinkled skin, of a deep red colour, that
surrounds the eye. The female differs little in external appear-
ance from the male.

The Black-billed Cuckoo is particularly fond of the sides of
creeks, feeding on small shell-fish, snails, &c. I have also often
found broken pieces of oyster-shells in its gizzard, which, like
that of the other, is covered with fine downy hair.

The nest of this bird is most commonly built in a cedar, much
in the same manner, and of nearly the same materials, as that of
the other; but the eggs are smaller, usually four or five in num-
ber, and of a rather deeper greenish blue.

This bird is likewise found in the state of Georgia, and has
not escaped the notice of Mr. Abbot, who is satisfied of its be-
ing a distinct species from the preceding.

END OP VOL. i.

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