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1

THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CBOIX

THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

B L

THE

NATURALIST
OF THE SAINT CROIX

MEMOIR OF
GEOEGE A. BOAEDMAE^

A SELECTION FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE
AND PUBLISHED "WRITINGS, NOTICES OF
FRIENDS AND CONTEMPORARIES WITH HIS

LIST OF THE iJ-^

BIRDS OF MAINE AND NEW BRUNSWICK

BY

SAMUEI. LANE BOAR1J3IAN, M. S.

University of Maine, Honorary, 1899

BANGOR

PRIVATELY PRINTED
1903

y

I

AM delighted to know that you have shot that black and
golden winged woodpecker after which I have been search-
ing so long. He has escaped me for about forty-eight years, but
I am glad to get him now. I also do want that female pied duck.
We do not possess either sex in the Smithsonian and want it very
much. And please let me have that queer Labrador Duck with
the bill that doesn't belong to it. We will immortalize Milltown.
— Prof. Spencer F. Baird, Secretary of the Smithsoriian Institution.,
Washington, D. C, in Letter to George A. Boardman, June 22, 1871.

Would it be possible to send the nest in a box so packed that
it would be fit to paint from on arrival? I would employ Wolf to
make a handsome painting of it with old and young birds, and
you should have the first copy struck off, colored by Wolf himself.
Please do help me in this and I will do all I can to immortalize
you as the first who has enabled us to give full particulars of the
breeding of this bird.— Heni-y E. Dresser, London, Eng., author of
History of the Birds of Europe, in Letter to George A. Boardman,
May 27, 1872.

TO THE ORNITHOIiOGISTS OF AMERICA :

THIS Memoir of one of the Pioneer Field Naturalists
of the United States, a plain man of business who
traveled from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the
Mountains of the North to the Great Gulf of the South
in his study of Birds ; who gathered the largest private
collection in ornithology and natural history of any
citizen in this country ; the accuracy of whose scientific
knowledge was only exceeded by his noble character and
beautiful life ; Friend of Baird, Brewer, Cassin, Coues,
Ivawrence and Wood among the great ornithologists who
have Passed and of Allen, Dresser, Elliot, Ridgway and
Verrill among those who remain — is Respectfully and
lyovingly Dedicated.

THE NEW YORK
n^niC LIBRARY

31363>B

ASTOR. LENOX AM)
"KLDEX F0L-NDATI9NS

INTRODUCTION

THE present volume grew out of the belief on the
part of members of Mr. Boardman's family, as well
as that of his many friends, that a life so successful in
business ; so largely devoted to a study of one of the
leading branches of natural history ; so rich in personal
experiences and so true and noble in character, should
not end and leave no record of what had been accom-
plished within the period of that life.

When the work was contemplated its plan was simple.
It was designed to republish Mr. Boardman's lists on the
fauna of the St. Croix, for which there had been much
call from scientists, especially for his list of birds and to
accompany its reissue in a new form based upon the lat-
est authoritative nomenclature, with a memorial sketch
of Mr. Boardman which would giv^e some account of his
life and of his service to science.

But when the material in hand had been examined it
was found to be so extensive in volume, so rich and val-
uable in character and so important to science that the
original plan was changed. The scope of the work was
enlarged ; a more careful memoir was decided upon ; the
use of Mr. Boardman's large correspondence, including
the many letters from leading ornithologists, was to be
drawn upon as showing the importance and progress of

viii. INTRODUCTION

his studies ; as indicating the value which the great sci-
entists of England and America placed upon his work,
the high esteem in which his friendship was held, as well
as his judgment consulted and depended upon by them.

Thus the volume has grown as the material has been
made use of. If it is larger than originallj^ designed, the
hope may be expressed that it is not too minute to satisfy
Mr. Boardman's friends, while it would have been an
easy matter to have made it more comprehensive.

There is j^et a vast mass of unused material as enter-
taining as an}^ that has been made use of, or that appears
in the work. Among this material are many letters
from our greatest and best known naturalists of Mr.
Boardman's daj^ with unpublished notes and chapters
on natural histor}- subjects. These record Mr. Board-
man's observations with great carefulness and in a style
extremely graphic and interesting.

During the last few years of his life Mr. Boardman
wrote much for the local newspapers of Calais and St.
Stephen. While this was done as a matter of personal
amusement the articles thus contributed were exceed-
ingl}' entertaining. These extend to more than two
hundred and are upon a wide range of subjects — those
of current interest ; relating to his own observ^ ations or
the result of his wide reading ; upon natural history sub-
jects and upon topics that were engaging the attention
of people of the two cities.

Of especial interest to residents of St, Stephen and
Calais was a series of thirty articles or chapters, under
the general heading: Early Times on the St. Croix.
These consisted largely of Mr. Boardman's personal
reminiscences. They embraced sketches of the early

INTRODUCTION

IX.

settlers; of the mills and shipping on the St. Croix; of
the churches, schools, merchants and professional men ;
of the leading families and of the industries of the two
cities. Although not sufficiently elaborate to be called
history they form a most important contribution to his-
tory and must always be regarded when material for
Calais and St. Stephen local history and biography is
being collected. It was the original intention to repub-
lish them in the present volume but the idea was aban-
doned as one carrying the book far beyond its reasonable
size. It became a question of including the historical
sketches and excluding the rich correspondence or vice
versa. To have included the sketches would have been
gratifying to people in those two cities, although scien-
tific readers would have regarded them of but little value.
As the work progressed and became more especially a
scientific memoir, it was deemed best to sacrifice the
historical chapters for the sake of the letters to and from
Mr. Boardman and his naturalist friends. In his quiet
life ; in his love for home and the locality in which he
lived ; in his devotion to natural history and his interest
in the antiquities, history and people of the St. Croix,
Mr. Boardman was a genuine type of the naturalist of
Selborne, and would have felt more satisfied to have
been called the Gilbert White of Maine than that of
any other title.

It only remains for me to express my obligations to
those who have assisted me in the preparation of this
work and to whom I wish to return my grateful acknowl-
edgments :

First of all my thanks are due to the sons of George
A. Boardman whose liberality has made possible the

X.

INTRODUCTION

preparation of this memoir. They have not only borne
the entire expense of its publication but have assisted
me in many ways — given many suggestions, furnished
numerous facts and also assisted me in obtaining much
necessary' information. They have greatly deferred to
my judgment and seconded my every wish for making
the volume the creditable work which it is hoped it will
be found. To Mrs. J. Clark Taylor, Calais, Maine, the
only daughter of Mr. Boardman, for the loan of the
entire mass of his correspondence with naturalists, with-
out which the preparation of this volume in its present
form would have been impossible. To Prof. S. P. I^ang-
ley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washing-
ton, D. C, for the loan of the collection of letters writ-
ten by Mr. Boardman to Prof. S. F. Baird, now in the
custody of the Institution ; for the loan of the plate of
portrait of Prof. Baird, as well as for man}^ dates and facts
and the kindl)^ answer of numerous letters of inquiry.
To Lewis Sperrj^ Esq., Hartford, Conn., and to Mrs.
Mary Ellsworth Wood, East Windsor Hill, Conn., for the
use of Mr. Boardman's letters to Dr. William Wood ;
for the memoir and portrait of Dr. Wood and for other
important material. To Hon. P. W. F'lewelling, of the
Crown Eands Department, Fredericton, N. B., for much
information relating to the transfer of the Boardman col-
lection of ornithology to the Provincial government of
New Brunswick and for personal interest in the work.
To Robert Ridgway, curator of birds in the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D. C. ; to J. A. Allen of the
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park,
New York, and to Charles Hallock, Plainfield, Mass.,
for the use of letters of Mr. Boardman and to the latter

INTRODUCTION xi.

gentleman for permission to reprint from liis volume,
Camp lyife in Plorida, the chapter contributed to that
work by Mr. Boardman. To Prof. L,eslie A. Lee, Bow-
doiu College, Brunswick, Maine, for collating the vol-
umes of the American Naturalist. To Charles G. Atkins,
superintendent of the Government Fish-hatching Station
at Green I^ake, East Orland, Maine and to his sister.
Miss Helen Atkins, for collating the volumes of Forest
and Stream. To Prof. Ora W. Knight, ex-President of
Maine Ornithological Union, Bangor, Maine, for his
interest in the work and for revising the list of St. Croix
Birds to make it conform to the present scientific nomen-
clature. To the Forest and Stream Publishing Company,
New York, for the use of the plate of portrait of Charles
Hallock. P'inally, I wish to acknowledge the assistance
I have received from my wife, Mrs. Alma Staples Board-
man. She has not only corrected the MS. but has col-
lated and revised the scientific lists, read all the proofs,
revised and re-revised the page proofs, made the index
and had oversight of the typographical work involved,
without which the volume could not have presented that
freedom from errors which it is believed now character-
izes it.

Bangor, Maine, June 12, 1903.

CONTENTS

Dedication Page v.

INTEODUCTION " vii.

Chapter Page

I. Boardraan Family Ancestry 3

II. Valley of the St. Croix 11

III. Business and Domestic Life 16

IV. Life Record of a Naturalist 31

V. Closing Years at Calais 86

VI. The Boardman Collection 98

VII. Some Scientific Results 110

Vin. Personal Characteristics 130

IX. Appreciations and Honors 142

X. Correspondence with Naturalists 152

XL Scientific Lists 298

XII. Natural History Sketches 323

Index 350

LIST OF PLATES

Portrait of George A. Boardman Frontispiece

Page

Portrait of George A, Boardman 16

Eesidence of Mr. Boardman at Milltown, N. B 23

View from tlie Garden at Milltowu, X. B 24

Facsimile of Letter of Prof. S. F. Baird 68

Portrait of George A. Boardman 86

Last Residence of George A. Boardman 88

Portrait of George A. Boardman 95

Boardman Family Monument 97

Interior of Bird Museum at Calais 98

Interior of Bird Museum at Calais 101

Interior of Bird Museum at Calais 105

Plan of Boardman Boom 106

Parliament House, Fredericton, N. B 109

Group of Bear Cubs 127

Portrait of Mrs. George A. Boardman 132

Portrait of Prof. S. F. Baird 154

Facsimile of Letter of Prof. S. F. Baird 160

Bird Museum at Calais 185

Portrait of Dr. William Wood 213

Portrait of Henry E. Dresser 249

Facsimile of Letter of Henry E. Dresser 262

Facsimile of Letter of George A. Boardman 272

Portrait of Charles Hallock 281

Facsimile of Letter of P. L. Sclater 293

THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

THE ]N^ATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

CHAPTER I

BOAKDMAN FAMELY ANCESTRY

THE family name of Boardman is one of much
antiquity. Early forms of the name as found in
records of both England and America are Boreman,
Borman, Boarman, Burman, Burdman, Bodman, Boord-
man and Bordman. The family originated in Oxford-
shire, England, where the first of the name, William
Boreman, was living as early as 1525, in Banbury, in
that county. He had a son Thomas, called "the elder,"
who was living at Claydon, near Banbury, in 1546,
whose wife's name was IsabeUe. He died at Claydon in
1579. Thomas had a son William who was married,
but whose wife died about five years before her husband
— her death having occurred in 1608 and that of her
husband in 1613. Their son Thomas — called in the
records "the 3'ounger " — was baptized at Claydon,
October 18, 1601. He was the first of the name in New
England. The earliest tax list of the Colony of New
Plymouth that has ever been found, bearing date January
2, 1632-33, contains his name.

4 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

In the Old Colony records of 1643, in a list of all the
males of New Plymouth Colony, "able to beare armes
from xvi years old to 60 years," the name of Thomas
Boreman also appears. He is there put down as a resi-
dent of Barnstable, Mass. Savage, in the Genealogical
Dictionary' of First Settlers of New England, says he
was made a freeman March 4, 1635. He first appears
on the records of Ipswich, Mass., in 1637. He was a
cooper and carpenter by trade. The late Joseph B.
Felt, one of the most learned and accurate antiquarians
in New England, says he was first at Ipswich, that he
moved from Ipswich to Barnstable but returned to
Ipswich again. In his history of Ipswich Mr. Felt
records that he died in that town in 1673 at an advanced
age. His wife's name was Margaret. Some accounts
say she died in November, 1679 ; but Mr. Felt gives her
death as having taken place in 1680. Thomas Bore-
man's estate was valued at his death at ;i^523 6s. 6d.

It may be interesting to give here the remarks of that
learned antiquary, the late Rev. Eucius R. Page of
Cambridge, Mass., in explanation of the different ways
of spelling what is evidently the same name as found
upon early New England colonial records, as a help to
the understanding of the different forms of spelling the
name Boardman as given at the beginning of this chap-
ter. This author says : " It is not surprising that many
of these names are incorrectly spelled. They are not
autographs, but were written by the secretary or clerk
according to the sound as the names were spoken to
him. Moreover, it no doubt often occurred that the
clerk did not catch the sound accurately and therefore
mistook the true name." As many of the early settlers

BOARDMAN FAMILY ANCESTRY 5

to New England were unlettered men, could not write,
perhaps could not spell, they gave their names to the
town officers as they were accustomed to be called, hence
the various ways of spelling what is the same name,
which appear upon the early records.

Thomas Boreman, eldest son of Thomas and Margaret,
was born in 1643 and married Elizabeth, daughter of
Sargent Jacob Perkins, January 1, 1667-68. She was
born April 1, 1650. This Thomas Boreman died Octo-
ber 3, 1719, in his seventy-sixth year and his wife died
December 4, 1718, aged sixty-eight years, eight months
and three da3's.

Thomas and Elizabeth Boreman had a son Offin who
was born at Ipswdch, Mass., December 3, 1676 and
married Sarah Hurd, February 28, 1698. Their son Offin
was born December 16, 1698 and married Sarah Wood-
man, January 17, 1722. He was master of a vessel that,
according to the records, "w^as overset" September 8,
1735, on a passage from Casco Bay to Boston and himself
and twelve others were drowned. His wife died July
12, 1752.

It should be stated here that Savage, in his Genea-
logical Dictionary of First Settlers of New England, says
that "after 1720 the early name of Boreman became
permanently changed to Bordman and Boardman."

Jonathan, son of Offin and Sarah (Woodman) Board-
man, w^as born March 15, 1735 and married Rebecca
Moody, November 12, 1761. They had a son William
who married Mary Short, September 19, 1786. He was
master of a vessel and was lost at sea. Two letters written
by William Boardman to his father are in possession of a
member of the family. The first is dated St. lyUcia,

6 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

January 10, 1793 and the second at Wilmington, March
10, 1793. Both letters are interesting and indicate the
greatest respect for his father and devotion to his
interests.

In the first letter he writes: "The 30th of December
I arrived at Point Petre Saw Brother Chase. Markets
"Would Not Due from there I went to St Peires from
There to St Lucia And have Sold here. Lumber at 15
Dolars Beff at 8 Dollars Shingles at 1^ Dolars MackreU
at 4 Dollars. To Be pa3-d one Third part in Cash
The Other Two Thirds in Sugar Coffee Coaco Cotton
At cash price. Sir I had Acounts from St Astaita
Lumber Will not Answer there. Sir I expect to Sail by
the 10 of february. If Any Thing Should happen That
I Should Be Detained any Longer I Shall prosead to
Newburj' port. If not I Shall go to Willmington. I
had Very bad Weather on mj- pasage the 11 Decembr
Scut Under 2 Rt forsail had m}^ Quarter Boards Nock
away m}- Chimney Nockd Down And m^- Lumber Shifted
16 Inches Of Water for 2 Hours in The Hold By Baging
the pump Boxes We freed her And fortinglj- Saved our
Deck Load I Shall Due the Best I Can for your Intrist —
So Conclude Remaining your Loving Son." He then
adds this P. S: "We are aU WeU I have Landed my
Deck Load I have Sold to Mr Nervear and Company
By What I Can hear they are Good men." This letter
was directed to "Capt Jonathan Boardman in Newbury
Port by favour of capt Spitfield."

The second letter is as follows : "Loving Sir I Write
to let you now that after a passage of 13 Days 1 arrived
here my Westingss Goods are not Wanted here Lumber
and Navill Stores are too hy for me to purchas Atpresant

BOARDMAN FAMII.Y ANCESTRY 7

I Cannot Git no freight here for no plase. If nothing
Offers Before to Morrow Noon I must I^eave or Enter
my Vesell. I Rather think I Shall I^eave this port and
prosede for Newbury Port. Sir I now I Shall make a
Bad Voiage If I come home and I Shall make a Worse
If I Stay here and It is one half to own it Sir I have
Wrote to you By Capt Hollon and Capt. Yong of Port-
land Before Sir So have nothing New to Inform you of
more at Present Remember me to my Wife and the family
And all Inquirings friends I Remain your Dutifull Son
William Boardman."

This is the last that was ever heard of Capt. William
Boardman, his vessel and all on board having been lost
at sea while on the passage from Wilmington, N. C, to
Newburj^port, Mass., in the spring of 1793. Mary, the
wife of William Boardman, died April 27, 1847.

William, the son of William and Mary (Short) Board-
man, was born in Newburyport, Mass., May 30, 1789
and married Esther W. Toppan March 12, 1815. She
was born June 28, 1793 and was a daughter of Stephen
Toppan who descended from Abraham Toppan who
settled in Newburyport as early as 1637. Mr. Board-
man was in business in Newburyport for a few years and
moved to Portland in 1820. In 1824 he moved from
Portland to Calais where he engaged in trade, bringing
his family in 1828. Mr. Boardman was a Mason and
was treasurer of St. Croix lodge, Calais, on its organiza-
tion in 1844. Mr. George A. Boardman, writing in one
of his delightful autobiographical sketches printed in
the St. Croix Courier, tells of the anti-Masonic ' ' mania, ' '
as he terms it, which prevailed in the early '30's and
says : "So intense was the feeling at one time that

8 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

bloodshed was feared and tlie lodges ceased to hold
meetings. From what I heard and read I should have
thought all the Masons should have been hanged if my
father had not been a Mason. But my father told me
the institution was a good one and friendly to the best
interests of humanity ; that bad men sometimes join the
fraternity as unworthy men sometimes join the churches,
but the influence of the lodge was for good and good
only. Ever since then I have had great respect for the
order." This incident shows the influence of a good
man's life upon character. William Boardman was a
good man ; his son believed in him and his good char-
acter influenced that of the son to honor and respect not
only the man, but any institution to which he belonged
and endorsed. William Boardman joined the first tem-
perance society which was organized in Calais, May 12,
1828 — the very year in which he brought his family to
that town.

The children of William and Esther (Toppan) Board-
man were Adeline who married F. H. Todd; William
H.; George A.; Caroline M., who married Charles
Hayden of Eastport ; Anna E., who married Henry F.
Eaton; Gorham, who resides in New York; Mary E.,
who married Rev. Henry V. Dexter, and Emily who
married Elwell Lowell and resides in Calais. William
Boardman died July 2, 1866 ; his wife Esther died May
31, 1877. On the death of Mr. Boardman, the following
notice appeared in the St. Croix Courier and was repub-
lished in the Newburyport Herald of July 17, 1866 :

* ' Perhaps no one has more generally endeared himself
to the whole community than he, by his obliging quali-
ties of character, his amiable and cheerful disposition,

BOARDMAN FAMII^Y ANCESTRY 9

his gentle and courteous manners. With a keen insight
into human nature, he was yet so full of lov^e and charity
that no one living can remember of him an unjust or an
unkind word. All, even the little child, were made
happier and better by his loving, cheerful presence. To
his large family his loss will be very great ; for his life
to them has been a continual benediction. The same
smile, the warm grasp of the hand, the loving words of
welcome were never forgotten until strength and memory
failed. Blessed beyond words has his pure life been to
them. May the mantle of his charity and cheerful faith
enwrap them all as they leave him in repose and again
mingle in the turmoil of life."

Before closing this chapter it may be of interest to
mention — although this memoir is in no sense a genea-
logical history of the family — that Savage says that
Daniel Bordman who was married at Ipswich, Mass.,
April 12, 1662, "was a brother of Thomas called Bore-
man ; and also Samuel Boreman (Borman, Boardman)
who was at Ipswich in 1639 and who went to Weathers-
field, Conn., in 1642 and founded the Connecticut family
of Boardmans, who was a brother of Thomas, who settled
in Ipswich in 1634." It is the purpose of this memoir
only to bring down the family branch from which the
naturalist of the St. Croix descended, but the above is
mentioned as an interesting fact in the family history.

The parents of George A. Boardman lived to celebrate
their golden wedding as did his brother William, who
married Mary Quincy, who celebrated their golden
wedding August 5, 1890. His sister Anna and husband,
Henry F. Eaton, celebrated their golden wedding October
17, 1892 and Mr. Boardman celebrated his December 19,

10 THE NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX

1893. His brother Gorham and wife, Mary L. Lord,
celebrated their golden wedding October 23, 1901. This
record shows that father and mother and four of their
children lived to observe their golden weddings. This
is a somewhat remarkable record for longevity in one
family — a family remarkable for devotion and love to their
own kindred, for interest in humanity and in all agencies
and efforts making for the common good.

CHAPTER II

VAIiLEY OF THE ST. CROIX

THE St. Croix river — the natural valley of which
Mr. Boardman did so much to develop, in which
his great business abilities were so long employed for
its advantage and the fauna of which he made so well
known to the scientific world — forms the boundary
between the province of New Brunswick, Dominion of
Canada and the United States, from a point just south
of latitude 46 degrees north to the bay of Fundy into
which its waters discharge. At Quoddy Head the
United States reaches its farthest eastern limit and the
St. Croix system is the most southeastern river system
in the State of Maine. The area drained by the river
St. Croix and its affiuent lake systems is 70 miles long
by 50 miles broad, having a total surface of 1175 square
miles, 800 of which are in the State of Maine and 375
are in the province of New Brunswick. The St. Croix
is formed by two branches, the lower of which receives
the waters of the Grand lakes and the upper of which
receives those of the Schoodic lakes — the connecting
rivers being wide and voluminous. In the St. Croix
system are 183 streams and 61 lakes represented upon

12 THE NATURAI^IST OF THE ST. CROIX

the state map — eleven of the lakes and ponds being
located in New Brunswick. The Indian name Schoodic,
which denotes in the native tongue "low, swampy
ground" is applied to the St. Croix in general, includ-
ing its chains of lakes and streams. The entire system
of rivers, streams and lakes forming the St. Croix is, in
fact, an attenuated combination of the lakes; while
by some the St. Croix has been termed "a lake in
motion."

For about ten miles above tide water at Calais the
river has an average width of 500 feet ; its annual dis-
charge is estimated at 44, 800, 000, 000 cubic feet; the aver-
age fall to tide water is about 300 feet, or 6.5 to the mile
and the land bordering the river and its tributaries is to
a large extent low, preventing excessive rises upon the
river itself — conditions which, according to the report
on the Hj'drographic Survey of the State, ' * places the St.
Croix at once and without controversy in the foremost
position of the large rivers of Maine as a manufacturing
stream." The same authority, in 1869, saj'S that "four-
fifths of the basin area of the St. Croix are covered with
forests which consist largely of heavy, valuable timber."

A region of country possessing so many natural advan-
tages for business early attracted the attention of set-
tlers. The forests of beautiful timber were waiting to
be transformed into merchantable lumber; the numer-
ous falls invited the erection of dams and the building
of mills, while tide-water at the upper arm of Passama-
quoddy bay, which has a rise and fall at Calais and St.
Stephen of twenty-five feet, making the river navigable
twice every twenty-four hours for the largest vessels,
brought these crafts there from many parts of the world for

VALLEY OF THE ST. CROIX 13

the products of the forests. Fish and game abounded and
the forests and waters were alive with singing birds, game
birds and water fowl. St. Stephen, N. B., opposite
Calais, Maine, was settled between 1776 and 1779 ; while
in 1780 a settlement was made in the southern part of
Calais. Some 3^ears previous to the above dates white
men had located on the river, but it is probable that the
first permanent settlements were made in the above years.

Among the first things these early settlers did was to
build saw mills and lumbering soon became the most
important industry. As early as 1790 a saw mill called
the "brisk mill" was built by Peter Christie, Abner
Hill and others. This was built at what is now called
Milltown. It is an interesting fact that the lumber of
which the old state house in Boston was built was sawn
in this "brisk mill" and shipped from the St. Croix in
1795. A large business was also done at these early
mills in getting out masts and ton or square timber for
the English market and for the West India trade. The
entire river on both the English and American sides was
lively with saw mills and there were no less than twenty-
five firms engaged in the business of manufacturing and
shipping lumber ; among them the great names of Chris-
tie, Hill, Todd, McAllister, McAdam, Eaton, Boardman
and Murchie take high rank. Indeed, no more remark-
able group of business men have been produced in any
section of the provinces or the states than those who rose
to affluence and power by virtue of their ability in devel-
oping and gaining control of the vast lumbering inter-
ests of the St. Croix valley during the last half century.

St. Stephen, N. B., and Calais, U. S. A., lie on oppo-
site sides of the St. Croix at "salt water" or the head of

14 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

navigation. Two miles up the river on the English side
is the town of Milltown, parish of St. Stephen; while
opposite on the American side is Milltown-Calais. On
either side there is an almost continuous settlement the
entire distance, while about midway is a bridge across
the river and a number of mills which place is called the
Union. The drive from Calais to Milltown on the Amer-
ican side and down to St. Stephen on the English side,
or a ride by the well-managed troUe}^ line of street cars
is one of the most picturesque and interesting in any
part of the states or the provinces. The cities are busy,
the wharv' es piled with lumber, the harbor gay with ves-
sels bearing the flags of two nations, while the lumber
mills, the big cotton mill, the Washington County rail-
road and the belt line railroad connecting the Canadian
Pacific railway with the former road give evidence of
business prosperity and general content unsurpassed by
almost any section of the country. The scenery is beau-
tiful, there are fine residences all along the river banks,
while the people of the two nations are really one. In
business interests, social relations and all that makes for
the public good, the residents of the two nations have a
unity of spirit and interest that is indeed most friendly
and serviceable.

It was in this beautiful and favored section where Mr.
Boardman began his business life at the age of thirteen
years. During his active business career and his long
life as a private gentleman of wealth, public spirit, culti-
vated tastes and leisure, he became closely identified
with the two communities in all their business, educa-
tional, religious and social interests. He loved the
place and the people. He had studied them, lived

VALLEY OF THE ST. CROIX. 15

among them and became a large part of them. He saw
the towns become cities ; he planned and carried for-
ward large enterprises ; he made his home in the beauti-
ful valley and gave great study to its flora and its fauna.
He knew the trees, the flowers, the song and game
birds, the animals, the fishes. He numbered his friends
at home by the populations of the towns in which he
lived, while his correspondents were among the greatest
scientists of the time. He spent here a long, joyous,
active and successful life. It was the dearest spot of all
the earth to him and his life was devoted to making it
dearer and happier to those whom he loved.

CHAPTER III

BUSITsTBSS AND DOMESTIC lilFE

GEORGE AUGUSTUS BOARDMAN, son of
William and Esther (Toppan) Boardman, was
born in Newburyport, Mass., February 5, 1818 and came
to Calais with his parents in 1828. All the education he
ever received was the little in his early childhood and
that obtained during the scanty terms of a Maine country
school at that early date between the age of ten and thir-
teen years, with one term at Newburyport. After the
family had settled in Calais he went back to the place
of their former home where he attended school during
one winter, making his home with members of his
mother's family. At the age of thirteen years he left
school to go to work and after that never had but one
term at school nor did he take a course of study in any
branch of education. At that time he engaged as clerk
for Mr. Henrj' Hoyt with whom he remained a year. He
was faithful and worked constantly for the interests of
his employer. This was one of the earliest characteristics
developed in the business career of the young man.
After this first year of work he went into the store of Mr.
B. F. Waite, one of the early merchants of Calais and

GEORGE A. EOAUDMAN

At the Aii'e of aliout T]iiitv-?ix years

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TILOEN FWlNnATIONS

BUSINESS AND DOMESTIC I^IFE 17

an extensive lumberman, as a clerk, where lie remained
for a period of five years.

In an article describing early days on the St. Croix,
written after Mr. Boardman had retired from business,
in which he describes the ways of the people and the
domestic customs of the times, he says: "The writer
was 'put to a store ' in 1832 to learn the business. The
most of the business was to sell liquor. The West
India rum was brought in hogsheads and I was ordered
to draw off one-third the hogshead and fiU it up with
water. The New England rum was treated about the
same way." He then gives an account of the early
temperance reform, telling of a public meeting at which
Mr. WiUiam Todd, Jr., had made a speech closing with
the words : "I have made up my mind to pledge myself
to sell or use no more liquor and to use my influence to
drive it out of the place and the world. Now who will
join me and do likewise ? "

The account then continues: "Mr. B. F. Waite,
who, in the last year, had retailed twenty-three hogs-
heads of West India rum said : ' I will go with you and
sign that pledge.' " In another article written in after
life, in which he says that it had been his study to mark
boys who had started in any grade of life to see how
they had developed and what success they had reached,
he said : " If a boy does not follow the right path before
he is of age, it is not likely he will ever travel therein.
Every boy over ten or twelve years old is either making
or losing money every daj^, whether he is receiving any
cash pa3^ment or not." Following this with the words,
"let me explain," Mr. Boardman then gives this most
interesting account of his own early life :

18 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

"I knew a boy, son of a poor man, who was faithful
to his parents and did every task given him. When but
thirteen years old a nearb}^ merchant asked him if he
would not like to come to his store as clerk, saj'ing,
' I have been watching you for a j-ear or two and think
you would suit me.' He was engaged for a year which
he sensed out faithfully. Another merchant had been
watching this boj' of fourteen years and engaged him in
his employ, where he remained for five j^ears at high
wages. About this time a neighboring merchant, whose
partner had retired, told this young man that he had
been watching him for five 3'ears and if he could be
spared by his present emploj-er he would give him a
good chance and perhaps make him a partner in his
business as soon as he became of age. This was arranged
and the next 5'ear, 1839, when he became twent5'-one3-ears
old, he was made a partner in the best and largest lumber
concern on the St. Croix river." Then, as was Mr.
Boardman's way in all his entertaining -uTritings, he
enforced the moral of this incident b}^ saying : "Did not
this boy make money ever}- day when the rich men were
watching him ? His faithfulness to little things — to all
things that came in his way — was what made a fortune
for him, as it would for an\^ other boy who acted similarl3\
Somebod}^ will tell other somebodies, until the boj-'s
character is known as far as he is known."

Such is a true picture of the starting in business life
of George A. Boardman, from his own pen. The man
who had watched the bo}" so closely and taken so deep
an interest in him on account of his faithfulness to his
emploj'er's interests was Mr. William Todd, one of the
early pioneers and business men on the St. Croix river.

BUSINESS AND DOMESTIC LIFE 19

Mr. Todd was born in North Yarmouth, Maine, July 10,
1803, his father, Mr, William Todd, having been a
native of Goffstown, N. H. The family came to St.
Stephen in 1811 and, in early manhood, Mr, William
Todd entered upon a business career in MtUtown which
he followed with great success for many years. He was
chiefly engaged in the manufacture and exportation of
lumber, but was active in every movement and enter-
prise that had for its object the development and pros-
perity^ of the country in which his home and business
were located.

After the relinquishment of his business to his suc-
cessors Mr. Todd largely gave his attention and money
to the promotion of enterprises for the building up of the
town. He was one of the first promoters of a railroad in
the St. Croix valley; was for man}' years president of
the St. Croix and Penobscot railroad company, the first
president of the St. Stephen branch railroad company
and a director and president of the St. Stephen bank.
He was much interested in Provincial politics and in
1854 was appointed to a seat in the Legislative Council
of New Brunswick and was an earnest advocate of pro-
vincial confederation, Mr. Todd was one of the founders
of the Congregational church at Mihtown, for many
years an office-bearer and superintendent of the Sunday
school. He was also president of the Bible societ}- and
a firm temperance advocate. On August 5, 1873, Mr.
Todd died, full of years and of honors.

When Mr. Todd said to young George Boardman,
after he had been in his emploj' for two 3^ears, " I want
3^ou to go into partnership with me," the reply was, "I
have no money, I have given my monej^ to my parents."

20 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

And it is a splendid illustration of his love and respect
for his parents, as well as a tribute to his habits of thrift
and economy, that previous to his becoming of age he
had given his father the sum of $1500. Mr. William
Boardman had lost his property in the eastern land specu-
lation and had a large family to rear and educate.
Beside parang his own board and expenses out of the
small salar}^ he had received — small at that early time
in comparison with what young men receive now —
young Boardman had saved and given to his father
$1500 of his own earnings to help him in his time of
need. Could there be anj^ doubt that such a boy would
make a successful business man, or is it any wonder that
Mr. Todd wanted him for a partner?

It was a most fortunate and happj- beginning in busi-
ness life when Mr. Boardman became a partner in the
firm of William Todd, Jr. & Company. This firm had
previously been Todd & MciVUister, the members being
William Todd and John H. McAllister, the latter of
whom married Mr. Todd's sister who was Mrs. Board-
man's aunt. The other member of the firm was Mr.
Samuel Darling who had been in Mr. Todd's employ
as book-keeper. Mr. Darling retired in a few years and
went into business for himself. The firm of Todd &
Companj' was one of the largest and richest lumber
firms on the St. Croix river.

On October 27, 1840, just after he had reached his
majorit}^ Mr. Boardman became a member of this large
and wealth}^ firm and his future success was at once
assured.

During the period between the years 1840 and 1845
the firm had a large and increasing business and enjoyed

BUSINESS AND DOMESTIC EIFE 21

great prosperity. New mills had been built, the sales
of lumber had been extensive and prices were good. It
was during the first years of the firm of William Todd,
Jr. & Company that Mr. Boardman induced his partner
to put in the first gang mill on the St. Croix. He had
heard of such a mill near Bangor, went out to see it and
induced the firm to put one in operation. This was at
the same place as what was afterward known as the
"big gang," in the outside mill sold by the C. F. Todd
estate to H. F. Eaton & Sons. Before that all the mills
in the Province were the old fashioned, slow, single-saw
mills and the introduction of the gang saw revolutionized
the manufacture of lumber on the St. Croix. In these
improvements and the increased business Mr. Boardman
had become an efficient factor in the firm's success.
Now was to come another happy and important event in
his life.

On December 19, 1843,* Mr. Boardman was united in
marriage with Miss Mary J. Hill and commenced house-
keeping in a small cottage which he had built that year.
For the lot of land upon which this cottage was built
Mr. Boardman paid $700. It is a small story and a half

♦Among the papers found in Mr. Boardman's collection of MSS. is the following in
pencil, apparently of a date but a short time previous to his own decease : " Names of
persons attending the Wedding of George A. Boardman and Mary J. Hill, *Dec. 19, IS-tS,
at Milltown, St. Stephen : Mr. Johnson Officiated ; * Gorham Boardman, Groomsman ;
Eliza Ann Todd, Bridesmaid; Grandfather and Grandmother Todd ;** Grandfather and
Grandmother Hill;** Father and Mother Boardman ;** Father and Mother Hill ;**
Mr. and Mrs. Darling ; * Mr. and Mrs. Dr. George ;* Mr. and Mrs. WUIiam Todd ;**
Aunt Laura and Elizabeth McAllister;** Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Todd;** Mr. and Mrs.
William H. Boardman;* Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hayden;** Mr. and Mrs. H. F.
Eaton ;** Edwin, Mary and Emily Boardman ; Mrs. Amanda Hill ;* Alice Darling ;*
Abner ,* Laura and Charles E. Hill ; Frank,* Eliza Ann ,* Hester and Ada Hill ;
Robert Todd, Jr;* Monroe Hill;* Mary Hill (Tobin);* Aseneth Hill (Atwood)."
The asterisks in this note indicate the persons who had died up to the time Mr. Board -
man wrote the same.

22 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

house and is still standing on Main street, Milltown, N.
B., though in a somewhat dilapidated condition. This
house is nearly opposite the Congregational church
which Mr. and Mrs. Boardman attended and into this
cottage they moved the day of their marriage. Mr.
Boardman had become a member of this church in
early life and was constant and devoted in his ministra-
tions upon its services.

Mr. Boardman, by his own marriage and those of his
sisters, became connected with most of the prominent
and wealth}'- families of the St. Croix valley. His wife
was the grand-daughter of Mr. Abner Hill, in his time
the principal lumber manufacturer on the river, while
his sons Abner, Daniel and Horatio w^ere all at one time
large lumber manufacturers and merchants. Another
brother, Mr. George Stillman Hill, was said to be the
ablest member of the Legislative Council of New Bruns-
wick— he was a prominent lawyer and lived in St.
Stephen. One of the earliest permanent settlers of
Calais was Mr. Daniel Hill, a relative of Mrs. Board-
man's grandfather. Her mother w^as a Todd and the
Todds were all prominent, able business men and mer-
chants. Mr. William Todd, as has been stated, was
Mr. Boardman's partner in business. Mr. Freeman H.
Todd, another brother, a man of great ability and force,
who married Mr. Boardman's oldest sister Adeline, was
a ver}^ successful merchant, president of St. Stephen
bank and of the New Brunswick and Canada Railway
Company. Mr. Todd at his death, left probably the
largest estate of any man in the province of New Bruns-
wick. Mr. Boardman's sister, Anna L., married Mr.
Henry F. Eaton, respected for his integrity and who,

THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOfi, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

RESIDENCE OF GEORGE A. BOARDMAN

]MillLo\vn, St. Stephen, N. B.

BUSINESS AND DOMESTIC I.IFE 23

by his ability and close application to business, left one
of the largest estates ever probated in Maine, among the
assets being 586,000 acres in fee of unencumbered timber
land. Mrs. Boardman was born in the old house at the
foot of Todd mountain, or Boardman mountain in Mill-
town, N. B., which house is now standing.

The first store in which Mr. Boardman's firms did
business on Water street, Milltown, N. B.,is yet standing,
with the mills in the rear, next to the river, but the mill
and buildings are much decayed and are now unoccupied.
There have been many changes on the river and mills
and bridges have been carried away by freshets or
destroj^ed by fire. The last mill owned by Mr. Board-
man stood on what is known as the upper dam, in the
rear of the old store.

Mr. Boardman remained in the firm of William Todd,
Jr. & Company until the year 1855. Mr. Todd's son,
Mr. Charles Frederick Todd, had graduated from Bow-
doin college the year previous and the following year
Mr. Todd transferred his interest to his son. The firm
then became George A. Boardman & Company. As
soon as Mr. Todd became acquainted with the business
Mr. Boardman gradually gave the management of the
firm to him. When he began to give less attention to it
himself he paid the salary of Mr. Ezra Malloch who had
been employed by them for several years. Mr. Board-
man was then becoming greatly interested in the study
of ornithology and was giving less attention to the busi-
ness of the firm than formerly.

During the continuance of the firm of George A.
Boardman & Company its business increased greatly
from year to year. More mills were erected, large tracts

24 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

of land and timber were purchased and great shipments
of sawed lumber were made to ports in the United States,
the West Indies, South America and other foreign parts.
Business called him frequently to New York, Baltimore,
Philadelphia, Boston and other places at which times
he made many acquaintances among business and scien-
tific men. He continued to reside in the cottage house
which he built the year of his marriage, until 1860,
when he built a new house at the corner of Main and
Church streets, Milltown, N. B. This is a two-story
house and its location is very pleasant. From its lawn
a wide and beautiful view of the St. Croix valle}' is
obtained, the outlook being upon the American side of
the river in the state of Maine, directly opposite the
famous salmon falls. As shown in the accompanying
plate, the view is one across fine fields with their neat
houses and beautiful trees. Mr. Boardman took great
delight in this scenery, the near prospect of which was
interesting as it included the pleasure grounds of his
own home.

The years spent in this house were among the best
and happiest of Mr. Boardman's happ}^ life. It was here
that several of his children were born and where they
developed to 3^ears of j'oung maturity. When at board-
ing school and college they came home at vacations
bringing their coUege mates with them the house was
the scene of great merry-making and good cheer. It
was during his residence here that Mr. Boardman made
the larger part of his collections and where the most
active 3'ears of his business life were passed. He gave
his time largely to natural histor}^ study and collecting,
while Mrs. Boardman's time was devoted to her children,
her home and her garden.

VIEW FROM THE GARDEN

At Mr. Boardinau's Milltowu llesidence

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ASTOft, LENOX AND

TILDEN PonNnATloMS

« L

BUSINESS AND DOMESTIC LIFE 25

In Mr. Boardman's marriage he was most happy. No
more noble woman ever lived than Mrs. Boardman. She
was a person of great strength and loveliness of charac-
ter, of fine presence, taU and commanding with a sweet
face and a winning personality which drew to her friends
from everj^ station in life. As one who knew her inti-
mately throughout life said: "She was born an angel
and alwaj'S lived one" — which is but a just tribute to
her sweet disposition and beautiful character. Her
entire life was given up to her family, her children and
her home duties. She loved flowers and had at this
Milltown home the finest and best kept garden and col-
lection of plants of any one in that section and spent
much time in their care. In all her husband's business
pursuits and nature studies she was deeply interested,
and after an ideal married life of fifty j^ears Mrs. Board-
man passed away, leaving behind to husband, children
and friends the memory of a loving and devoted wife and
mother. Near this house Mr. Boardman owned large
fields of productive land which extended back from the
river, on which he raised good crops ; near here his mills
were located, while he was interested in many of the
dams and power privileges on the St. Croix. Water was
brought to the buildings and grounds from a spring half
a mile distant and every convenience possible was added
to them that would make them desirable and pleasant.

In 1867 Mr. Boardman's eldest son, Charles Augustus,
then twenty-three 3'ears of age, entered the firm of
George A. Boardman & Company. He had graduated
from Bowdoin college the year previous. In 1870 his
second son, Frederic Henry, who graduated from Bow-
doin in 1869, was admitted, each taking one-half their

26 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

father's interest, the firm name remaining unchanged.
But while giving up interest in and care of the business
he always liked to be active and constant about the mills
and offices when not absent from home on his many visits.

For ten years previou'^ to the admission of his sons
into the firm, Mr. Boardman had been giving more and
more time to the study of natural historj^ especially to
ornithology. He had several times visited Boston, New
York and Washington to meet naturalists and to visit
the museums and was also engaged in correspondence
with eminent scientists. Consequently he was placing
more of the cares of business upon other members of the
firm, especially upon his two sons who had taken his
interest in the business. But while relinquishing these
details of priv-ate business that he might devote more
time to scientific pursuits, Mr. Boardman retained an
interest in all public affairs and in the directorate of
many corporations in which he had large financial inter-
ests. He was a director and president of the Ferry
Point Bridge Company ; of the International Steamboat
Companj^; of the Frontier Steamboat Company, of
which he was an original director and was president
of the company at the time of his death; of the St.
Stephen Bank and of the St. Stephen Rural Cemetery.
He was also treasurer of St. Stephen academy from the
time it was established till public schools were started in
New Brunswick. These several corporations demanded
much of his time and during a long business career it
was very rarely that he was absent from any of their
directors' meetings.

Between the years 1868 and 1891, a period of twenty-
three years, much time was spent by Mr. Boardman and

BUSINESS AND DOMESTIC LIFE 27

his wife in visits to different parts of the country. While
in active business he always took his own vacations in
the winter time. During the summer months he man-
aged the large business interests of his firm, giving his
partners opportunity to have their vacations in the
summer. He gave oversight to the mills of the com-
pany and made repeated visits to Boston, New York,
Philadelphia and Baltimore to make sales of lumber
and collections from buyers — such business being then
done more personally than in later years.

When Prof. Baird of Washington was spending the
summer of 1869 at Eastport with his family, and was
planning for Mr. Boardman to join him on a trip to
Grand Manan to pass some days in examining shell-
heaps and in hunting for Indian relics, Mr. Boardman
explained w^hy he could not accompany him. Writing
to Prof. Baird under date of August 28 of that year he
says : "I am very sorry I cannot get aw^ay to go with
you, but we have so many men at work, our mills are
being repaired, there are letters and telegrams to answer
every day and it is impossible. My partner, Mr. Todd,
has been away for some time with his family and as I
take my vacations in the winter I cannot spare the time
in summer to be absent from business." This attention
to business, however, did not prevent him from having
a great deal of company in summer and his house was
full of scientific friends for weeks at a time.

In the period covered by the years 1868 and 1891 Mr.
Boardman made seventeen visits to Florida, most of
them embracing the entire winter months. On several
of these visits Mrs. Boardman accompanied him. He
also visited California and the west several times, spent

28 THE NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX

a number of winters in Minnesota and made some winter
visits to Clifton Springs, N. Y., at the sanatorium in that
place whose proprietor, Dr. Foster, was an intimate friend
of Mr. Boardman. Mr. Charles A. Boardman, Mr.
Boardman's eldest son, lived in Florida a number of
years where he was largely interested in railroads,
orange growing and hotels and it was there his parents
spent several winters with him. In the course of busi-
ness changes at St. Stephen four of the five living
children of Mr. and Mrs. Boardman had gone to Minne-
apolis and they were naturally anxious that their parents
should make their home in that city. Mrs. Boardman
was also desirous of living there as Mr. J. Clark Taylor,
the husband of her only daughter, was in business in
that city and it was very natural that Mrs. Boardman
wished to be near her.

Consequently, in 1881, Mr. Boardman sold his house
and real estate in St. Stephen to the treasurer of the St.
Stephen cotton mill company and spent the winter in
Palatka, Florida, at the home of his son. The next
spring they returned to Calais for a short time and then
went to Minneapolis for a year, living with Mrs. Taylor.
While in Minneapolis, although Mr. Boardman did not
intend to make it his future home, he purchased the
fine lot facing on Oak Grove street in that city, running
through to Fifteenth street which was the line of Central
Park, now called Eoring Park, which was about the
choicest lot in Minneapolis at that time.

On June 2, 1883, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman left the
west on their return to Calais where they spent the
summer, but in the autumn of that year they again
went to Florida for the winter. In the spring of 1884

BUSINESS AND DOMESTIC LIFE 29

they returned to Calais and took possession of the house
on Ivafayette street in that city where Mr. Boardman
later made his home. He had built this house in the
year 1869 for his son, Charles A., before he went west to
spend a few years with his children. The j^ears between
this period and the death of Mrs. Boardman were spent
at home and in visits to the south and to Washington —
the summers at the north and the winters in a more
genial climate.

In 1886 they went west; the years 1887-1888 were
passed entirely at home with the exception of brief visits
to Boston, New York and Washington. The winters of
1889 and 1890 were again spent in Florida, the last for
much of the time in company with Dr. and Mrs. Foster
of New York. The winter of 1891 was the last which
Mr. Boardman and his wife spent at the south. In that
summer Gov. Burleigh and his staff on an official visit
to Calais passed a day with the Boardmans and in
leaving Mr. Boardman accompanied the party to East-
port. In the fall of that year Mr. and Mrs. Boardman
spent three months at Clifton Springs, N. Y., where Mrs.
Boardman received much benefit to her health from
treatment at the Foster sanatorium at that place. In
1892 they again spent the summer at Clifton Springs and
in the west. The year 1893 was passed at Calais and on
March 4, 1894, the death of Mrs. Boardman occurred in
the house on Eafayette street, their summer home for
the ten years previous.

The family of George Augustus and Mary Jane
Boardman consisted of eleven children, viz. : Charles
Augustus, born December 24, 1844 ; married Mercie F.
Doane, October 20, 1868, who died March 28, 1891.

30 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

Georgiana A., born August 8, 1846; married J. Clark
Taylor, October 20, 1869. Frederic Henr}-, born April
25, 1848 ; married Hattie Curtis Boutelle, June 8, 1870.
George Toppan, born Januar}' 8, 1850, died June 28,
1859. Albert J, born Februar}' 6, 1852; married Sarah
Ivouise Toogood, September 6, 1876. Frank Edwin,
born September 14, 1860, died November 16, 1861.
William B., born March 1, 1862 ; married Jessie Prescott
Wilbur, September 1, 1887. Lewis Haj'den, born July
29, 1863, died March 22, 1865. Three sons died in
infanc)^ The living children of Mr. Boardman are :
Charles A. Boardman, United States Consul, Rimouski,
Quebec, Canada ; Mrs, J. Clark Tajdor, Calais, Maine;
FredH. Boardman, Countj^ Attorney, Minneapolis, Minn.;
Albert J. Boardman, with United Gas and Improvement
Compan}', Philadelphia, Pa. ; William B. Boardman,
Real Estate and Insurance, Minneapolis, Minn.

If the record of Mr. Boardman's life between the years
1869 and 1887, as given in the preceding pages, appears
brief, it must be remembered that this was the period of
his greatest activit}^ and prominence as a naturalist, the
events of which belong in a chapter b}^ themselves. They
are so disassociated from his business career and stand
out in such prominence in his life as a distinguished
ornithologist and the friend of the most eminent scien-
tific men of his time, as to merit a more minute record
than is given to his mere business activity. In saying
this it is not forgotten that it was success in business
due to his splendid abilities, industry and sterling char-
acter, which enabled him in comparatively early life
to relinquish business for the charms and pleasures of
nature-stud}' in which he won such eminence.

CHAPTER lY

IjIfe record of a :n^aturaeist

IN a paper written for the Maine Ornithological Union
and which was read at its meeting held January 27,
1898, Mr. Boardman gives an entertaining account of
the incidents which led to his becoming a naturalist, in
which he answers the question often asked, "What gave
him so great an interest in the study of birds while in
the management of a large business." His reply in
brief was that he believed every business man should
have some favorite pursuit or hobbj-. "I think young
people," he says, "should stud}^ natural history — incul-
cate in the minds of the boys and girls a regard for the
beautiful in nature, whether of flower, insect, fish or
bird; awaken an interest in such studies as botanj- or
ornithology. How often we meet those with idle brains
who do not know how to kill time. Such investigations
would be a great stimulus." He then relates that in
December, 1840, he made a business trip to the South
American coast and the West India islands. The firm
of which he had been a partner but two years was
largely engaged in sending lumber to those parts and it
was thought best that Mr. Boardman should go there,

32 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

see the customers of the firm and spend the winter. He
was then but twentj^-three years of age and was a j^oung
man to be sent upon such a business mission. How weU
his evenings and odd moments during the da}', when
not at work, must have been spent in reading and useful
studies, to have given this j^oung man of twenty-three
such mastery of his business that the older members of
the firm could feel satisfied to send him on an important
business trip to those foreign ports !

Mr. Boardman landed at Berbice in British Guiana in
Januarys, 1841 — a place onlj- six degrees from the equa-
tor. He seemed to have been transported to a new
world. Everj^hing was novel, strange and delightful ;
the flowers, the trees, the fruits and foliage, the birds,
animals and people were all new and interesting. He
was captivated by the beauty of the birds in their gor-
geous plumage ; while the rich flora, the orchids and the
grandest of all the lilies, the Victoria regia, the leaves of
which were six and a half feet in diameter, which he saw
growing in its native habitat, the Berbice river — all
these gave unbounded delight. From Berbice Mr.
Boardman went to Demerara, one hundred miles north
of Berbice, where the firm had sold large quantities of
lumber ; and from there to Barbados, then to St. Vin-
cent, Guiana, Trinidad and the Windward Islands, in
all of which places the firm had customers and in each
of which he saw beautiful birds, interesting plants and
strange animals.

At Demerara, Mr. Boardman had letters to a gentleman
having a large estate in the country, whom he found
to be a good naturalist. Mr. Boardman enjoj^ed his
acquaintance very much. He told him about the birds.

A LIFE RECORD 33

trees, flowers and animals of the island ; and sent his
men with him in boats up the rivers of the forest where
he saw "flocks of noisy parrots, scarlet and white ibis
and heard the harsh scream of a bird called a horned
screamer." These all produced in Mr. Boardman's mind
such a love for birds and natural objects that he returned
from his trip imbued with a new love of nature and
determined to study and know something of our own
birds and our own natural history, of which, up to that
time, he had possessed only the knowledge of any intel-
ligent country boy. " For a naturalist it was a wonder-
ful land under luminous skies, where summer and bloom
last all the year " — were Mr. Boardman's words in con-
cluding his paper. He believed, however, that there
were many birds, plants, trees and animals in Maine
about which it was every one's duty to know something
and he resolved to spend some portion of each day in
their study. What an authority in Maine ornithology
he became and what knowledge he afterward acquired
of the fauna of the St. Croix valley, the lists which he
gave to science abundantly testify. It may be added
here that Mr. Boardman's firm sent much lumber to the
port of St. Pierre, Martinique, which entered into the
construction of the buildings destroyed by the volcanic
eruption of May 8-9, 1902.

Mrs. Taylor, Mr. Boardman's daughter, relates an
interesting instance of how, when a very small girl — she
was born in 1846 — with her younger brother, she watched
the movements of some birds for her father. A pair of
yellow warblers had nested in a tree quite close to the
house — the first cottage in which the family lived — and
in a gale the wind had nearly torn the nest away, tip-

34 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

ping it almost bottom side up. The birds at once began
to make repairs upon their home and Mr. Boardman
set the little children at watching them. The branch
of the tree on which the nest was fixed was quite near a
chamber window and the children were stationed in the
room to watch the progress and report. The birds
rebuilt the nest and when it was occupied and the birds
were engaged in hatching the eggs Mrs. Ta3dor '
remembers that thej' had a small clock in the room and
were to note how long one bird would sit upon the nest
before being relieved b}' its mate. The children were
delighted to be a help to their father in this way and
came, through such interesting incidents, to love to
watch and study birds themselves.

In the first letter which Mr. Boardman wrote to his
correspondent, Dr. "William Wood of East Windsor Hill,
Conn., dated September 23, 1864 and referred to in that
chapter of this volume which gives a resume of this
interesting correspondence at some length, Mr. Board-
man says: "Mr. Allen is mistaken in thinking me
an ornithologist or oologist, as I do not pretend to be
either. A person can have a love for flowers and not be
a botanist, or have a love for birds and to observe their
habits wnthout being an ornithologist or oologist." It
appears that Mr. J. A. Allen, then of Springfield, Mass.,
had mentioned Mr. Boardman to Dr. Wood and the
latter gentleman had at once written to him, saying:
' ' I trust that I need make no apology for addressing
one engaged in the same pursuit as myself — in fact, I
find naturalists, ever}- where, belong to one brotherhood."
This had brought out Mr. Boardman's most interesting
letter from which the above extract has been given and

A LIFE RECORD 35

thus began a most delightful correspondence which
extended over a period of more than twenty years.

In one of the earliest letters from Mr. Boardman to
Prof. Spencer F. Baird of the Smithsonian Institution,
which has been examined, dated January 4, 1865, Mr.
Boardman writes : "I have long been a close observer
of the habits of many common birds in their northern
distribution and for some time have been a collector of
birds." In this same letter he says : " There has been
considerable written about the Cliff Swallow migrating
south. I came from Massachusetts to this part of the
country in the year 1828. The Cliff Swallow was then
very abundant, building the whole length of the eaves
of barns, as much we see them now, which was not
the case in Massachusetts." As Mr. Boardman was
only ten years of age when he came to Milltown from
Newburyport in 1828, his knowledge of the habits of
birds, which this last extract from his letter shows he
possessed as well as his observation of their habits,
must have commenced at an earlier date than his cor-
respondence or writings would show. But during the
earlier years of his life his devotion to business was
most intense. Nothing w^as allowed to interfere with
his close application to the interests of his employers
and of his firm. This was, however, no evidence that in
his earlier years he did not love natural history. The
passion for nature studies was only latent during his
early business life. It was to be developed and enjoyed
in after years when business success had made possible
leisure and means for its fullest appreciation. All recol-
lections of his conversation about beginning the study
of birds, however, as well as his own statements in the

36 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

paper quoted at the opening of this chapter, show that
it was his interest in the beautiful birds of the tropical
islands which he visited in 1841 that led to his deter-
mination to study and know the birds of his own locality.

Mr. Boardman commenced keeping a private diary in
1853, the first entry having been made on February 14
of that year. Some of the earliest records relate to
natural observations. He notes the first plum and apple
blossoms ; the first dahlias in bloom ; while on August 20
he " went up the road gunning." On April |13, 1854,
the record notes : " Saw robin this morning." On May
22 he "saw the first blue violets." August 10 he
records that he "went gunning up the road and got
nothing ; " but on August 25 had better luck as he went
fishing and caught trout, also shot eight partridges.
Entries similar to the above appear throughout the fall
months. He went shooting and fishing every week, fre-
quently for days in succession and the entries show that
he shot four, eleven and fifteen partridges on successive
times out. But few entries in his diary for the year
1855 relate to birds. He records the first robin April 10,
the first martin April 26 and the first swallow May 2.
During the autumn he went gunning and fishing —
sports which he afterward followed all his life — often;
frequently two or three times a week.

On October 7, 1857, Mr. Boardman was, as he expresses
it, " hung up" with a cold. He could not, however, be
idle, it was so foreign to his nature and habits, so he
"set up" a wood duck — the first entry in his diary
which relates to taxidermy and it may be said that his
magnificent collection of birds dates from that period.
In September, 1858, Mr. Boardman was in Philadelphia

A LIFE RECORD 37

and made his first visit to the Academy of Natural Sci-
ences. Being in Boston in April, 1859, he purchased of
T. M. Brewer a copy of Wilson's American Ornithology,
from which undoubtedly he commenced his first syste-
matic study of birds.

The year 1860 w^as one full of interest to Mr. Board-
man. His diary notes the capture of his first Harlequin
duck, February 7. The first robin appeared April 11,
the first swallows April 20 and the first bobolinks May
25. In March of that year he went to Philadelphia and
Washington. In the former city he met John Krider
and examined his birds. At Washington he visited the
Capitol, the Patent Office, the conservatory and the
Smithsonian Institution. He spent the most of the time
for three days at the Smithsonian and met Prof. Spencer
F. Baird for the first time. In August Mr. Boardman
was again in New York and saw the Prince of Wales
land in that city on his visit to the United States. On
September 22 he "set up" an eagle and on December 7
mounted a grebe.

Down to that year Mr. Boardman had resided in the
small cottage which he built the j'ear of his marriage
and where he began keeping house in December, 1843.
But on September 5 he moved into the new house which
he had built in 1860 at the corner of Main and Church
streets. It was in a special room of this house that he
had the large case of mounted birds, which is now in the
Parliament House, Fredericton, N. B., forming as it does
one of the main features of interest as it is an original
design by Mr. Boardman. It is the case marked A in
the plan of the room given in this volume. It consists
of a tree which forms the centre of the case, tbe branches

38 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

of which are full of mounted song birds disposed in their
most characteristic attitudes. While living in this house
Mr. Boardman kept his collection of mounted birds in
the parlor until the building of the bird house in 1863.

In November, 1861, Mr. Boardman attended a meet-
ing of Naturalists at Cambridge Mass., where he met A.
E. Verrill, Prof. Shaler, Alpheus Hyatt and D. G. Elliot.

From Mr. Boardman's diar\^ and correspondence it is
evident that the year 1862 was a most active and
interesting one in his studies, his collecting and his
visits to naturalists. He was at the height of his great
business enterprises and made frequent trips to Boston,
New York and Philadelphia in the interests of his firm.
But he was also making these visits opportunities to
meet naturalists, visit the museums and attend meetings
of scientific societies. In that year no less than twenty-
six entries relating to birds are found in his diar3\ They
extend from April 9 to December 16. He notes in that
year robins, swallows, snowbirds, shelldrakes, grebes,
bluejaj'S, eagles, martins, fishhawk, ducks, warblers,
gulls, sea parrots, herons, yellow birds, sandpipers, gros-
beaks, partridges, white owl, sea dove and banded wood-
pecker. On Jul}' 16 he skinned a Northern Phalarope
and a Sea Parrot.

During the last of March and first of April Mr. Board-
man went to Philadelphia and Washington. x\t Phil-
adelphia he went to the rooms and meeting of the
Acadeni}' of natural sciences. In Washington he spent
several da^-s at the Smithsonian Institution, visited the
Botanic Garden of W. R. Smith, and called upon Sena-
tor Hamlin and Hon. Fred'k A. Pike, representative to
Congress from Calais. At Philadelphia he alwaj'S called

A LIFE RECORD 39

on John Krider and in New York on D. G. Elliot. In
Boston, in October, he attended a meeting of the Natural
History Society. It was in that year that Mr. Boardman
began correspondence with many eminent naturalists,
among them D. G. Elliot, A. E. Verrill, Dr. T. M.
Brewer, Elliot Coues, H. E. Dresser of Eondon, Eng.
and John Krider, a commercial bird-man who was a
well-informed ornithologist with whom Mr. Boardman
exchanged birds and eggs for many years. On May 14,
1862, Mr. H. E. Dresser, the eminent English ornitholo-
gist, visited Mr. Boardman for the first time and remained
some days.

In 1862 the results of Mr. Boardman's observations and
studies in the ornithology of the St. Croix valley were
first published to the scientific world. Previous to this
he had for ten years been carrying on his studies of the
fauna of his locality with ever increasing interest and
yet with so much privacy that it was only within a few
years prior to 1862 that naturalists in other parts of the
country had been aware of the extent and value of his
notes. Entered upon wholly for his own enjoyment
and as a pleasure and recreation from the cares of a large
business, his observations in ornithology now attracted
the attention of those engaged in similar studies who
had acquired wide scientific reputation. Moreover,
Mr. Boardman's correspondence with naturalists and his
visits to the natural history societies of the various cities
had brought him into prominence and accorded him
welcome to their collections and their meetings.

A "Catalogue of the Birds found in the Vicinity of
Calais, Maine, and about the Islands at the Mouth of the
Bay of Fundy, by George A. Boardman," was published

40 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural His-
tory for September, 1862, Volume IX, pages 122-132.
This was published with the following introductory note
from A. E. Verrill : " The following list of birds was
originally sent to me by Mr. Boardman for m}' own use
and was not intended for publication ; but, finding that
it was very complete and valuable for determining the
geographical distribution of species, I requested him to
publish it. This he could not attend to himself and I
have, with his consent, re-written it in a systematic form,
adding, in some cases, observations made by myself at
Grand Manan in 1859." This note of Prof. Verrill
shows plainly that Mr. Boardman was so closely engaged
in business that he could not attend to the publication
of the list, while Prof. Verrill gives it the just compli-
ment of saying that it is "very complete and valuable."
The list enumerates two hundred and twenty-five spe-
cies. Regarding the Tufted PuflSn, Prof. Verrill says :
"Mr. Boardman states that the fishermen say that a
Tufted Puffin, or Sea Parrot, is occasionally seen about
the islands in winter. This species is also said by
Audubon to be sometimes found on the coast of Maine.
A specimen in the Museum of Comparative Zoology was
probabl}^ obtained at Grand Manan."

A copy of this list had also been sent to Prof. Spencer
F. Baird of the Smithsonian Institution, who, in acknowl-
edging the same, wrote in a letter of December 2, 1862 :
"I duly received your interesting catalogue of Calais
birds ; it makes a fine show of species."

On page 233 of Volume IX. of the Proceedings of the
Boston Society is an additional list of twelve species
of Maine birds described by Mr. Boardman. Of the

A LIFE RECORD 41

Prothonotary Warbler Prof. Verrill says it was unknown
in New England until Mr. Boardman obtained it — a
single male specimen, " sliot the last day of October
on a tree in the edge of a swamp." The Banded Three-
toed Woodpecker found during a severe winter was
recorded as a rare winter visitor. Mr. Boardman found
the Magnolia Warbler breeding in the season of 1862.

More records regarding Mr. Boardman' s studies upon
birds appear in his diary throughout the year 1863 than
in any year during which it was kept. He not only made
collections of birds but of eggs and nests. Boxes of birds
and eggs were sent to his naturalist friends and also
received from them in exchange. Sixty-four entries
relate to individual birds, to his collection and to his
work among birds like the following : Skinning and
mounting birds ; getting nests and eggs, sending off and
receiving specimens and marking bird skins. In March
Mr. Boardman visited Fredericton, went to the Parlia-
ment building, library and university. He also went to
New York and Boston in that month. In the latter
place he attended a meeting of the Natural History
Society and in Cambridge visited the Museum of Com-
parative Zoology. Again in October he attended a meet-
ing of the Natural History Society in Boston.

Mr. Boardman' s collection had during the past three
or four years been increasing very rapidly . He had made
large additions to it by his own collecting and by his
extensive exchanges, while he had also had for several
years men in the woods, at Grand Manan and other
places along the river and bay who were constantly
sending him specimens both common and rare — for
he wanted both, either for his own collection or for

42 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

exchanges with his large list of scientific correspondents.
His collection had in fact outgrown the rooms of his
dwelling assigned to it and in the fall of 1863 he built a
special building into which his birds were moved from
his house on September 14 of that year. This building
was sixteen by twenty-six feet and ten feet posted, very
pretty in its Swiss stjde of architecture and being sur-
rounded by trees and shrubbery formed an attractive
feature of the grounds. When his birds were installed
in this house Mr. Boardman took great pleasure in being
in it, arranging his collections and working among his
birds, nests and eggs.

In June, 1864, John Krider, the Philadelphia natural-
ist and commercial bird-man, first visited Mr. Boardman
and remained two weeks. They went to the Grand
Lakes, to Maguerrawock and numerous other places of
local note for birds, obtained many rare specimens and
had a fine time together on shooting and collecting
trips. A correspondence, exchange of specimens and
friendship existed between them throughout life. On
his business visits to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Providence and Boston, which were very frequent, Mr.
Boardman always called on his naturalist friends and no
entries in his diarj- are made with more regularity than
those in which he records his visits to them and that he
looked over their collections. He was always intent on
new or rare things and was glad to see what his friends
possessed or had obtained since previous visits.

In this year Mr. Boardman received from the Smith-
sonian Institution a series of bird skins from the most
northern portion of the continent of America, collected
by the collaborators of the Institution in the Hudson's

A IvIFE RECORD 43

Bay Company. In transmitting them to Mr. Boardman,
Prof. Joseph Henry, then secretary of the Smithsonian,
said in his letter of June 17, 1864 : "They embrace skins
of some of the rarest of American birds and we have
thought proper, in accordance with our general policy,
to make a distribution of the duplicates to such museums
as would be most likely to value and make good use of
them." It was a distinguished consideration on the
part of of&cials of the Smithsonian to place these dupli-
cates of rare specimens in a private rather than a public
museum, and was a recognition of Mr. Boardman's stand-
ing as a naturalist as well as a partial return for his ser-
vices to the Smithsonian Institution. It was an honor,
too, which Mr. Boardman highly appreciated. His
studies of this collection of skins and his subsequent
studies at the Smithsonian gave Mr. Boardman that
knowledge of arctic ornithology which placed him in
the front rank among naturalists familiar with arctic
bird-life.

Mr. Boardman had met Prof. Baird at Washington in
the early spring of 1860 and also in 1862. In a letter to
Mr. Boardman, dated November 19, 1862, Prof. Baird
commences it by saying : "I look forward with much
pleasure one day to meeting you way up in New Bruns-
wick ; when — I dare not say." This pleasure was not
realized, however, until nearly three years later. -Dur-
ing the year 1865 Prof. Baird and his family spent the
summer at Eastport, Maine — which was their summer
home for many ^^ears aften\'ard — and on August 10 he
visited Mr. Boardman at St. Stephen, N. B., for the first
time. It must have been a ver>^ happy meeting as it was
the commencement of a close and intimate friendship

44 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

between the two naturalists which was onlj' terminated
b}- Prof. Baird's death. It was also doubly happj^ to
Mr. Boardman, for at that time he was enjoying a sec-
ond visit from Henry E. Dresser, the eminent English
ornithologist and his brother Joseph — who is alwaj's
referred to in Mr. Dresser's letters to Mr. Boardman as
Joe. The Dressers reached St. Stephen on August 7
and left on the day following Prof. Baird's arrival
and the meeting of these famous naturalists must have
been an event of great pleasure to each of them. After
spending a day or two at St. Stephen, Prof. Baird
went to Eastport but returned again with Mrs. Baird
and his daughter Eucy. While their guests Mr. Board-
man took Prof. Baird to the Grand Lakes and other
interesting places for birds and fish and after a stay of
some da3^s Prof. Baird returned to Eastport, leaving
Mrs. and Miss Baird with the Boardmans. This was
also the beginning of a long friendship between the two
families and many were the visits made to and from each
in after years. On their return to Washington in Sep-
tember Mr. Boardman accompanied the Bairds to Boston
and New York where the two friends ' ' went around to
see all the scientific folks " — as Mr. Boardman records
in his diar3^

The 3^ears 1866 and 1867 were extremely busy years
with Mr. Boardman so far as his business interests were
concerned. During these jxars he went many times to
Boston, Providence, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia
and Washington on business for his firm — selling
cargoes of lumber, calling upon business friends, making
collections and purchasing supplies for his lumbering
camps and mills. But the interests of his dearest pursuit,

A IvlFE RECORD 45

his studies of bird-life, were never forgotten. Often it
is difficult to understand if they were not indeed pri-
mary rather than secondary objects on many of these
trips, for he always spent much time at the museums and
in calling on his scientific friends. In Washington he
invariably spent many days at the Smithsonian Institu-
tion; while in Philadelphia he always called on Mr.
Krider, in New York on Mr. Elliot and visited the
Central Park, while in Boston the rooms of the Natural
History Society were always a charmed place for him
and where he met many naturalists. He also visited
places nearer home. His visits to Fredericton were fre-
quent where he enjoyed the collection of Mr. Sill. His
own collection of birds was also becoming better known
and was visited by many prominent people. In April,

1866, his museum was visited by Admiral Sir James
Hope, Governor Gordon, General Doil, Captain Hold-
ness and other British officers. Several visits "to the
west" — as Mr. Boardman then called his trips to places
as far as Washington — were made in 1867. Four times
at least he went to New York, spending from four days
to a week at each visit.

His eldest son, Charles A., having been admitted to
the business firm in 1867, Mr. Boardman relinquished
much of its care to him and made his first visit to Florida
in the winter 1867-68, leaving home on December 26,

1867. Several reasons led to his making this winter
journey to Florida. Mr. Boardman had studied the
birds of the St. Croix for many years, knew them all
and wanted to know more about the birds of other parts
of our own country. As has been stated in a previous
chapter, the division of work with his firm was such that

4G THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Mr. Boardraan took his vacations in winter while his
partner had his in the summer. Moreover, Florida was
at that time coming into notice as a winter sporting and
pleasure resort and Mr. Boardman having abundance
of leisure decided to spend the winter at the south. It
was a month after leaving home before he reached Jack-
sonville. He remained several days in Philadelphia
and spent four days in Washington where he studied at
the Smithsonian Institution. His stay in Florida that
first winter was not long, as he reached Fernandina on
January 30, 1868 and left for the north on March 16, 1868.
He reached home April 22 and the first thing Mr. Board-
man did after his arrival was to go "all round and see
the folks." Then he records in his diar}^ April 30:
"Dull and rainy. Went after Mayflowers; got only
buds." Could there be any doubt of his genuine love of
nature when this busy man of affairs, after a winter in
the land of birds and flowers, on reaching his northern
home, would take a rainy day on which to go after
Mayflowers ?

On that first visit to Florida Mr. Boardman bore a letter
addressed "To Correspondents of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution and the Friends of Science Generally, ' ' from Joseph
Henry, then secretary of the Institution. It was in these
words : ' ' The bearer of this letter Mr. George A. Board-
man visits the Southern States for the purpose of study-
ing its Natural History and collecting specimens in part
for the Smithsonian Institution, and I beg to commend
him and his object to your kind consideration and assist-
ance. Washington, D. C, January 18th, 1868." Pro-
vided with such an introduction Mr. Boardman had
exceptional advantages for making acquaintances and

for H))'-' i:il fri' ilil ic, hr-in^.'^ j>|;i( '-'I ;il III-, 'li,|)0'>;i.l lo iii.ik'-
fx ploiiil i'jii'. ;iii(| oMiiiii sjj<-riiii<ii'i.

'I'li'i'- li.-f. h<<M foiiiirl ;iiii()ii^^ Mr. I{o;ii(liiiiiii';, p:ip<i;-i,
in |>« II' il the ]i:i]tir on wlii' li it is wiilt'-ii h'iii:/ miicli
worn ;iii'l •,l;iiii«(l a list <ii Idirln willi llir, fii'lol'SC-
ni' lit " l'ii(lHOl»«crvt«l in I'IoikI.i \>y('..A. Jio;ii'liii:in,
IHCH IHfiO, winter."

'iMiis list fill Id ;i '(••,(, II'- Il II II' 1 1 '-'I .'iii'l ■,'• vnly HpenieHaiifl
ii'(t''. f)!! t II' 11 ')' ' III I '11' '• ;i I ' ;it I :i' li'-'i \<) iii;i n y of t Im-iii.
It. Ii;is l»icn ('(iii)»;iK(i with a. \i:,\. ;.'-nl hy Mi. lio-irdnniii
to Mr. J. A. Alien, tln-n of tin- Mns'-nni of t'-onipurfitivc
7,()<)](>y,y, (\'inil>ri(lj',f, Miiss., riii'l is li<:-r<- printed fxartly
ftH j.^ivcn hy Mr. l'>o;i,r<iniriii. Il i:, intfrc-stiii>< as stand-
in^^ for just wlml it is -i fi' M naturaliHt'H li.Ht with nr>
:ill'iiipl ;il ■,' I'lil i[i( ii'iiii'ii' laturc, Ilis knowU-'lj'c '»f
hii'l III'- ;iii'l Ilis <loS'- Ii;il(l1-, <>f '>hHCrvati'>li .'II'- :i|>p;ii'iit
1 1ll on;- li')iil III'- list, whi< h is ;i lon^', oim- lot a sin;'Jc
ol>st;rv<-i to iii.'il;'- ill :i loi^aiity in whi' Ii Im- hu'l n<A hecii
pr<vioiisly ;ir(jn;(iiit' 'I ;iih! in the briel time- stat(-(l.

Tlii'. Ii',1 JKi'l bcc-n sent Mr. Allen in answer toll is r(()iicst
loi the ,.1111'-. Writing', Mr. lio.'irdnian on O'loher 2U,
IHfi!), .Mr. Allen '.(^lii ited his.-iid in ni.'ikinj; up ikjI'-s on
l'l'>ii'l;i hii'l-, loi piiMi' ;il i'»ii hy sayinj', : " As you have
Iki'I mil' Ii e ;< pci i'Im '- 111 M'jii'li.iii oi III! liolo}.',y I liavc
no doiiht v'<ii li.iv'- iiiiiiiy hi'l-, not known hy nie. If
yon do ii'>i pi 'i|)')se tfj piihlisli yiHii ohscrvatloiiH yoiir-
Hcll, would yon he willin>( to roniiiniiii' :ile some of th'iii
t'» 111'- for incor])or;it ion in my pi'>p'<-.'-d p;iper ?" Aj',;iin
on 0( loh'-r 2'.), Ml. All'ii in willing', Mr. I'loardmaii
says: "I .-iiii siii e yon must h.'i.ve iimny nol'-, ')n I'lorida
birds thai will Ic- vei y valuable to me, '-p.. i:dly on the
wal'-i hii'ls siiK'-yoii li;iv<' ha<l ;iO jjood ;in opportunity

48 THE NATURALIST OF THK ST. CROIX

to see them. I should be very much gratified to receive
a summary of your observations with liberty to use them.
I should of course give you the fullest credit therefor."
In both letters Mr. Allen asks numerous questions upon
which he wants information. The very day of the receipt
of this last letter, Mr. Boardman sent his list and notes
on Florida birds, accompanied by the followig letter :

MiLLTOWN, Maine, Oct. 29.
Friend Allen:

I send you today a list of birds from my notes and think
I liave taken them all off. I write them by the common name as 1
am troubled to spell the scientific names correctly. If I had time
I would like to write you some observations about some of them
but I find if I should begin, it would take too much time and you
would not pei-haps care for it. I wish something could be done
to keep the visitors from shooting every bird they come across.
The little Paroquet must soon be exterminated. Some of our
Enterprise party would sometimes shoot forty to fifty at a few
discharges for sport, as they hover about when any are shot until
whole flocks are destroyed. The White Egrets and Snowy Herons
are so persecuted that many of their breeding places are destroyed.
Where I saw them quite abundant in 1868, in 1809 they had all
left; they shoot them by hundreds, for their plumes.

I have about made up my mind to go to Florida again this
winter and shall probably leave in December.

I do not know as 1 answered your question about the bi-eed-
ing of the Crossbills. They breed all the season from February
20 to May and perhaps later. The Canada Jay also breeds when
the snow is quite deep in March and I think breeds again in
summer as I have seen young birds in September. I have also
found ravens' eggs when the snow was quite deep. Have seen
the young of Mergus Americanus out with young the middle of
May, which is unusually early.

Yours very truly,

Geo. a. Boardman.

A LIFE RECORD 49

List of Florida Birds, 1868—1869

Butterball; not very common.

Euddy Duck ; not uncommon, river and coast.

Hooded Merganser; very abundant on the coast.

White Pelican ; seen in large flocks at mouth^of St. Johns all
winter.

Brown Pelican; abundant; Fernandina and mouth of St. Johns
river.

Gannet ; very abundant on the coast in winter.

Booby Gannet ; saw a few on the coast.

Florida Cormorant ; very abundant on river and coast.

Water Turkey ; very abundant on the river.

Wilson's Petrel ; a few about the coast at Fernandina.

Hagdon's Great Shearwater ; a few about the coast at Fernan-
dina.

Eazorbill Shearwater, Skimmer; abundant^ on] coast; large
flocks.

Herring Gull ; abundant all winter.

Ring-billed Gull ; not very plenty.

Laughing Gull ; abundant all winter.

Bonaparte Gull ; not very plenty.

Cayenne Tern ; abundant about the coast.

One or two small terns about the coast.

Horned Grebe ; not uncommon on the St. Johns river.

Pied-billed Dabchick ; not uncommon on the St. Johns.

Great-White or Whooping Crane.

Wild Pigeon.

Turkey Buzzard; very common, St. Johns river.

Black Vulture ; quite rare about the St. Johns river.

Duck Hawk; St. Augustine, February, 1868; one instance.

Pigeon Hawk; St. Augustine; frequent.

Sparrow Hawk; common.

Cooper's Hawk; common.

Sharp-shinned Hawk ; common.

Red-tailed Hawk ; not common.

Red-shouldered Hawk; most common hawk except fish-hawk.

Broad-winged Hawk ; common.

50 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

STvallow-tailed Hawk; saw none until February 20; rare in
winter, I think.

Marsh Hawk; common about St. Augustine.

"White-headed Eagle : very abundant.

Fish Hawk ; very abundant ; most common hawk breeding in
January.

Caracara Eagle; two specimens; only February and March;
frequent at Enterprise.

Great Horned Owl; rare; one specimen at Enterprise in
February.

Mottled Owl ; not uncommon.

Short-eared Owl; common about marshes.

Barred Owl; very abundant.

Parrakeet; very abundant, but will soon be destroyed if so
many are shot.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker ; quite rare ; saw but few pairs.

Hairy "Woodp)ecker : rare.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker; very abundant in pine woods.

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker; common.

Pileated Woodpecker ; very abundant, small size.

Eed-bellied Woodpecker ; very abundant.

Eed-headed Woodpecker ; rare.

Golden-winged Flicker ; very abundant.

Euby-throated Humming bird; first February 20; common in
March.

Chimney Swallow; March.

Chuck-will "s-widow: March.

Kingfisher ; abundant all winter.

King-bu'd ; first Ajjiil.

Great-crested Flycatcher ; first April.

Pewee ; abundant all winter.

Wood Pewee ; March ; rare.

Least Flycatcher ; rare ; March.

Hermit Thrush : abundant all winter.

Wilson's Thi-ush; not common; Greencove Springs, February
20, 22.

Olive-backed Thrush (Swainson's) ; rare ; one at Enterprise.
February 18 ; one at St. Augustine, February.

A LIFE RECORD 51

Robin ; not abundant ; keeps to the woods and is quite wild.

Blue-bird ; common and breeds, nesting last of February.

Euby-cro^vned Wren ; common all wanter.

Tit-Lark; abundant all winter.

Black and White Creeper ; rare ; February 15, first.

Blue Yellow-backed Warbler; saw none in January; common in
February.

Maryland Yellow-throated Warbler; all winter, common.

Nashville Warbler ; only one 13th 31arch at Jacksonville.

Orange-crowned Warbler; few 15th February, Enterprise, rare.

Yellow-rumped Warbler ; very abundant all winter.

Pine-creeping Warbler ; very abundant all winter.

Black-aud-yellow Warbler; one specimen February 27 at Green-
cove Springs.

Yellow Ked-poll AVarbler ; abundant all winter.

Yellow-throated Warbler ; common all winter.

White-bellied Swallow ; abundant all winter ; flocks of thousands.

Bank Swallow; first April.

Kough-wiuged Swallow; first April.

Purple Martin ; come to boxes 15th February ; think resident.

Cedar-bird ; abundant all winter.

Loggerhead Shrike ; abundant all winter.

Red-eyed Vireo ; rare ; Enterprise, a few all winter.

White-eyed Vireo ; rare ; one specimen in February.

Jlockiug-bird ; abundant ; breeds in March.

Cat-bird; abundant; winter resident.

Brown Thrush ; abundant all winter.

Great Carolina Wren ; March 20, at Jacksonville.

Prairie Warbler; common the last of February.

House Wren ; not uncommon.

Winter Wren ; January and Febraary ; rare. *

Short-billed Marsh Wren ; rare ; last of February at Enterprise.

Brown-headed Xuthatch ; very common all winter.

Blue Gray Flycatcher ; abundant all winter.

Crested Chickadee ; common in February.

Carolina Chickadee ; rare ; Greencove Springs.

Thistle-btrd — Yellow-bird; common all winter.

Savanna Sparrow; common all winter.

52 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Bay-winged Bunting ; common all winter.

Sharp-tailed Finch ; common.

Seaside Finch ; common.

White-throated Sparrow ; common all winter.

Black Snow-bird ; common in January.

Field Sparrow ; common all winter.

Chipping Sparrow ; commoii all winter.

Song Sparrow ; common all winter.

Swamp Sparrow ; common all winter.

Bachman's Finch ; not uncommon.

Fox-colored Sparrow ; rare ; two instances only.

Painted Bunting ; April 1.

Ground Robin; very abundant all winter; two varieties.

Eed-winged Blackbird ; ver}' abundant all winter.

Meadow Lark; very abundant all winter.

Rusty Blackbird; rare; saw a few scattering small flocks.

Boat-tailed Grackle ; very abundant all winter.

Crow Blackbird ; very abundant all winter.

Crow ; abundant all winter.

Fish Crow ; abundant all winter.

Blue Jay; abundant all winter.

Florida Jay ; very local ; only found about Enterprise ; common.

Common Dove ; abundant all winter.

Ground Dove ; abundant about St. Augustine.

"Wild Turkey ; common at Enterprise.

Quail; common; the bill appears a little larger but the bird
smaller than at the north.

Sand-hill Crane ; quite common.

Limpkin Crying-bird; not uncommon; Lake Dexter; Lake
Henry.

White Heron, or Egret : very abundant.

Small White Heron, or Egret ; very abundant.

Great Blue Heron; very abundant.

Blue Heron ; very abundant.

Louisiana Heron ; rare.

Bittern or Stake Driver ; rare.

Green Heron ; not rare.

Night Heron ; not rare.

A I.IFE RECORD 53

Wood Ibis ; plenty.
"White Ibis ; plenty.

Eoseate Spoonbill ; rare on St. Johns, more uncommon on Indian
Eiver.

Killdee Plover ; very common all winter.

Wilson's Plover ; all winter, St. Augustine.

Eiug Plover ; all winter common, St. Augustine.

Golden Plover; rare, St. Augustine.

Piping Plover ; all winter, St. Augustine.

Black-necked Stilt ; common last March, Enterprise.

Woodcock: January and February; not rare.

English Snipe ; abundant all whiter.

Oyster-catcher ; rare ; St. Augustine in winter.

Turnstone ; St. Augustine, rare.

Telltale Tattler; common St. Augustine and St. Johns.

Sanderling; St. Augustine; common all winter.

Willet; St. Augustine; common all winter.

Great Marbled Godwit ; St. Augustine ; common all winter.

Spotted Sandpiper ; St. Augustine ; common all winter.

Eed-backed Sandpiper; St. Augustine; common all winter.

Long-billed Curlew ; very abundant on the coast.

Marsh Hen ; not uncommon on St. Johns river.

Clapper Eail ; common on St. Johns river.

Virginia Eail; common all winter, St. Johns river.

Common Eail ; saw none until March 25, St. Johns Eiver.

Yellow Eail; all winter, St. Johns.

Coot ; very abundant.

Florida Gallinule ; abundant.

Mallard Duck ; common all winter in very large flocks.

Pintail Duck ; not very common about St. Johns river.

Green- winged Teal; common all winter.

Blue-winged Teal ; common all winter.

Shoveller ; common all winter.

Baldpate ; common all winter.

Wood Duck ; abundant ; breeds in February and March.

Big Black Head ; not very common.

Little Black Head ; most abundant duck on St. Johns river.

Eed-head Duck ; very rare ; only a few seen.

54 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

Canvas-back Duck ; common.

Golden-eyed Duck ; rare on coast.

Surf Duck; rare; only one specimen ; (sea coast).

White-winged Coot Duck; very rare on the coast.

Buffle-head Duck ; not uncommon river and coast.

On receiving this letter and list of birds from Mr.
Boardman, Mr. Allen acknowledged them as follows :

Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 31, 1869.
Friend Boardman:

Yours of the 29th is at hand, together with your list of
Florida birds, for which I am extremely obliged. It adds quite a
number of species to my list which I should not otherwise have
had, and valuable notes on others, all of which I shall be happy to
use with due acknowledgements. In addition, if I may trouble
you so much, I should like to know at what points you made
most of your observations and during what mouths. I should
like further particulars in reference to the wholesale destruction
of certain species by hunters, especially of the Egrets, and at
what points they have been most persecuted. On the whole
our notes rarely differ in respect to the abundance and time of
occurrence of these species we both observed. In respect to the
Vireos, however, I did not meet with the Eed-eyed till March,
while the White-eyed was common all winter — the reverse of
what you state. The great Carolina Wren I found more or less
common all winter. You mention both the Sharp-tailed and Sea-
side Finches? What were their peculiar haunts? The coast? As
already remarked in a previous letter, any facts in respect to the
weight and general appearance of the Wild Turkey are solicited.

Very truly yours,

J. A. Allen.

In further explanation of the places where Mr. Board-
man collected, with additional notes, he writes Mr. Allen :

MiLLTOWN, Maine, Nov. 3, 1869.
Friend Allen :

I have yours of October 31. I made all of my observation
about East Florida, January, February and March, with a week or
two in April. Fernandina I found a very good place for shore and

A LIFE RECORD 55

beach birds, also for Sharp-tailed and other finches. I was several
times at the mouth of St. Johns river. I had some friends in Govern-
ment employ who had nothing to do but to sail about, shooting.
It was a very fine place for water birds. Waders, Egrets,
Pelicans, Gannets, Skimmers, Oyster Catchers., etc., etc. I also
spent considerable time about St. Augustine, here saw more
Curlews, Godwits, Plovers, Terns and many Waders — they were
about the bars by the thousand, large White and Blue Herons were
abundant. I got eight large White and three Blue in one evening.
The ladies wanted the plumes. You find the roosting places by
observing the way the birds flj' at night or morning ; conceal your-
self about the trees and shoot the birds as fast as they come
along; they come singly or nearly so and you can shoot any
number, or go to the breeding places. One man bought a little
schooner at Stevens where I boarded last spring to go down
Indian river, for nothing, only to shoot the Egrets and Herons,
for plumes, to send to Europe and the states, and says it is a
capital business. The Paroquets have a way of hovering about,
when one or two are shot, and the more that are wounded and
shot, the more anxious they are to alight about them, and when in
large flocks most every bird can be shot. Up at Enterprise last
wdnter, they would shoot whole flocks only for the sport of seeing
how many they could shoot at a shot, and unless something can
be done, and I do not know what, they will be exterminated.

The breeding places at Lake Dexter, Lake Jessup, were entirely
broken up as were others up at Salt Lake, by plume hunters,
last spring. About half our living up at Enterprise was wild
turkeys ; I used both winters to weigh many of them. There was
a very great difference between the cocks and hens, six to ten
pounds was about the weight of hens ; cocks about twice as much,
and often had them twenty-five to twenty-eight pounds but
they were very fat. I saw one shot within one-half a mile of the
Ferry house opposite Jacksonville a few days before I left there.
I find many of the Florida birds are very local. I would see birds
at Fernandina not to be seen about Jacksonville ; at Jacksonville
not to be found at Greencove Springs, and so on. Hardly a
pleasant day I was not out to look and see if I could find any-
thing new.

56 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Do you make any note of the animals and reptiles? I just

received a paper from Robert Eidgway about Thrush, etc. Have

you seen it? He makes two kinds of Purple Crackle; he is quite

a nice observer and scientific fellow. I should be pleased to see

your paper upon the rarer birds of Massachusetts. Some of your

rare birds are quite common here. Did you ever know the Purple

Galinule in Xew England before I secured one last summer? I

have also found the Blue Grosbeak, Prothonotary Warbler, and I

believe I wrote you the Tennessee Warbler was quite a common

warbler ; it breeds upon the ground. Many of your most common

birds are never found here or very rarely. Chewmk and Brown

Thrush I never found: Bluebird, Oriole, Field Sparrow very rare,

etc., etc. As ever yours,

Geo. a. Boarmian.

In the summer of 1869 Mr. Boardman visited Boston,
New York, Philadelphia and Washington several times
and in September of that year Prof. Baird visited him at
St. Stephen, remaining ten daj'S. On this visit the two
went to Oak Bay, Lewy's Island, St. Andrews and other
places to dig for Indian relics in the collection of which
Prof. Baird was greath^ interested.

As interesting to science, mention is here made of the
great Saxby gale which visited the coast of Eastern Maine
and New Brunswick in the autumn of 1869. It took
place on the late afternoon and evening of October 4 of
that 3'ear, taking its name from Lieut. S. M. Saxb}^ of
the royal navy of Great Britain, who had predicted its
occurrence and it took place on the exact date which
Lieut. Saxby had set for its coming. It was a cyclone
and accompanying tidal wave. It struck the coast of
Maine at Eastport, doing great damage at that place and
at Calais, while at St. Stephen, Fredericton, St. John
and Sackville, N. B., it caused great damage to the
coast and did havoc in the forests of the interior. In his

A I.IFE RECORD 57

diary for 1869, he records: " October 4, Saxby gale."
From this it appears that Mr. Boardman had read of its
prediction in the English newspapers which he received,
as Lieut. Saxby had predicted its occurrence ten months
before it took place.

Sidney Perley of Salem, Mass., who published in 1891
a volume on the Historic Storms of New England,
embracing those from 1635 to 1890, gives a chapter to
The Gale of September 8, 1869 but does not allude to
the Saxby gale — a storm the like of which never occur-
red in the section of country which it visited, for severity
and destruction.

Writing to Prof. Baird on October 14, 1869, Mr.
Boardman says : " Nothing like it ever took place here.
It appeared like a whirlwind. It took the roof off my
long woodshed, my old store and part of the roof from
the barn on the hill. The Universalist church was a
perfect wreck ; the railroad bridge over the falls in front
of my house fell into the river ; also the covered bridge
at Baring. More than one hundred buildings in St.
Stephen were ruined, and in our cemetery more than
one thousand trees were uprooted and broken. At East-
port about forty buildings were destroyed or unroofed,
several lives lost and mos]L all the fishing crafts were
wrecked. At Eastport and St. Andrew^s and about the
islands the tide w^as very high and damaged the wharves
much . Sixty-seven vessels were ashore — those that went
on to soft places came off, many went on to the rocks
and were ruined. The blow did not last but about an
hour and was heaviest at eight o'clock in the evening.
There was very little wind at Bangor and not much at
St. John." In a letter to Prof. Baird of October 29, 1869,

58 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Mr. Boardman writes : " The great loss to this country
from the Saxby gale will be to the woods. We have had
some of our men up exploring and they say they can
walk ten miles at a time on the trees that are down with-
out stepping on the ground. In some places for half a
mile about every tree is down. The bridges and build-
ings can easily be put back, but the woods all down will
soon get on fire and burn all over the down district.
The wind did not reach very far up the river, only about
thirt}^ or forty miles — it was the heaviest about the
shores." The Saxby gale has gone into history as one
of the most destructive gales that ever visited the coast of
this state and of New Brunswick.

The years of 1869 to 1872 were very happy ones to
Mr. Boardman. They were indeed among the happiest
of his most happy life. The summers were spent at home
and in visits to the great cities where he loved to go to
meet his scientific friends and study at the museums,
while the winters were spent in Florida. On Januarj' 7,
1869, he left for Florida, accompanied by Mrs. Board-
man and his son William. They made stops of several
days at Boston and New York where Mr. Boardman met
his old friends and made many new acquaintances. In
Washington, at a party at Prof. Baird's, he met Hon.
George F. Edmunds, United States Senator from Ver-
mont, Judge Hale, Mr. King and others. At the Smith-
sonian Institution where he spent five days he met for the
first time Robert Ridgway, Henry Banister, W. H, Dall,
Prof. Gibb and other young naturalists. Townend
Glover, Prof. Blake and Theodore Gill were also among
those whose acquaintance he made at that time. Mr.
and Mrs. Boardman arrived at Jacksonville, January 25
and left on the return north, April 6.

A LIFE RECORD 59

Mr. Boardman wrote most interesting letters to Prof.
Baird during his winters in Florida. In a letter of March
14, 1869, he says : " Florida of all places in the United
States is most abundantly supplied with all kinds of
game. There is more of animal life about Florida than
in any place with which I am acquainted." Writing
of the immense mounds and shell heaps he says : " You
wall have to come down and see for yourself. You can
get a couple of weeks' vacation, come to Jacksonville,
call for me and we can soon look over them. I want
your opinion. I don't believe in Wyman, only Baird."
In a letter written April 5, of this year, in which he
described a box of skins he had sent to Prof. Baird,
occurs this : ' ' One poor little specimen of a warbler in
the box I did not know ; he looked very like a Tennessee
Warbler but I was not sure." Here is reference to a
young naturalist who afterward became prominent. He
is writing to Prof. Baird, April 1, 1869: "I saw Mr.
Maynard of Massachusetts down collecting. Said he had
found a new Chewink or Ground Robin — took fifty speci-
mens, male, female and young, all with white eyes,
smaller size, outer tail feathers not white. I did not see
them as he had sent them north. He says he got a White
Heron not described. He collected at Indian River. ' ' A
single letter from Mr. Boardman to Prof. Baird is a good
specimen of the many letters he sent to his correspondents
while at the South :

Enterprise, Feb. 28, 1869.
Dear Baird :

I received your letter some time since and for the most of the
time have been running about, and have not had a very good chance
to write, but have had a very good time boating, fishing, shooting,
etc., etc.

60 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

We usually leave here in a small boat after breakfast, take
dinner with us, and go off, up or down the river for the day,
and since I have been in Florida have only had one-half day
rainy weather to keep me in the house ; there has been a rainy
night or two. The weather is splendid. Orange blossoms just
going ofl" the trees. I ■\^-ill give you our yesterday's boat cruise
which will be something like most every day only we often get
different game. Yesterday we shot two Alligators, two Wid-
geons, Blue Wingteal, Ruddy Duck, Blackhead, six Quails. White
Egret, White Ibis and a fish basket full of Yellow Legs, Killdee,
Snipe, Woodpeckers and small fry generally with half a dozen
Paroquets. While speaking of the latter bird I think it must soon
be almost exterminated. Everybody coming to Florida brings
from one to three guns and they shoot every bird that comes
within range and this bird when one is shot returns again and
again, until almost every bird is shot down. One of our boarders
last week shot forty in a few moments and knew nine shot at one
discharge Friday. It is murder to destroy so pretty a bird for
sport as they can do nothing with them. You know I told you
last spring of flocks of birds with white bodies and dark wings.
When flj'ing they show a pure white body and dark wings. I
find they are an Ibis, probably the White Ibis in immature
plumage. We shot one yesterday and I have had several ; they
go in large flocks, most all in the dark wing plumage. I have made
a couple of skins of this plumage as I don't remember seeing one
in your case.

I found Allen last week. He and two men are camping
about seven miles below here : have been collecting all the way
up the river and intend to remain where they are for ten daj-s.
They did not expect to go up any further, but I told them of a
very interesting island in Lake Jessup where birds breed in large
numbers. Egrets, Cranes, Herons, etc. I went up a couple of
weeks ago and some expect to go again before I leave. Allen's
party have about two hundred skins, nothing very rare. They
have three Ivorybills and one Florida Jay. Mrs. B. and Willie
returned to Jacksonville Wednesday. I shall probably be here
another week, then go down river. I have made quite a good lot
of skins for you here that will please you. The ladies at the house

A I.IFE RECORD 61

are crazy for birds, wings, etc. This is a large hotel, accommo-
dates about one hundred and as nice a set as you find at any of the
northern watering places. Half my time is taken up with mount-
ing and fixing wings. We have no rainy or stormy days so have
to go shooting days and work nights. Old Indian mounds and
shell heaps in every direction often ten to fifteen feet deep.
Come down and dig. With kind regards to Mrs. Baird and Lucy,
I am as ever, Yours,

G. A. BOARDMAN.

Mr. Boardraan had been very much interested in the
effort which the Smithsonian officials had been making
for a Congressional appropriation for a new building.
Prof. Baird was foremost in this work before the com-
mittee and on March 7, 1869, Mr. Boardman writes him
to congratulate him upon ' ' getting your appropriation
for the new museum. I thought at one time you would
hardly get it through. Fortune always favors the brave.
I thought all winter it was a mean Congress, but I like
the members better now."

In August and September of that year Prof. Baird and
family spent several weeks with Mr. and Mrs. Boardman
and together they visited the most attractive places for out-
door excursions about St. Stephen and Calais. This
visit of the Bairds was most enjoyable to all. Mr. Board-
man and his wife were delightful hosts, were constant in
their attentions to guests and did everything possible to
make their visits occasions of happiness. On this visit
of the Bairds, every pleasant day, rides, calls and excur-
sions were planned and enjoyed. On dull or rainy days
the two friends were delightfully employed. Mr. Board-
man records : " September 6 — Very fine day. Went
down to the Simpsons. Had a gay time — picnic and
digging for Indian relics." Another day they went to

62 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Conners' place at Oak Ba}^ September 8 was " a rainy,
dull day ; labelled some birds with Prof. Baird." The
following day was one of very high wind and the two
naturalists ' ' numbered and labelled eggs all the after-
noon." September 10 was dull and foggy and they
' ' arranged the bird collection ' ' in the bird house. What
happy days were those ! And so the brief records in the
diary go on until the Bairds left for Washington ; the
days became shorter and Mr. Boardman again made
plans for visiting the south.

On the last day of December, 1869, Mr. Boardman left
home for Florida. Mrs. Boardman did not accompany
him on this visit as, from a letter to Prof. Baird written
from Boston, January 3, 1870, "Charley and his wife
were to board with her ' ' during the winter. While in
Boston he purchased large quantities of supplies to take
south with him. Reaching Washington he remained a
week, working at the Smithsonian and visiting friends.
One entry from his diar}^ that for January 14, is a sample
of many made at that time : " Worked assorting eggs
all day at the Smithsonian." On his journey south
he stopped at Richmond, Wilmington, Charleston and
Savannah and reached Fernandina on January 20. Writ-
ing to Prof. Baird from Charleston, January 17, he says :
"Tell Mrs. Baird I hardl}^ know how we should have
got along without the sandwiches. They were just the
thing. Yesterday a boy came into the cars to sell wine
and on the seat we had the sandwiches and two kinds of
wine. So 3'ou may be assured we drank to our friends'
health." The winter was spent at Jacksonville, Hibernia,
Greencove Springs, Orange Bluff, Valusia and other
places. In a letter to Prof. Baird, dated February 6, he
writes :

A I.IFE RECORD 63

HiBERNiA, Fla., Feb. 6, 1870.
Dear Baird :

I Tvaut to tell you what an exceedingly good place I am in
to collect common birds. It was many years ago an old planta-
tion, now grown up scantily to trees ; no underbrush and very
good walking. The trees are full of birds, nothiug very rare, but
you can hardly go half a mile from the house without seeing more
than fifty different kinds of birds ; a good many Warblers and
Woodpeckers, but not many water birds, except ducks about the
river. I expect we shall go into camp in about ten days; are
waiting for a "New York man who is to go with us.

I think this would be a nice place to collect eggs. I never
saw such an abundance of old nests. I have engaged a young
man to look after them. I see many woodpeckers' holes and if
the boy tries he can get some good eggs. One of the red-bellied
kind is now digging a hole next the house and the red cockade
must nest all about. He tells me that the Red Wing remains here
all summer, also the Bluebird. One cuckoo and several kinds of
blackbirds, also many of the hawks are found all summer. The
only duck that remains is the Wood Duck, he thinks. I will leave
him my drills and blow-pipe and hope he may get some eggs new
to your collection and I will collect some Florida birds for Eldg-
way to compare with the northern. I liave some blackbii-ds, I
think of northern and southern, as they differ considerably in size.
I am youi-s very truly,

Geo. a. Boardman.

Here is an extract from another letter of about the
same date as the preceding : "I find birds are very local
in their habits in Florida. I find different birds at Jack-
sonville from even Greencove Springs, and then different
at Palatka from what they are at St. Augustine; another
kind at Enterprise." On March 30, Mr. Boardman
writes to Prof. Baird that he intends to leave in a day or
two for the north and ' ' be along toward Washington by
Saturday or Sunday night unless detained on the way.
If you have a spare bed for a night or two I will occupy

64 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

it; if not, all well." He left for home April 2, reaching
Washington April 4 ; attended a party at Prof. Baird's
April 5, reached Calais April 21 and the following day
" called all round to see the folks."

The summer of 1870 was passed quietly at home.
Mr. Boardman did not ai first intend to go south in the
winter of 1870-71, but as cold weather approached he
was anxious to get upon his favorite winter collecting
ground. Even so late as October 16, 1870, he wrote to
Prof. Baird : "I am not certain about going south again
this winter but think perhaps I may. Mrs. Boardman
and Willie will probably go with me if I go. I must try to
go to some new locality as I am too much at home about
Jacksonville. ' ' But on December 2, he writes his friend :
" We hope to leave for the south the last day of this
month if all is well," and they did, it being the same
date on which they left the previous year. He adds :
" I shall not want to make much of a stay in Washing-
ton, ha\nng been there so often. We shall wear our
welcome out and I shall not be a rare curiosity at the
Smithsonian." On this trip to the south Mrs. Board-
man and their son William B. who was then nine j-ears
old, accompanied Mr. Boardman. They reached Wash-
ington January 11, 1871, remaining five or six days.
Mr. Boardman spent the time at the Smithsonian and
also attended receptions at Prof. Baird's and at Senator
Edmunds'. Jacksonville was reached January 19. The
winter was spent at Jacksonville, with visits to Palatka,
St. Augustine, Hibernia and other places, where, accord-
ing to entries in his diar^-, he "called all round to see
friends." March S he "picked orange blossoms" and
March 28 " shot eleven cedar birds at one shot." They

A LIFE RECORD 65

left for the north April 8 and, after brief visits at Wash-
ington, New York and Boston, reached home April 21.
The summer was spent at home and was exceedingly-
quiet.

The winter of 1872 was spent in Florida, Mr. Boardman
having left home January 8 and arrived at Jacksonville
January 26. It was one of the busiest and happiest
winters Mr. Boardman ever spent at the south. Among
the places visited were Hibernia, Magnolia, Port Ro3'al,
Enterprise, Orange Bluff, Lemon Bluff and St. John
Bluff. He went up the St. John river to Lake Jessup,
Lake Widner and Lake Washington. There was hardl)-
a day, Sunday excepted, when Mr. Boardman was not
busy with his sport and collecting, down to the time he
left for the north, April 12.

His diary for this winter is full of most interesting
records. Among the birds shot were : Snipe, Florida
jays, ducks, wild turkeys, plover, white heron, blue
cranes, gannets, night herons, pelicans, wood ibis ; while
he also records shooting alligators and deer. March 8,
he records: "Shot birds all day;" and March 9, he
records : " Shot birds all day ; deer, turkey and snipe
plenty." Other records are: "Skinned birds all the
forenoon."

If the winter of this year was full of enjoyment to Mr.
Boardman the summer was equally full of pleasure.
Prof. Baird and his family made the Boardmans three or
four visits and their house was full of guests much of
the time. Prof. Baird was passing the summer at East-
port and with his family he visited Mr. Boardman in
June. Again in August the Bairds and the Boardmans
made a visit to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince

66 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX .

Edward Island, going to St. John, Halifax, Annapolis,
Charlottetown and Summerside, calling upon scientific
friends and visiting at St. John the natural history
museum. Again in September, before leaving for Wash-
ington, Prof, and Mrs. Baird again visited the Board-
mans.

After having spent several weeks with friends in Boston
and Brookline, Mass., in the early winter of 1872-73, Mr.
and Mrs. Boardman left for Florida January 6 and, without
stopping at Washington, reached Jacksonville January
14. His diary shows that after arriving and having made
calls upon all his friends Mr. Boardman at once com-
menced his favorite pursuits of shooting, skinning birds
and mounting specimens. This was his constant employ-
ment and the records in his diar}^ show what birds he
shot and mounted each day. On Februarj^ 10, 1873, the
little steamer Clifton was launched. She was built in
Philadelphia by a party of gentlemen from Clifton Springs,
N. Y., among whom was Dr. Henry Foster, head of the
Sanatorium at that place, who was one of Mr. Board-
man's intimate friends, the two having been together in
Florida for two winters. The places on the upper St.
Johns river were then comparatively wild and game was
abundant. Mr. Boardman went farther up the river
that winter in the Clifton than any sporting party had
been previouslj'. The Clifton onl}^ drew twenty inches
of water ; she had a crew of three men and had accom-
modations for a party of six. In a chapter contributed
by Mr. Boardman to camp life in Florida, published at
New York in 1876, he says he was on board of her for
two winters and had a splendid time. " Such a boat,"
he says, "can go to the upper waters of the St. Johns

A LIFE RECORD 67

river, above where hunters generally go and where
game is plenty. Such bird suppers as Reuben could get
up I never expect to see again." After spending a very
pleasant winter south, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman left for
the north April 3 and arrived home May 2. The very
next day, as was his usual custom, he " went all round
to see friends" and also went to get Mayflowers. The
summer was spent quietly at home and the diary records
days of shooting, what birds were obtained and how
many, with work in the bird house, mounting and send-
ing away specimens to his friends and correspondents,
labelling eggs and skins with other similar details of
employments in which he delighted.

That well-known sporting and natural history journal.
Forest and Stream, was established by his friend and
correspondent, Mr. Charles Hallock who was its editor
for many years. The first number was dated August 11,
1873 and Mr. Boardman's name was the second one placed
upon its subscription books. In number five of that jour-
nal, dated September 11, appears an article by Mr. Board-
man, written in answer to a request from Mr. Hallock,
entitled Attractions of Natural History, which is here
given. It is signed George A. Boardman (Naturalist):

I am more than pleased with the first two numbers of the
Forest and Stream. Such a paper, I think, is very much needed
to educate our people to out-door exercises and sports and to the
study of natural history in some of its branches. To the lover of
the beautiful — to one who delights in the gay, bright beings of
nature, ornithology is one of the most attractive branches of
Natural Science. How little most people know of the number and
variety of birds that annually visit every part of our extended
clime, or are even aware how many spend the summer in our
immediate vicinity.

68 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

We little think that any time we walk in our gi'ounds and
gardens we are intruding upon rare and elegant visitants from
Mexico, Central South America, Florida and the islands of the
sea, but such is the case, and one that passes through life with-
out a knowledge of the feathered creatures constantly surround-
ing him, in the fields and woods, rendered vocal with their songs,
watching the patience and care in providing for their young, loses
one of the chief means by which his own existence might be made
more cheerful, happy and contented and fails to understand one of
the most pleasing and attractive of the creations of Omnipotence.
How important for the sportsman to know the history and habits
of his feathered friends so as not be let to slaughter them out of
season. And the agriculturist, after failing crops and barren fields,
only learns the errors he has committed in the destruction of his
little help mates, by tlie life and vigor it has given to the grubs
and insects that now overrun his fields. Our English friends
1 think are much in advance of us in their papers upon Natural
Science. But now with the help of the Forest and Stream which
I liope may go into everj^ family, w^e may try to surpass our
English friends in the study of natural science and laiow the
benefits of out-door recreation and physical culture.

In the spring of 1874 Mr. Boardman made a trip to
California, leaving home March 2, bearing an introduc-
tion from Prof. Spencer F. Baird of the Smithsonian
Institution. In sending this letter of introduction to Mr.
Boardman, Prof. Baird writes : "I hope this will bring
you in communication with the scientifics of that state.
Dall is there, having just returned from the South coast
and will be very glad to see you. I hope you will return
by way of Washington so as to give us an account of
your adventures. Please pick up whatever you can for
us of rare birds and eggs, Indian relics and the like."
Enclosed in the letter is a list of persons to whom the
introduction was to be presented. Among them were :
R. E. C. Stearns, I.W. Raymond, Prof. George Davidson,

^>^l^

I

THE NRW Yf •••<•.

I

n;

••vg

A LIFE RECORD 69

Wm. H. Ball, Prof. J. D. Whitney, Dr. J. G. Cooper,
Dr. Wm. O. Ayres, R. B. Woodward, Ferdinand Grieber
and John Williamson. On this visit Mr. Boardman went
to Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland. He also
visited St. Helena and the White Sulphur Springs, went
to the petrified forest and the geysers where he ' ' took a
steam bath and walked up the mountain." While in
California he did some collecting and mounted some
birds. He reached home on May 15 of that year. At
the close of his diary for the year is the memorandum :
"Game shot, 1874 — 19 duck, 48 partridge, 111 wood-
cock, 78 snipe."

Portions of the winters of 1875, 1876 and 1877 were
spent, as had quite become Mr. Boardman's custom, in
Florida. He did not leave home in 1875 until February
10 and, returning on May 7, again left for the south
December 20 of the same year. It was after his winter
in Florida of that year that Mr. Boardman wrote that
chapter of his experiences which appears in Mr. Hal-
lock's Camp Life in Florida which gives so graphic an
account of winter life in the land which he loved next to
that of his own northern home. The winter of 1875-76
he remained in Florida until the first of April, being
nearly a month on the homeward journey, reaching St.
Stephen May 5, 1876. Again on December 26, 1876,
Mr. Boardman started for the south. In the early winter
of 1875 he was in Florida but a few days more than two
months, spending the time at Jacksonville, Arlington
and Greencove Springs. On his return he made his usual
visits to scientific friends at Washington, Philadelphia
and New York, at the latter place always visiting the

70 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Central Park and at Washington the Smithsonian Insti-
tution. Mr. Boardman's visits south during 1876 and
1877 were but a repetition of those of previous years.
He was happy in meeting his many friends, happy in
his collecting, being always on the watch for something
new, packing and sending away boxes of specimens,
while his ever genial temperament found many occasions
for giving pleasure to those whom he met. Writing
letters to friends was a pastime he much enjoyed and his
correspondence took much of his time. In September
and October, 1876, Mr. Boardman spent a week at the
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, for some days
being in company with Prof. Baird. During his winter
at the south this j-ear he was joined by Prof. Baird and
Dr. Foster and these friends had a fine time together
for two weeks in the month of April. On Mr. Boardman's
return north, while at Charleston, S. C, he " went up in
a little steamer to Magnolia and Draton Hall to see the
flowers; gone all day" — as he records in his diary.
When in Washington he attended a dinner party at
Senator Edmunds', accompanied by the Bairds. In the
summer and fall of 1877 he visited Fredericton, St. John,
Halifax, Pictou, Summerside and Shediac.

Mr. Boardman had now spent eight winters in Florida.
Splendid field naturalist that he was before he went
there, he had added largely to his knowledge of birds by
these visits and had by eight 3'ears' collecting and study
of birds in their southern homes, become very familiar
with the ornithology of the south and with the migrator}^
habits and climatic range of our native birds. He had
also spent one spring in California. During his journeys
to and from his home and the south he had made visits

A LIFE RECORD 71

of more or less duration at Washington where he had
spent much time at the Smithsonian Institution and had
become acquainted with many of its force of scientific
workers. But in order to more thoroughly study the
bird collections at the Smithsonian he had planned for
some years to spend an entire winter in Washington,
thus supplementing his keen and accurate knowledge
obtained from field study by a careful comparison of
specimens in the Smithsonian museum.

Accordingly it was decided that the winter of 1878
should be spent in Washington and on January 3 of that
year, in company with Mrs. Boardman, he left for the
national capital where they arrived January 5, taking
rooms at 1217 I Street. They remained at Washington
until April 5, when they started on the return home,
reaching Milltown, N. B., April 16.

The winter spent in Washington was a most delightful
one to Mr. Boardman. He was at the Smithsonian nearly
every day engaged in study or in work — in examining
the collections for his own benefit and instruction or in
assisting at naming and arranging the new things being
constantly received. He also attended the scientific
meetings — as he records in his diary — met the Institu-
tion workers — Prof. Baird, Elliot, Henshaw, Ridgway,
Hayden, Myers, Coues and others and enjoyed the soci-
ety of his many friends at the national capital. He was
often at Prof. Baird's to dinner, spent many of his even-
ings there and made frequent visits to Senators Hamlin
and Edmunds, Mr. Blaine and other prominent person-
ages in Washington society. Mr. Boardman was widely
known as the Maine naturalist and had entrance to the
select scientific circle at that great centre of science,

72 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

while the charming manners of Mrs. Boardman endeared
her to all and together they attended dinner parties and
receptions at several places where they were always
esteemed guests. Thus to the solid enjoyment of the
study of science were added the charms of society of
which Mr. Boardman was fond and to which he con-
tributed so much of pleasure to both host and guests.

During most of the winter which Mr. Boardman had
spent in Washington, Prof. Joseph Henry, who had been
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for a period of
thirty-two j^ears, had been in failing health. On reach-
ing his home in Milltown that spring, Mr. Boardman
received a letter from Prof. Baird informing him of Prof.
Henry's death which took place May 13, 1878 and also
of his own election as Prof. Henry's successor. In a
letter to Prof. Baird, dated May 22 of that year, Mr.
Boardman wrote: "I am sorry to hear of the death of
Prof. Henry ; although knowing how ill he was when we
left Washington I was not at all surprised to read of his
death. I was much pleased at the vote you received to
make you the head of the institution — the office that
you have richly earned." This extract from Mr. Board-
man's letter is most characteristic of the man — plain,
straightforward and business-like, with no attempt at
undue praise or eulog)^ just the simple, sincere expres-
sion of a true friend unused to the multiplication of words
on any occasion, but making use of plain sentences full
of meaning. A memorandum at the close of Mr. Board-
man's diary for 1878 gives a list of fifty-six names of
naturalists with whom he had been in correspondence
during the year. The list embraces many names of
persons eminent in science in this country, in New
Brunswick, in Nova Scotia and in England.

A LIFE RECORD 73

The year 1879 was spent by Mr. Boardman at home.
There was hardly a day down to the first of September
that he did not go to his favorite shooting grounds, work
in his bird house, send off a box of specimens to some
friend or write several letters to some one of the many
naturalists with whom he kept up a correspondence.
His diary shows that during the winter he worked much
in his bird house, drove out almost every day, visited
friends and went skating — a sport of which he was fond.
As the spring came on the entries in his diary become
more interesting. April 22 he " saw a snake on the snow. ' '
The first martins came April 26, April 28 he went out
after snipe and "got a few." He went often to the
Maguerrawock and Mohannes streams — his favorite
resorts for water birds. He records : "May 19 — went
up to Uncle Steve's woods ; got warblers, several kinds ;
named all when I got home." In June Mr. Boardman
made a short visit to Boston and New York. Through
June and July he was out shooting nearly every day and
his diary records getting woodcock, young hermit thrush,
wood duck, house wren, snipe and other birds.

On September 4, while out shooting at Clark's, Mr.
Boardman had the misfortune to injure one of his knees.
How it occurred is not recalled but he records it in his
diary as a "bad accident" — and it must have been a
bad one, otherwise he would not have so written. In the
same entry he says : " Saw many woodcock ; got two."
The day following, however, finding himself greatly
disabled, he sent for Doctor Knowles to attend him.
The result was that, although Mr. Boardman drove out
almost daily during the fall of 1879, worked in his bird
house, mounted some specimens, was present at the

74 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

meetings of the directors of corporations of which he was
a member and attended to his usual business duties, he
was prevented from ordinary work and at the close of
the year he records: " lyame knee has kept me on
crutches since 4 September." It did, in fact, keep him
on crutches for nearl}^ six months beyond the time at
which that record was made. His list of correspondents
for the 5'-ear comprises forty-three names, nearly all of
them those, of leading naturalists of this country and
abroad.

Late in the spring of 1880 Mr. and Mrs. Boardman
left for the west, arriving in Minneapolis where four of
their children were then living, on May 7. Three days
afterward, as he records in his diary, Mr. Boardman
went for birds, getting grosbeaks, orioles, jays, etc.
Almost every day for several weeks following he went
birding every forenoon and in the afternoon worked at
skinning and mounting birds. Among the entries in
his diary are: "Got orioles, rose-breasted and scarlet
tanagers;" "went to Minnesota bottoms — shot duck,
quail, yellow headed blackbirds;" "got white king-
bird; " " went to Lake Calhoun ; seven black terns, two
yellow heads, two orioles, larks, blackbirds ; " " dinner
at Albert's — had mallard ducks; " " went to Minnesota
bottoms with Willie — shot yellow-head blackbirds,
scarlet tanager, grosbeaks and larks." While on this
visit he lost no time in becoming acquainted with the
birds of the west, both in the field and at the collection
of the University of Minnesota where he spent many
days. A letter to Prof. Baird gives an interesting account
of his impressions of the western fauna. He was yet
suffering from the accident to his knee and was obliged
to use crutches, as a reference in the letter will indicate :

A UFE RECORD 75

Minneapolis, Miim., May 21, 1880.
My Dear Professor:

I know I owe you a letter and should have written before I
left home ; had I had much of any news to communicate should
have done so.

We have been here two weeks to-day, found the boys and
families all well and very glad to see us.

I was very much surprised to see how much more forward
vegetation was than with us in the same parallel. We found in
the first week of May the trees nearly leaved out and trees in full
bloom about the same as we see in southern Massachusetts or
Connecticut. The boys at the University found thirty-four differ-
ent kinds of wild flowers in the first week in May. We could
hardly do that in New Brunswick. We are much pleased with
the looks of the country ; it is quite warm but the air is delight-
ful. Mrs. Boardman is in love with the country. We find very
many of our old down east neighbors and we see about as many
old acquaintances as at home, so many of the men that have been
in my employ years ago come west. We are full of callers all the
time. I have been riding all about. See lots of nice birds, many
nearly new to me. Yellow-headed blackbii'ds are very abundant,
black tern by the thousands, every little lake hovering about like
swallows. Eose breasted grosbeaks very abundant as well as
orioles and some scarlet tanagers. The warblers had mostly gone
north. I got one Cape May and they appear quite common.
One lake near here there is an island where hundreds of blue
heron are now breeding. Double crested cormorants breed on
the same trees, and blackbirds in the foundation of same nests.

If my locomotion was better I should enjoy being here in the
spring collecting, but can walk but a little distance ; am getting
better most every day. Hope to be well enough in a few weeks
to go up to Fargo and perhaps up the Ked Eiver to Winnipeg. I
should enjoy the sail up but hear mosquitoes are very plenty.
The fish are most of them new to a Bay of Fundy chap. The bass
do not look like the Florida fish, and the Minneapolis folks get
very good fish from Lake Superior, some very large and good eat-
ing fish. 1 see reports of Prof. Goode and your fish exhibition.
Have no doubt they will be a credit to the country. I expect you

76 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

are beginning to make a good show in the new building by this
time; hope to see it next fall. All join in much love to you,
Mrs. B., Lucy and all the friends.

Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

On this visit west Mr, Boardman went to Fargo and
returning, was active in his study of western birds in the
few days before leaving for home. He went to Lake
Minnetonka where he "saw swallow-tails, buzzards,
cranes ; " he " went over the river to see German bird
men;" he "went to the Academy of Sciences; " he "went
out shooting, got nest and chick of gallinule, indigo
birds, etc., and skinned birds," and " called at William
Grimshaw's to see his eggs" — these are the entries in
his diary down to the very day of leaving for the east,
June 23, 1880. During that summer Mr. Boardman
made visits to Boston, Fredericton, St. John and Wood-
stock and in October attended the exhibition at St. John.
Some entries in his diary will give an idea of how his
days were spent in the autumn of that year : ' ' October
9 : mounted hawk and blue birds ; afternoon out to
Jones' ; two woodcock, one snipe ; Jones shot golden eagle
and one partridge. October 11 : Skinned golden eagle ;
out to Jones' afternoon, got two snipe, one woodcock.
October 12 : Went out to cemetery ; Mrs. Lovejoy and
Ladd at tea ; had bird supper. October 13 : Went out
to Chandler road with Osborn ; got five woodcock and
barred owl. October 14 : Afternoon out to Tyler's ; got
two woodcock, saw six ; mounted barred owl. October
15 : Afternoon at Maguerrawock with Osborn ; no snipe
on meadows ; got six woodcock, yellow rail, partridge.
October 16 : Out to Jones' ; got one woodcock, one snipe,

A LIFE RECORD 77

six partridge. October 18 : Went out to the Mohannes
with Everett Smith of Portland, game commissioner for
Maine, October 19 : Mounted spruce partridge and
barred owl. October 20 : Went to Clark's with Everett
Smith, got two partridge, one woodcock ; afternoon
worked in bird house. October 21 : Worked in bird
house most all day. ' ' On November 24, 1880, Mr. Board-
man " shut up the house for the winter" and left for Flor-
ida, arriving at Jacksonville December 24. December 30,
Mr. Boardman records: "Thermometer 17 — coldest
for forty years; oranges all frozen on the trees." His
list of correspondents for that year numbered fifty-eight.
Three or four entries from Mr. Boardman's diary will
show how the days were spent during the winter months
in Florida : ' ' January 28 — Went out shooting with Mr.
Page of New York ; got some snipe, plover, red birds,
etc. February 1 — Made skin of fish crow ; got evening
grosbeaks. February 24 — Mounted birds and trimmed
orange trees. March 3 — Skinned two ivory-bill wood-
peckers , mounted birds and trimmed trees. ' ' On Sunday,
March 6, Mr. Boardman heard Bishop Whipple preach at
Sanford, Fla., where he was passing a vacation. The
two following days he went to Lake Jessup "fishing,
shooting and picnicking with Bishop Whipple." How
the two naturalists must have enjoyed each other's com-
pany ! Devout Christian that he was, Mr. Boardman
took pleasure in hearing the Bishop preach on Sunday,
while Bishop Whipple, lover of nature and also a sports-
man, enjoyed fishing and shooting with Mr. Boardman
on Monday. Rev. Henry Benjamin Whipple was the
first bishop of Minnesota and used to pass his winter
vacations at various points in Florida. He died Sept. 16,

78 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

1901 and the memorial tower of the Episcopal cathedral
at Faribault, Minn., has been consecrated to his memory.

During that winter in Florida Mr. and Mrs. Boardman
passed the time at Palatka, Enterprise, Sanford, St.
Augustine and Jacksonville. His son Charles was then
living at Palatka and the}^ made their home with him,
going to the other resorts for a longer or a shorter time
as the inclination possessed them, Mr. Boardman did
not do as much collecting that winter as formerly. Their
friends, the Fosters from Clifton Springs, N. Y., were in
Florida that winter and much time was spent with them
in excursions and pleasuring parties. They left Florida
April 11 and arrived in Washington April 14. A stay
of only two days was made in Washington when they
left for the east, spending four daj^s in Philadelphia,
some time in New York and Boston, arriving at Calais
on May 13.

Reaching home Mr. Boardman imraediatel)^ went to
work in his bird house, according to entries in his diary,
and also took up his excursions to the woods and waters
of the Maguerrawock and Mohannes and almost every
day throughout the month of May and June recorded
getting warblers, blackbirds, lots of ducks, redwings and
other birds which he skinned and mounted, also going
on fishing trips. He continued to send specimens to the
Smithsonian Institution as usual. Among his papers is
an acknowledgement from Prof. Baird, dated June 25,
1881, in which he says :

The specimens announced by you on the 19th came safely
to hand and we are greatly mdebted to j'^ou for the interesting
contribution. The Florida hawk is extremely acceptable and I
think Mr. Ridgway has written you for further particulars. The

A LIFE RECORD 79

flounder is, I think, the same as one previously sent by you from
Mr. Wilson's weir. It is known in New Jersey as the Window-
pane, from its thinness (Lophopsetta Maculata). The sandpiper,
with the muscle attached is interesting and serves to illustrate the
methods by which animals become distributed from one point to
another. I shall be very glad to have good samples of the red
granite, including a four-inch cube and one of a foot and any-
thing else in the way of style or pattern.

During the late summer and fall of that year Mr. Board-
man records the trips to his favorite shooting grounds
where he got j^oung petrel, black gallinule, marsh hawk,
reed bird, kingfisher, wood duck and partridge. On
November 14, having closed his house for the winter, Mr.
and Mrs. Boardman again left for the south. They made
but brief calls on the way in Boston and New York,
arriving at Jacksonville November 19. According to the
records in his diary Mr. Boardman had corresponded
during the year with seventy different persons, to more
than thirty of whom he wrote frequent letters. On
December 31 he received a letter from Prof. Baird telling
of his disappointment at not having a visit from the Board-
mans on their passage through Washington for the south.
Prof. Baird writes :

Washington, D. C, Dec. 29, 1881.
Dear Mr. Boardman:

We were quite surprised to get your letter from Palatka,
when we were trying to intercept you on the way through Wash-
ington, wishing you to pay us a visit. I hope you will take
Washington on your return, and that Mrs. Baird will be well
enough to have you and Mrs. Boardman come directly to our
house. I cannot bear the idea of having you go off to the far
west without our seeing you. One comfort, however, will be that
you will continue to go to Florida as heretofore.

I wish very much you would consider yourself a special agent
of the Smithsonian and National Museum along the line of the

80 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

raih'oads. Can you not get the boys to take up the subject and
see that the products of the mounds and graves dug through are
secured for us. There are so many outsiders at work in Florida
and elsewhere, that we do not get anything like the share we
ought to have of the good things going.

Of course, any rare birds will be welcome. K I knew of
some clever taxidermist to send doA^Ti and make a good collection
of bii'ds I would send him. Perhaps Ridgway himself would like
to go and spend a few weeks, at the proper season. What are the
chances of getting what 1 want?

We have nothing speciallj' new here, excepting that Nelson
aud Turner are both back again from Alaska with immense col-
lections.

I am trying to arrange matters to have a meteorological estab-
lishment at Ungava Bay and to send a good naturalist in charge.
This A\'ill give us a first-rate show at the water bii'ds of Hudson's
Straits and Xorthern Labrador. Don't you want to go?

With love to Mrs. Boardman from all of us, believe me,
Sincerely Yours,

S. F. Baird.

The winter of 1882 was spent mostly in Palatka, Fla.,
although excursions were made to several other places.
Under date of January 16 of that year Prof. Baird writes
him : "I shall be very glad indeed if you can secure for
us some of those fine specimens to which you refer. I
hope 5^ou will constitute yourself a committee of six in
the interest of the National museum. If you remain long
enough in Florida in the spring I will see if I can not send
Mr. Ridgway or some one else to collect specimens under
your direction." This is one of the many evidences
which Prof. Baird had in Mr. Boardman' s accurate knowl-
edge of natural history that occur in his correspondence.
But little collecting was done by Mr. Boardman during
that winter in the south, and on April 6 Mr. and Mrs.
Boardman left for Washington where they arrived April

A LIFE RECORD 81

8. A month was spent in Washington and although Mrs.
Boardman's health was far from good it was one of the
happiest months Mr. Boardman ever spent at the national
capital. His diary records the happy days spent at the
Smithsonian and with Prof, and Mrs. Baird where the
Boardmans frequentlj- took tea and spent the evening.
Arriving in Washington at 9 o'clock a. m., on Saturday,
April 8, Mr. Boardman at once went to the Smithsonian,
and on Sunday evening, with Mrs. Boardman, he took
tea with Prof, and Mrs. Baird. A few of the brief min-
utes are given from Mr. Boardman's diary as showing
how the days were spent : "April 10 — At Smithsonian
to look over Nelson's arctic birds. April 11 — Called
round to see all the friends at the Smithsonian. April
17 — All day at the museum ; walked up to Prof. Baird's.
April 18 — Went over to museum; Academy of Science
in session ; reception at museum. April 19 — At Smith-
sonian ; went about with Prof. J. W. P. Jenks, curator of
museum, Brown University. April 22 — At museum with
Mr. Walker and the ladies; Ball's lecture at museum.
April 28 — Packed birds at Smithsonian. May 2 — Spent
the day at the shad hatchery at the Smithsonian ; packed
box of birds. May 4 — Over to Smithsonian and called
with Prof. Baird to all the offices and visited the carp
ponds. May 5 — Over to Smithsonian ; got some birds
of Mr. Nelson. May 6 — Over the Smithsonian to say
good-by to the folks." On May 7, which was Sunday,
the Boardmans spent the afternoon and evening at Prof.
Baird's and on the next day left for the north. The
summer of 1882 was passed at Calais.

On September 4 Mr. and Mrs. Boardman left for the
west. They had no sooner arrived at Minneapolis than

82 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Mr. Boardman "went out to Great Marsh and shot 12
snipe near Rice Lake." During that fall he went to
Fargo, visiting a large farm in which his sons were
interested and where he saw "lots of wild geese." He
also shot " hawks and black vulture," and at Sanderson
" went out to see eagle's nest." On October 4, he went
to the big marsh snipe shooting where he shot a red-
tailed hawk, which was mounted the following day.
This was a favorite place with Mr. Boardman where he
often went shooting. On October 18 he records : "Shot
two snipe on railroad near the house."

The winter of 1882-83 was spent in Minneapolis. That
Mr. Boardman kept up his interest in ornithology is
shown by the many entries in his diary from which some
extracts are given: "January 3, 1883 — Coldest of the
season : 12 degrees below aU day ; Shot two evening
grosbeaks. Januarj^ 11 — Skinned four evening gros-
beaks. March 8 — Went over to see the old German
bird man, afterward at rooms of Academy of Natural
Science. March 25 — Skinned three evening grosbeaks.
March 27 — Over east side to see the old taxidermist.
March 31 — Got two evening grosbeaks and skinned
them. April IC — Got one Hooded Merganser and
skinned it ; in afternoon went shooting and got snipe and
ducks. May 9 — Skinned pintail duck. May 21 — Went
to Lake Harriet ; shot two horned grebes and one red
throat aU in good spring plumage."

Mr. and Mrs. Boardman arrived in Calais from the
west on August 7, and the first of September had a visit
of some days' duration from Gov. and Mrs. Robie. The
last of October and first of November of that j^ear Mr.
Boardman was occupied in moving the contents of his

A IvlFE RECORD 83

bird house from St. Stephen to Calais and putting up his
collection of birds, eggs and nests in his new museum.
He records the number of loads and notes the days
spent in " arranging his bird house." His diary for that
year records the names of eighty-four persons with whom
he had been in correspondence during the year, many of
them those of well-known scientists — Prof. Baird, Geo.
N. Lawrence, Mrs. T. M. Brewer, E. Coues, Everett
Smith, I. Nesbitt, H. E. Dresser, W. T. Hornaday, N.
Clifford Brown. The following letter may well close the
record of the year 1883. It is one of the last received
from Prof. Baird and shows conclusively that he regarded
the work of Mr. Boardman upon the birds of Eastern
North America as practically complete. The list enclosed
in the letter is endorsed : "Additions to Mr. Boardman's
Catalogue of the Birds of Calais, Maine, 1862, included
in Prof. Baird's manuscript supplementar}^ list; thirty-
two species, nomenclature of 1859 catalogue; R. R."
(Robert Ridgway) :

Washington, D. C, Dec. 10, 1883.
Dear Mr. Boardman:

Many years ago I undertook, during one of my visits to Mill-
town, to help you with a catalogue of birds of eastern Maine and
between us we made out about thirty-one species in addition to
what you had previously reported upon. This list has been
among my papers for pi-obably fifteen years or more, and coming
across it a few days since, I spoke to Mr. Ridgway about putting
it in form and arranging for its publication either in the proceed-
ings of the Boston Society of Natural History, or of the National
Museum — you to be the author of the paper.

I now send you the names that I have, so that if you think
proper you may make any additions thereto that occur to you. It
would be well to add any paragraphs about dates, habits and con-
ditions of discovery.

84 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

If you vAW then send it to me, T will get Mr. Ridgway to
complete it as proposed. It is not very likely that you will make
many additions to the list ; at any rate, I do not think it is worth
while to wait much longer.

Yours truly,

S. F. Baird.

Mr. and Mrs. Boardman spent the winter of 1884 in
Florida, althoup^h Mr. Boardman did but little collecting.
Almost the only entries in his diary which refer to this
are the following : ' ' Februarj^ 4 — Went to ride out in
the pine woods with Mrs. Boardman ; got a few birds ;
afternoon, mounted three birds. February 5 — Went
out in pine woods with ladies ; shot blue bird ; afternoon,
mounted bird." They were then at Palatka. They
arrived in Washington on their return east, April 7,
where they remained ten days. It was the usual round
of pleasure and study. They called upon members of
the Maine delegation in Congress, attended receptions
and visited friends. Mr. Boardman was at the Smith-
sonian, at the National Museum and with Prof. Baird
nearly every day and on different days he records in his
diary : ' ' Called all round to see the folks ; at the Smith-
sonian saw Prof. Baird, Prof. Goode, Ridgway, Eliot,
Capt. Bendire, Coues and Hornaday ; took over burrow-
ing owl and Limpkin eggs to museum ; went to fish
hatching-house and museum, got birds of Ridgway and
eggs of Capt. Bendire ; saw Prof. Verrill, Dall and
others and went over to Academy of Science ; all day at
museum, saw Dr. Hayden, Coues and others." Reach-
ing New York on his journey home Mr. Boardman spent
a few da^'s at the Central Park museum where he saw
Dr. Holden, Mr. Bickmore, Mr. Lawrence and others.

A LIFE RECORD 85

Calais was reached April 29. During the month of June
Mr. Boardman was employed in moving from Milltown,
St. Stephen, to the house on Eafayette Street, Calais,
where he ever afterward resided and almost daily entries
are made in his journal of work done in arranging the
collections in the museum. Almost the only entry relat-
ing to birds is : "June 10 — Afternoon went up to the
old pasture and got four Loggerhead Shrikes, White
Rump, first ever collected here." The diary records
seventy-eight correspondents for the year.

The years 1885 and 188G were passed by Mr. Board-
man at home with the exception of visits to Boston, New
York and the west — the summer of 1886 having been
spent in Minneapolis. The j'ear 1887 was also spent
quietly at home with visits to Boston and Fredericton.
The death of Prof. Baird occurred in August of this
year, Mr. Boardman making a brief entr}^ of the event
in his diary of August 19.

CHAPTER V

CliOSrSG TEARS AT CALAIS.

THE work of Mr. Boardman as a naturalist really
ended with the death of Prof. Baird in 1887.
Indeed, four j-ears before Prof. Baird's death he had
written Mr. Boardman that it was not likely he would
make any additions to the list of Maine birds and sug-
gested that the list should be revised and published as a
final work as he thought it not advisable to wait longer
for new species. Mr. Boardman's friendship and cor-
respondence, his visits and exchanges with Prof. Baird
had continued uninterruptedly for a period of twent}--
seven j-ears with the closest intimacj' and delight. Now
he had gone. His friend and correspondent, Dr. Wil-
liam Wood of Connecticut, had died in 1885 and John
Krider in 1886. The last letters from Mr. Dresser that
have been found among Mr. Boardman's papers were
written in 1874. Mr. Boardman still wrote occasionally
to Mr. Charles HaUock and to Prof. Robert Ridgway
for he loved to be in communication with his friends.
On April 4, 1887, Mr. Boardman wrote to Prof. Ridgwaj* :
' ' I have received several letters through the winter from
Prof. Baird. He writes me how poorly he has been in

GEORGE A. BOARDMAN

At the Age of about Eighty years

THE NEW YOm

B ^

CLOSING YEARS 87

health ; has lost over twenty pounds of flesh. I cannot
find out what the trouble is with him or reall)^ how badl}'
off he is. In his last letter he wrote me he was going to
Vermont to spend the first part of the summer and leave
the sea air. I wish you would write me all about him ;
how he has been and how he appears. I hope he is not
going to break down." In reply to this Prof. Ridgway
wrote :

Smithsonian Institution, April 16, 1S87.
Dear Mr. Boardman:

Since the receipt of yours of the 4th inst. I have been so busy
with my new book (Manual of North American Birds), endeavor-
ing to hasten its completion bj' tlie commencement of the collecting
season, besides my other necessary occupations, that I liave been
obliged to defer an answer until today.

I am very happy to tell you that Professor Baird's health
seems much better, as he not only goes about more but takes his
former interest in various matters and appears altogether more
cheerful than he did a few months ago. At one time he seemed
to be very much discouraged and all his friends felt very appre-
hensive, but I sincerely trust that the worst is over now, and that
he will be spared to us for many years yet. His loss would be an
irreparable one to his friends, for no one could replace him. He
is going to the Adirondacks about the first of June and the
change, as well as freedom from the many cares, responsibilities
and annoyances which beset liim here, will no doubt do much to
restore him to good health.

There is nothing specially new here, birds coming in fre-
quentl5% but rarely anything of particular interest. We have had
no very large collections since the Albatross collection came
in. It will probably interest you to know that we have three
additional specimens of Wurdemaun's Heron, and I have exam-
ined five more — eight altogether, in addition to the type. They
all came from the Keys near Cape Sable, where they were breed-
ing in December.

88 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Dr. Stejneger, who is busy as ever, working chiefly on his
review of Japanese birds, sends liiud regards, as does also

Yours truly,

Robert Ridgwat.

Writing to Prof. Ridgway on December 13, 1887,
Mr. Boardman says: "I have not written you for a
long time, not since the death of our dear friend, the
professor. Mrs. Baird has written me all the particulars
of his sickness and death. Since then I have seen sev-
eral notices and accounts of him, one I think by you at
the meeting of the American Ornithological Union. If
you have any papers or anj- duplicates of any memorials
of him I would be glad to get them." In the same letter
Mr. Boardman adds : " Our plans were to go to Char-
lotte Harbor, Florida, this winter, but Mrs. Boardman
is hardly well enough to go. We may take a run to
Washington after a while."

The "run to Washington" was made in the spring of
1888, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman having left Calais on
March 8 and arrived in W^ashington March 11, where
they remained nearly a month. Thej- made the usual
calls at Mrs. Baird's ; Mr. Boardman was much at the
Smithsonian where he met Mr. Hornaday, Prof. Goode
and others and spent the time much as of old, although
the entries in his diarj- are brief and show a want of
interest. "Our dear old friend Prof. Baird," as he
alwaj's called him in his letters of this period to his
scientific friends, had gone and Washington and the
Smithsonian were not the same places they had been to
Mr. Boardman for nearly thirty years. Reaching Calais
from this visit on April 17, the remainder of the j-ear
was spent at home.

CLOSING YEARS 89

After this it was not as a naturalist studying southern
bird-life and making collections that Mr. Boardman
visited Florida. He had now spent twelve winters in
that State and knew its birds, its animals, its flowers
and its people. He enjoyed its winter climate. He had
made many friends at all the places where he had col-
lected, but there was now little for him to learn of its
flora or its fauna. Still, as he grew older and with the
approach of the cold weather of our northern winter he
liked to get away from the rigorous climate of the north
into that of birds and flowers. So he went south, not
with the same object as in former years, but as a gentle-
man of leisure to visit scenes that had been those of
pleasure to him in earlier years and to meet friends of
long standing.

In 1889 Mr. and Mrs. Boardman left for Florida on
January 15 and spent the winter at Jacksonville, Punta
Gorda, St. James City, Winter Park, L,ake Charm,
Palatka and St. Augustine. Leaving Florida the first
of April they went directly west, arriving at Minneapolis
April 13. Writing to Prof. Ridgway from that place on
June 3, Mr. Boardman says :

A few weeks ago I saw a very queer swaa here and I think a
trumpeter. It was shot up at Dakota. The feet were not the
least webbed and there had never been the least sign of toes. It
was mounted here by an old taxidennist who would be glad to
sell it cheap. It looks queer with its long crane-like toes without
webs. If you would care for it, write me and I will get it for you.
I like the spring in this country ; I see so many birds and they are
so different from those we see in Maine. The woods about the
city are full of scarlet tanagers, orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks,
redheaded woodpeckers, etc. After I arrived here there were a
good many Evening grosbeaks and Bohemian chatterers but all

90 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

left about the last of April although some of them were here
until May 10. I don't see much that is new but go out shooting a
few days every week.

His diary for the 3'ear gives a list of more than one
hundred persons with whom Mr. Boardman had cor-
responded during the j^ear.

In the early winter of 1890 Mr. and ]\Irs. Boardman
left for the south and without stopping at Washington
reached Jacksonville January 27. On their return early
in April they spent four days in Washington where visits
were made at Mrs. Baird's and calls upon members of the
Maine Congressional delegation. Mr. Boardman spent
two days at the museum and botanic garden and on
April 12, Mrs. Boardman attended the reception of Mrs.
President Harrison. They reached home on April 26
and in July of that 3'ear Dr. Henrj- Foster and wife of
Clifton Springs, N. Y., whose acquaintance they had
made in Florida, visited them for a week. On January
5, 1891, the Boardmans left for the south, arriving at Jack-
sonville on the tenth of that month. Their friends, the
Fosters, were with them for several weeks and the winter
though pleasant was uneventful. Mr. Boardman's diary
contains no records of interest upon natural history for
the entire winter. On April 16 they left for the north,
spending but a single day in Washington and reaching
home on April 23. This was the last of the many happj-
winters which the Boardmans passed in the south.
Going there first in 1868 they had spent the whole or parts
of seventeen winters in Florida during which time Mr.
Boardman had become as familiar with its flora and its
fauna as he was with that of his own St. Croix Valley.
There was nothing more for him to learn, nothing new

CLOSING YEARS 91

to see and this ended his long series of visits to the land
of birds and flowers.

In the faU of 1891, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman spent several
months at the Clifton Springs, N. Y., sanatorium, reach-
ing there September 15 and remaining until December
2. For some time Mr. Boardman had suffered from an
affection of the throat and nose which proved to be
caused by polypi and he went to Dr. Foster's sanatorium
for treatment. They were removed on September 30 and
31 and on the following day Mr. Boardman "went to
walk and wrote letters." On October 3, he records : "Saw
plovers and cow buntings" — which is almost the only
entry about birds in the diary for that year. December
23, Mr. Boardman received a telegram informing him of
the death of Mrs. Baird. The diary for this year records
the names of one hundred and sixty-four persons with
whom Mr. Boardman had corresponded, among them
those of his old scientific friends : Henry- Osborn of
London, Eng., George N. Lawrence, C. Hart Merriam,
E. Coues, F. M. Chapman, Everett Smith, Robert Ridg-
way, N. Clifford Brown, J. R. Krider, J. A. Allen, O. S.
Bickmore, William Dutcher, Prof. T. H. Bean and many
others.

The spring of 1892 was spent by Mr. and Mrs. Board-
man at Clifton Springs, N. Y., and in the west — the
months of May and June in Minneapolis with their chil-
dren. The spring in the west had been very cold and Mr.
Boardman records : " May 7 — Martins almost frozen;
May 20 — Humming birds on the snow." On June 9
and 10 he attended the National convention at which
Harrison was nominated for the Presidency. Calais
was reached on Juty 7 and the remainder of that year

92 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

was spent at home. On August 9, writing to Prof. Ridg-
way Mr. Boardman says : " We have just returned
from the west. Did not go south last winter as Mrs.
Boardman was not well enough to take the trip. I had
a good letter from Mr. Goode in the spring. Should be
pleased to hear from you sometime. Has Capt. Bendire's
egg book been printed yet ? Have you had many new
things of bird kind lately ? Do you know if Miss Lucy
Baird sold her house after the death of her mother? "

The year 1893 was quiet and uneventful. Mrs. Board-
man was not in good health and the year was spent at
home. October 6, Mr. Boardman wTote to Prof. Ridg-
way : "I send the sandpiper bird by to-night's express
and think it will not be much of a nondescript to you
when you see it, but I cannot make it out to my satis-
faction."

Mrs. Boardman's health which had not been good
throughout the previous year failed rapidly during the
early months of the year 1894. Air. Boardman had him-
self been ill from a severe kidney trouble and during the
last days of Februarys little is recorded in his diary but
that of his own and Mrs. Boardman's illness. The fol-
lowing brief records tell the sad story : ' ' February 24 —
Sick with bladder trouble. February 25 — Very poorly
with bladder trouble. February' 26 — Charles came from
Fredericton ; sick. February 27 — Quite sick. March
1 — Sick. March 2 — Sick. March 3 — Sick. March 4
— My dear wife died this morning and I so sick could
not see her or be with her. March 5 — Very fine day ;
I very sick. March 6 — Very fine day; my dear wife
buried this afternoon and I could not see her. March
7— Sick."

CLOSING YEARS 93

Then there are many blank pages in the diary. For
the long period of forty-one years it had been kept regu-
larly and uninterruptedly and with only a single day's
blank previous to this. Here was the second and for
twenty days there are no entries. The long and happy
married life had been broken and his beloved wife, com-
panion, helpmate and counselor for fifty-one years had
left him and he was sick. No wonder there were days
when no record could be made and when life itself seemed
a blank. On March 24, Mr. Boardman'sson, William B.,
reached Calais from the west and on March 28 his son
Charles "took him down stairs to unlock the safe."
William left for Minneapolis on March 30 and on April
7, Mr. Boardman's daughter, Mrs. Taylor and her hus-
band, left for the west. On April 8, Mr. Boardman "went
down stairs to dinner for the first time" since his illness.
After this friends called to see him, he was soon able to ride
out, the entries of daily events were resumed in the diary
and life went on much in the old way, as life must go on,
how great soever the losses and sorrows which it brings.
One record in this year, that of July 15, is pathetic and
touching: "Went to ride up to Maguerrewock and
called at Bragg's." It was the scene of his old shooting
and collecting days, where he always went two or three
times a week and where he took his naturalist and sport-
ing friends and he wanted to see it again. No other
record for the year tells so much or is so full of sugges-
tion. It is, indeed, almost the summing up of Mr. Board-
man's life as a lover of out door life and sports, of his
love for birds and nature study.

The years which followed were happy and quiet. Not
the old happiness nor the quiet of the earlier years when

94 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

the time was spent in scientific study — but thej^ were
very pleasant years. He wrote less letters to friends
than in the active years — their number had grown
smaller — but wrote much for the local newspapers and
spent a great deal of time in reading. The following
appeared in Forest and Stream on March 4, 1899 :

Mr. Charles Hallock calls our attention to an interesting
personal item in the Calais (Maine) Times, recording that " George
A. Boardmau, Esq., celebrated his eighty-first birthday at his
home on Lafayette street, Sunday, February 5. Callers tendered
their most hearty congratulations and all expressed the wish that
they might call upon him next year and find him enjoying good
health and his usual cheerfulness." That which gives point to the
paragraph is the fact, noted by Mr. Hallock, that Mr. Boardman
was the second name on the list of subscribers among the patrons
of Forest and Stream when it was begun in August, 1873. The
first subscriber was Gov. Horatio Sej-mour ; and Mr. Boardman
therefore enjoys the unique distinction of being the nestor of
Forest and Stream readers — and he may defend his claim to the
record even against those correspondents who occasionally aver
(either through lapse of memory or by fisherman's license) that
they have been reading the paper for thirty or forty years. Mr,
Boardman has been a frequent conti'ibutor to our columns and we
print today some notes from his pen on the queer way of bears.

A letter of about this date written by Mr. Boardman
to Mr. Charles Hallock, founder and first editor of Forest
and Stream, is one of interest:

Calais, Maine, Feb. 12, 1899.
My Dear Mr. Hallock :

Your kind letter just received. Very glad you and Mrs. Hallock
are so well and enjoying yourselves at the south. I often see your
name in the Forest and Stream as I have read about every paper
since you started it. AVhen you wrote me about starting it, I told
you to put me down as the fii'st subscriber, and I believe you said I

"•*"""' ini

GEORGE A. BOARDMAN

At Eiii'hty-oueyear? of Age

CLOSING YEARS 95

was the second. I used to enjoy the south, and California in win-
ter where I spent twenty winters, but five years ago this winter, I
lost my wife and since I have remained at home in winter, my
daughter who lived in Minneapolis, Mrs. Taylor, broke up house-
keeping there, and has been with me ever since. Out of eleven
children, she was the only daughter, the other ten were boys. I
am, and have been very well, and last Sunday was my eighty-first
birthday and according to the natural run of things I cannot
expect to last very long. I begin to be quite a domestic man and
like home life and to be with my family and friends, and it is one
of my delights to gather the friends of my early days about me
and discuss with them the happy events of by-gone days. My
memory is good and faculties so keen that I can look over the
picture of a long life like a panorama and live it over many times
in a mental sense, and it pleases me to hear you expect you may
come down east again next season, when I hope to see you and
show you my museum of our local birds, etc., etc.

I have for several years every week or two, been writing a
paper for our local papers, sometimes for the St. Croix Courier
and then for the Calais Times. The last one has just come in
which I will send you : About Growing Old.

My daughter says I have some photographs and will be glad
to change with you. If they look too young, I will have some
new ones taken.

I think the last time I saw you and Mrs. Hallock was at the
Smithsonian some time before our friend Prof. Baird died. I miss
him very much and since, when I have been in Washington, made
but a short stop. With many thanks for your kind letter and best
regards to you and Mrs. Hallock,

Sincerely yours,

G. A. BOARDMAN.

Two brief notes which Mr. Boardman wrote for Forest
and Stream, the first dated March 10, 1900 and the
second, May 12 of the same year are here given :

I was pained to hear of the death of Mr. Risteen, and then
so soon afterward of the death of Mr. Mather. I have known them

96 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

both ever since they began to write such interesting articles for
the papers. They have solved the great problem which we are all
approaching, but leave pleasant memories behind and those who
knew them will say their farewells with a deep sense of personal
loss.

I see my subscription runs out the 18th. I enclose order
for renewal. It is a magazine-paper of editorial genius and col-
lects critically and appetizingly the things sportsmen, naturalists
and ornithologists most want to know — a storehouse of good
reading, nice pictures and bright bits of news. I have read every
number from the first and will be a life subscriber. But I am
getting old now — in my eighty-third year — and am journeying
into the shadow; the roar of the ultimate river is daily growing
more distinct in my ears.

The most important event of the year 1900 was the
negotiations between Mr. Boardman and ofl&cials of the
New Brunswick government for the transfer of Mr. Board-
man's ornithological ' collection to that government. In
May and also in July of that year Messrs. Todd, Tweedie,
and Dunn visited Calais for that purpose and during the
month of July an account of the birds and a catalogue of
the eggs and nests in the museum were made. During
the year Mr. Boardman spent much time in the museum
and it was visited by more people than ever before in a
single year. Its interest and value had become better
known and among the visitors were scientific men from
abroad, children from the schools and college students.
Many articles were written that year by Mr. Boardman
for the Calais and St. Stephen newspapers and on Novem-
ber 6 he records in his diary : " Voted for McKinley."
On Decembers the diary says: "Mr. Dunn, Mr. HiU
and Mr. Todd closed trade for my collection, payment to
be made in one, two and three years, with interest."

THE m\Y TOM
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOB, LENOX AND
TILDEN POUNDATIO^fS

w

o

<

o

CLOSING YEARS 97

Monday, December 10, Mr. Boardman records: "I
called Dr. Black; no appetite and don't sleep well
nights." Dr Black called to see Mr. Boardman nearly
every day during the remainder of the month and on
December 31 he records: "Had lots of callers; Dr.
Black called here twice."

But three entries appear in Mr. Boardman's diary for
the year 1901. They are : " January 1 — Clear and fine;
ther. 33 ; fine winter day ; Dr. Black here ; I had a bad
day. January 2 — Clear and cold ; good many callers.
January 3 — Ther. 5 below zero ; windy and a cold night."
This was the last. The diary that had been kept daily
with hardly an interruption for nearly forty-nine years
had received its closing memoranda. Mr. Boardman
died at 12.40 o'clock, Friday morning, January 11, 1901.

The funeral services were held from Mr. Boardman's
late residence. No. 5 Lafayette street, Calais. They
were, attended by Rev. Dr. Charles G. McCully and Rev.
Thomas D. Mclycan and the burial was in Rural Cem-
etery, St. Stephen, N. B. Four nephews of Mr. Board-
man acted as pall-bearers, viz. : William F. Boardman,
Henry B. Eaton, William F. Todd and Charles E. Board-
man.

CHAPTER VI

THE BOARDINIAN COIiLECTION

THE final disposition of his natural history collections
must have been a subject of much thought during
the latter 3-ears of Mr. Boardnian's life. It had been
built up during many years of constant and loving effort
and at great cost, while it had reached such proportions
that it was one of the largest private collections of
ornithology in the United States, embracing not only the
birds of all parts of our own country but many of those of
the West Indies, of South America, of Alaska, of Europe
and of the more arctic regions of Greenland, Eapland
and Russia. Most of the individual specimens had been
obtained by himself and skinned and mounted by his own
hands, or b)'' exchange with the most eminent naturalists.
He knew the particular history of each one. In his
exchanges with scientific friends in this countrj^ and
abroad he had obtained man}- rare specimens and w^as
familiar with ever}^ bird, nest and egg in the collection.
His love for it was great and each specimen and object
had a dear and warm place in his heart. It can readily
be understood, therefore, that its ultimate resting place
was a matter about which Mr. Boardman had given

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careful thought. He wanted it preserved in its entirety
and kept in some place where it would serve the cause of
science and be readily accessible to students of natural
history. Hence the idea of its disposition excepting as a
whole and to be in the custody of some public institution
could not for a moment be thought of. It had been men-
tioned in some of the public journals that it was to go to
Bowdoin College, where three of his sons had grad-
uated and an institution which he loved. It is believed,
however, that his first plan was for it to be kept in
Calais. To be sure Calais was but a small city and was
in no sense an educational or scientific centre ; but its
people were intelligent, many were wealthy and all held
Mr. Boardman in the highest esteem. The town had long
been his home, he had been successful in business there
and it was in the St. Croix valley where the larger part
of the collection had been made. Next to Calais, Mr.
Boardman no doubt hoped that it might go to some
institution in the Province of New Brunswick.

During the summer of 1882, while Mr. Boardman was
in Minneapolis, an effort was made by the Portland
Society of Natural History to obtain his collection as it
had come to the knowledge of the society that Mr. Board-
man might make his future home in the west. On April
14, 1882, Mr. N. Clifford Brown, curator of ornithology
of that society addressed a letter to Mr. Boardman say-
ing :

Our Society has recently learned of your intended removal
from Calais and the consequent probability that your well-known
superb collection of jNlaine birds may be obtained by pm-chase.
I hardly need say that we would greatly like to see this collection
in our own cabinets. You will doubtless agree that no more

100 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

suitable resting-place for it could be found. Being the largest if
not the only incorporated society in the state, the Portland
Society of Natural History feels a peculiar interest in so fine a
representative collection as your own of Maine zoology.

I am instructed by our president to inquire whether we may
hope to secure this collection, provided that the price at which
you value it is not beyond our means; also, if it is indeed to
be sold, to request you to state the amount you wish to receive
for it.

Several letters from Mr. Brown have been found
among Mr. Boardman's MSS., but no formal action was
ever taken bj' the Portland society for the purchase of
the collection so far as appears from papers that have
been accessible.

In the year 1893, when plans for the erection of the
public librarj" building in Calais were being considered,
Mr. Boardman made a free tender of his entire collection
to the trustees of the librar}- in behalf of the city, if they
would make the building sufl&ciently large — by the
addition of a second story where a hall could be provided
for the housing of the collection, or by some other
enlargement which would give it suflScient accommoda-
tion. The answer of the trustees was that they had
their plans, contracts and money for the erection of the
building so arranged that they could not well make the
necessary changes which would be needed for the suit-
able displa}' of the collection ; they did not know where
to obtain the additional funds that would be required to
erect the larger building and so the proffered offer was
not accepted. About this time it was more than half
intimated that one of the wealthy residents of Calais or
St. Stephen had it in mind to erect a handsome build-
ing in the public park of Calais, which is opposite Mr.

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Boardman's residence, for the purpose of housing his
collection, but such a plan was never made effective.

While at the time this offer was made to the city
through the library trustees, Mr. Boardman was much
disappointed, if, indeed, he was not displeased, at its
rejection — the gift was one of so marked a character
and was so generous — he was afterward glad that it had
not been accepted. This was because he realized the
city could not afford to employ a proper person to take
charge of the collection. In such want of care he fore-
saw that the collection might suffer from neglect, that
the most valuable specimens might disappear and that
in consequence the collection would lose its value and
be of little use to science.

It was at this juncture that preliminary steps were
taken toward transferring the collection to the Provincial
Government of New Brunswick. It had been under-
stood that next to the city of Calais possessing it Mr.
Boardman had himself expressed a wish that it might
finally go to New Brunswick. The collection repre-
sented the fauna of the St. Croix valley, which was as
distinctively Canadian as it was American ; it had been
largely made up of specimens from the territory on both
sides of the St. Croix river and the natural home of the
collection should clearly be in the vicinity of the place
where it was made. Hon. William F. Todd and Hon.
George F. Hill, both of St. Stephen, N. B., and both
members of the Provincial Parliament were interested in
having the collection retained in New Brunswick and
their efforts had much to do in influencing the govern-
ment to its purchase.

Speaking of the transfer of the Boardman collection to

102 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

the New Brunswick government The Calais Times of
December 27, 1900, said : " It is a great acquisition to
the government crown land office. New Brunswick's
gain is an irremediable loss to Maine. A source of keen
regret is the fact that Mr. Boardman once offered this
priceless collection as a gift to the city of Calais on con-
ditions that could have been met with ease ; but his
offer was not accepted. It is too late now and the
poignancy of the irreparable loss will long linger in the
minds of all intelligent people who dwell in the towns
on the Maine side of the St, Croix."

From Mr. Boardman's diary it appears that on May
30, 1900, the first effort toward making an inventory of
the contents of the museum with a view to its sale was
made. On July 4 of the same year the Provincial Pre-
mier, Hon. L. J. Tweedie and the Surveyor-General,
Hon. A. T. Dunn of Fredericton, visited Calais and made
a thorough examination of the entire collection. The
result of this visit was that Mr. Boardman at once com-
menced to take an account of the specimens in the museum
which work occupied him until July 31, while various
entries in the diary between those dates tell of the prog-
ress of the work. Finally, on December 8, 1900, the
sale of the entire collection was made in accordance with
the following indenture :

Memorandum of Agreement, made this Eighth day of Decem-
ber, A. D. 1900, between George A. Boardman of Calais, in the
State of Maine, one of the United States of America, Gentle-
man, of the first part, and Her Majesty the Queen, represented
herein by the Honourable Albert T. Dunn, Surveyor General, of
the second part ; —

Witnesseth, First : — That the said George A. Boardman here-
by sells to Her Majesty the whole collection of birds, eggs,

THK BOARDMAN COLIvECTION 103

heads of animals, horns, &c., all as contained in the building- in
Calais, used for the said collection and specified and described in

a list furnished to the said surveyor-general, for the sum of

, said amount to be paid, as hereinafter provided for.

Second: — Her Majesty hereby agrees to pay to the said

George A. Boardman, for the said collection, the said sum of

in three equal payments in the manner and at the times

following, viz : the first one-third portion thereof immediately
after the close of the next ensuing session of the Legislative
Assembly of New Brunswick, the second one-third portion there-
of immediately after the close of the Legislative Assembly to be
held in the Year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and
two, and the last one-third portion of said payment immediately
after the close of the Legislative Assembly which will be held in
the Year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and three, the
last two payments to bear interest at the rate of five per cent, per
annum, from the time of delivery of the said collection to the
said surveyor-general, or his agent.

Third : — It is hereby understood and agreed that the said
surveyor-general, on behalf of Her Majesty, may take delivery of
the said collection immediately after the execution of these pres-
ents, or at such time as may be most convenient to him.

It is also understood that if the surveyor-general so desires,
payments may be made at any time before the times above pro-
vided for.

In witness whereof the said party hereto of the first part and
the said surveyor-general, on behalf of Her Majesty, have hereunto
set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.

Signed, Sealed and Delivered 1 (Signed) Geo. A. Boardman.
m presence of j \ o /

(Signed) A. T. Dunn,
(Signed) Wm. F. Todd. Surveyor General.

Witness to signature of
A. T. Dunn,
(Signed) W. P. Flewelling.

From the above indenture has been omitted the sum
paid by the government of New Brunswick for the col-
lection. But it may be mentioned that the same was

104 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

appraised by expert scientists as to its commercial cash
value and in accordance with Mr. Boardman's own wish
one half the amount was discounted by which he gave
the Province several thousand dollars.

At the time this document was drawn and signed Mr.
Boardman was not at all well. From that date he was
almost daily visited by his regular physician, Dr. W. T.
Black and frequent entries in the diary made the record :
"Had a bad day;" "had a bad night — did not sleep
well," etc. By the terms of the sale the collection was
liable to be immediately removed, but as Mr. Boardman
rapidly grew worse, Mr. Todd, who was the agent of the
Provincial government in charge of its transportation,
wisely postponed doing so. It was very satisfactory and
comforting to Mr. Boardman to know that his loved col-
lection was not to be removed during his life and that
finally it was to go to a government which would house
it in a splendid manner, that it was to have appropriate
care and always be open to the public and to the free
use of scientific students.

The preliminary contract for the transfer of the col-
lection, dated December 8, 1900, was ratified by the Pro-
vincial Parliament by an act passed April 3, 1901. This
act is Chapter XX of First Edward VII, and is as follows :

An Act relating to the Boardman Collection of Birds and Animals.

Sec. Sec.

1. Preamble setting out contract. Gov- 2. Duplicates may be placed in Im-
emor in Council authorized to perial Institute in London ; pro-
make payments as provided by vision for preserving collection,
contract out of current revenues. Passed 3d April, 1901.

Whereas by memorandum of agreement made on the eighth
day of December, A. D. 1900, between George A. Boardman of
Calais, in the State of Maine, of the first part, and Her Majesty
the Queen, represented therein by the Honorable the Surveyor-
General, of the second part, it was witnessed that the said

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George A. Boardman thereby sold to Her Majesty the whole
collection of birds, eggs, heads of animals, horns, etc., all as
contained in the building in Calais, used for the said collection,
and specified and described in a list furnished to the said Surveyor-
General, for the sum of , which amount was to be

paid as follows, namely : a first one-thii'd portion thereof imme-
diately after the close of the present Session of the Legislative
Assembly of the Province, the second one-third portion thereof
immediately after the close of the Legislative Assembly to be held
in the year of om- Lord, one thousand nine hundred and two, and
the last one-third portion of said payment immediately after the
close of the Legislative Assembly which will be held in the year
of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and three ; the said last
two payments to bear interest at the rate of five per cent, per
annum from the time of delivery of the said collection to the said
Surveyor-General, or his agent ; and it is desirable to make pro-
vision for the payment of the said amounts, and also to make
other provisions as hereinafter enacted ;

Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and Legisla-
tive Assembly as follows : —

1. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council is hereby authorized
to pay the said amounts in the manner and at the times specified in
the said agreement, the same to be paid out of the current
revenues of the Province.

2. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council is hereby authorized
to place such portion of the said collection, being duplicates, as
he may deem advisable, in the Imperial Institute in Loudon, and
also to make necessary provision for the placing and keeping of
the remainder of said collection within the Province, and for that
purpose may expend a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars,
for the erection and equipment of a suitable building, or the
equipment of a suitable room therefor ; the cost of such building
to be paid out of the current revenues of the Province.

Soon after the death of Mr. Boardman the collection
was packed and shipped to Fredericton, N. B., under
direction of Hon. William F. Todd of the Provincial

106 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Parliament. It was comprised in seventy-four boxes
which included the birds, nests, and eggs, together with
the animals, skulls, heads, horns, corals, casts of fishes
and other natural history specimens which made up the
collection. The collection is now installed in the old
supreme court room of the Parliament House at Fred-
ericton, N. B. This room is twenty-eight by thirty-three
feet and is rather imperfectly lighted. The cases, which
are quite tall, so obstruct the light that it is impossible
to obtain a satisfactory view of the interior, but the
accompanying plan will give a good idea of the arrange-
ment of the room while the plate shows the beautiful
Government House in which the collection is deposited.
There are seven large cases in the room, each of which
has several shelves, together with two octagon cases
which are placed around pillars which support the ceiling.
Against the wall opposite from the entrance to the room
out of the main hall is the original case — marked A —
which was in Mr. Boardman's Milltown, N. B., residence
and in his Calais museum, while over it upon the wall in
large letters is a tablet reading : The Boardman Collec-
tion. This original case has in it from 140 to 150 species
of song birds. Around the walls of the room are eleven
cases, in an inclined position, for the nests and eggs,
while upon the walls in various places are disposed the
casts and paintings of fish, with heads and horns of
animals. There is a fine pair of elk horns from Oregon
and a pair of moose horns from Maine, the latter of
which spread fifty-six inches, with eighteen points on
each horn, having very wide palmations. It is one of the
most elegant pairs of moose horns ever taken in this
State. The mounted warblers are in the centre octagon

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cases ; there are three cases of water birds, with four
smaller cases, not shown in the plan, the latter just as
taken from Mr. Boardman's museum. The mounted
birds, skins, animals, eggs, nests and other specimens all
have attached to them the original labels written and
numbered by Mr. Boardman.

As installed in its present home the collection was
arranged by Mr. John F. Rogers who was for a number
of years principal of the model school in connection with
the Provincial Normal School at Fredericton. He was
fond of natural history and had made quite a study of the
habits of birds and animals and his work in setting up
the collection was very satisfactory. It will be of interest
to the friends of science to know that under section two
of Act XX of First Edward VII, it is the design of the
Provincial Government to erect a special building for
the housing of the Boardman collection. It is under the
custody of the Hon. W. P. Flewelling, Deputy Surveyor
General, Crown Lands Department, Province of New
Brunswick.

The following account of the collection, from the pen
of Mr. Charles Hallock, appeared in Forest and Stream
for February 2, 1901 :

Henceforth the unique and valuable museuhi collection of the
late George A. Boardman who passed away so recently at his
quiet home in Calais, Me., will be located and housed at Frederic-
ton, N. B., in one of the best Government buildings, where it will
occupy a conspicuous place and receive the care and attention
which it deserves. The Hon. Wm. F. Todd, a member of the Pro-
vincial Government, who is a nephew of Mr. Boardman, has
charge of the removal and installation of the collection. Indeed,
he was about to ship it when Mr. Boardman was taken ill, but
considerately postponed doing so, and consequently the ingather-
ing of this eminent naturalist remained with him to the last, much

108 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

to his heart's comfort and content, for the momentary parting
with it at such a juncture would have been like speaking a final
farewell to his dearest and most intimate companions and friends.

What a happy relief it must hare been to his mind to have this
collection so opportunely and desirably disposed of. Not less wall
his New Brunswick friends Uelight to do him honor. My own
choice would have selected Fredericton next to Calais as his
beneficiary. And Canadians are warm hearted, honest, faithful
and unpretentious people, as I have alw^ays found them. Almost
every week I receive epistolary testimony from some of them to
this efiect.

Perhaps it is better that Calais did not receive the gift. Years
ago Mr. Boardman gave me his confidence, to a certain extent, as
to the want of appreciation of his home people ("a prophet is not
without honor except in his own country*'), the municipality
declining his repeated overtures, first, on the plea that the city
had no suitable building for the collection, and afterwards declin-
ing to erect one. And it serves the corporation right to be left
out, though the body of the tow'n's people will sympathize with
us all in the regret that the home site and the center of his life
work could not have been selected and appropriated for this dis-
tinguished monument of his labors. It is a grand donation ! It
represents so much, not only of the local fauna of that interesting
region, but so much persevering study, devotion and effort of
pursuit.

I have not been able to obtain a classified memorandum of the
G. A. Boardman collection, but I have been told by the proprietor
that there were more than 3,000 birds and perhaps half that number
of mammals and miscellaneous subjects, including many marine
curiosities. The world of science cannot well spare such con-
tributors as George A. Boardman and George X. Lawrence ; both
of them gone within a decade.

The city of Fredericton, the home of the Boardman
collection, is the capital of New Brunsuack and is
situated on a beautiful intervale on the west side of the
St. John river, about eighty miles from its mouth, and

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twenty-two miles by rail from Fredericton Junction on
the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Its population is some-
thing over 7,000, and its public buildings include the
Parliament House and public offices of the Provincial
government ; eight churches ; an Episcopal cathedral ;
a normal school for the training of teachers ; the Vic-
toria Hospital ; city hall, and the University of New
Brunswick. In the assembly chamber of the Parliament
House are many historic portraits including those of
George III. and of his amiable consort, Queen Charlotte,
painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, with those of Lord
Sheffield and of Lord Glenelg. The Legislative Library
embraces 14,000 volumes, one of the most highly prized
works which it contains being one of the original folio
sets of Audubon's Birds of America which formerly
belonged to King Louis Philippe of France, father of the
Duke of Orleans, now valued at $15,000. As Mr. Board-
man often visited Fredericton it is likely he knew of its
possession by the Legislative Library and wanted his
own birds to have a home with that magnificent work of
Audubon's. It is certainly a happy coincidence that the
two are housed in the same fine building and it would
have been a dear satisfaction to Mr. Boardman had he
known his collection was to have the company of Audu-
bon's splendid work.

CHAPTER VII

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESUI.TS

THE ornithological museum created b)^ Mr. Boardman
will always remain the great triumph of his life as a
naturalist. It is indeed a sufficient monument to the
exactness of his knowledge in that branch of science to
which he was devoted, to his love for natural history, to
his application and industry in its study throughout a
long period. Other men devoted to science have left
worthy memorials of their life-work in other ways —
voluminous treatises, exact and learned monographs,
published works which have ranked as authoritative in
the great libraries of the world. It is Mr. Boardman 's
monument to have left to science one of the largest and
most interesting collections in ornithology and natural
history ever gathered bj^ a private individual in this
countrj^ representing a life-time of active study and pre-
serving to students of ornithology a collection showing
the almost complete fauna of eastern North America.
While this is indeed abundant fame for one individual
much can be said for Mr. Boardman's contributions to
the literature of ornitholog}' and general natural history.
It may be mentioned at the outset of such summary of
results that Mr. Boardman was not in earlier life much

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 111

given to literary composition. He was so intensely
engrossed in business and, after business cares had been
largely given over to others, was so devoted to travel and
collecting, making brief notes of his specimens and carry-
ing on an extensive correspondence with naturalists,
that he had little time for finished composition, or plac-
ing in elaborate form the results of his observations and
studies. It was rather his work to assist others, to study
points of difference, to note peculiarities in species, to
suggest lines of inquiry to other workers. When the
first results of his studies were published through the
Boston Society of Natural History as early as 1862, it
was done at the solicitation of Prof. A. E. Verrill who
edited the list of birds then printed, because, as he says,
" Mr. Boardman could not attend to it himself." And so
it was for many years. He was so much engaged in
collecting and in field study that he had no time for
extended literary composition. It was only in late life,
after his ornithological field had been thoroughly
explored that he found time for writing those delightful
autobiographical and historical sketches which for two or
three years appeared regularly in the Calais and St.
Stephen newspapers. These show what interesting
chapters he could have written on the fauna of the St.
Croix, based upon his own collections and field studies,
had he had the opportunity and set himself about it earlier
in life.

Mr. Boardman's habits of observation were very acute
and his published statements noted for their accuracy and
correctness. If there was anything which he could not
tolerate it was a hasty, imperfect or misleading statement
regarding natural history in any published work. These

112 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

gave him untold annoyance. When a certain work on
the birds of New England and some of the adjacent states
was published about 1867, after he had examined it he
laid it down, exclaiming : " Oh ! the errors, the errors ! "
— and seldom looked at it afterward although some of
the errors were corrected in subsequent editions.

One of his favorite literary exercises was the answer-
ing of puzzling questions in natural history, asked by
readers of the journals and magazines. In one of the
earlier volumes of Forest and Stream an inquiry appeared
from a correspondent wishing to know who that man
was way down east who settled all the disputed points
in ornithology — " whether the woodcock whistled with
his bill or wing ? what was the bird known as fool-par-
tridge in the west ? why was not the western black duck
good to eat?" etc. He took delight in answering all
such questions. It was done in few lines, 5^et with great
clearness and his answers were always the final word
upon the subject. The editor of Forest and Stream, in
the issue for January 26, 1901, says that one of the last
letters received from Mr. Boardman, only a short time
before his death, was written in kindlj- response to the
inquirj'- of a correspondent if he knew of a single authentic
instance of the taking of the panther in Maine. His reply
was in the negative and he added : "I have for fifty years
been looking after the skull of a panther that was killed
in this part of the state for my museum and have not been
able to get one."

The correctness of Mr. Boardman' s statements and
opinions upon subjects about which he was acquainted
or in which he had made studies may well be illustrated
by his views regarding the introduction and naturaliza-
tion of European game birds into Maine. In 1894—1895

SOME vSCIENTlFIC RESULTS llo

ofi&cers of the Maine Game and Protective Association
were engaged in introducing into the state the Messina
quail, Coturnix communis, the common migratory quail
of Europe, as well as the Capercailzie or Wood-grouse,
the largest of the gallinaceous birds of Europe.

In one of the local newspapers Mr. Boardraan had
questioned the action of the association in inducing the
State L,egislature to make an appropriation for the
purpose of introducing these birds, on the ground that it
would be a waste of effort and funds. To this Mr.
Edward G. Gay, president of the association, replied in
a lengthy article in the Phillips Phonograph of February
27, 1895. The real substance of Mr. Boardman's state-
ment was simply that the scheme would not be a success,
the birds would not become naturalized and the matter
would end in disappointment. Mr. Gaj'^'s criticism of
Mr. Boardman's opinion was in these words :

The Association has been guided by some of the best and most
noted game bird experts of our own state, all sections of tliis union
and of foreign countries, with all of whom I have been in constant
correspondence. The practical present day experience of these
men ought certainly to count for as much as the theories of
naturalists whose knowledge of what thej- are writing about is
gleaned wholly from pedantic books of reference. T.et me say to
Mr. Boardman and to your readers that I have not spent hundreds
of dollars of my owJi money and months of my time, nor have the
other friends of this beneficent movement also sacrificed money
and time to promote this object without knowing what we were
doing and the people of this state will have no reason to regret
any action the legislature of Maine may take in carrying to a
successful conclusion the work already so auspiciously beguu.

It is sufficient answer to this criticism that Mr. Board-
man's opinion was correct. Many of the quail were

lU THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

liberated near Calais, but good hunters and woodsmen
say they were never seen after the first or second season.
Some bred but none were ever seen afterward. The best
scientific authorities upon this point say : " This quail
— the Messina — has several times been imported into
the United States, but has failed thus far to become
naturalized."

In the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club,
Volume VI., page 126, January, 1880, in a list of birds
of Eong Island by De E. Eerier, Fort Hamilton, E. E,
occurs this note : " Falco gyrfalco absoletus ; Labrador
gyrfalcon. Mr. J. Wallace of New York informs me that
a fine specimen of this bird, killed in the fall, two or
three years ago, on the north shore of Eong Island in
Queens county, passed through his hands. It is now in
the collection of Mr. George A. Boardman." Without
doubt this is the falcon which Mr. Boardman saw a
hunter bring into the market in New York, when he was
on one of his visits to that city and referred to in a note
found among his papers. The note says Mr. Boardman
bought the bird, had John Wallace skin it and took it
to Washington with him. When in New York he gen-
erally went around to the markets to see what he could
find that was new and always took the rare or unusual
specimens to Washington for identification. One of
these was a strange duck which Mr. Boardman purchased
at a market in New York in 1871, which he had Mr.
Wallace skin. This was taken to Washington for identi-
fication and caused something of a puzzle to the Smith-
sonian experts, by whom it was at first thought to be a
cross but afterward proved to be the Crested Duck of
Europe, according to a letter from Prof. Baird dated at

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESUI.TS 115

Woods Holl, June 22, 1871. These incidents show how
accurate Mr. Boardman was in his knowledge and how
quick he was to detect anything new or to notice the
slight variations in species which an ordinary sportsman
would pass unnoticed.

One of Mr. Boardman's sons tells the following interest-
ing incident : ' ' Many years ago I was with my father
and Prof. Baird in the garden at Milltown, N. B., when
father said : ' I had a black buzzard, professor, the other
day, killed near here.' Prof Baird replied, ' Oh no, Mr.
Boardman, you must be mistaken ; they seldom come as
far north as Washington. It must have been a turkey
buzzard.' Father replied : ' I know a black buzzard as
well as I know a crow.' The professor, however, was
not satisfied. In a few minutes a man drove into the yard
with a box. I opened it, took out the bird and carried
it around where they were talking. Father said : ' Pro-
fessor, what do you call that ? ' He replied, ' a black
buzzard.' Then father took the bird to his bird house
and the professor said to me : ' I find your father is always
correct in all our disputes about native birds. When we
read the manuscript of our book at Peaks Island (Baird,
Brewer and Ridgway's History of North American
Birds), your father did not agree with Dr. Brewer in
many of his statements, so I decided with your father.
Dr. Brewer has great knowledge of birds and eggs and
has long been a student in that line, but your father's
knowledge came from association with the birds and the
studies of their habits in the woods and his observations
were correct.' "

Pioneer field ornithologist in Maine that he was, Mr.
Boardman made his studies and recorded his observa-
tions upon the birds of eastern North America before the

116 THE NATURALIST OF THK ST. CROIX

present school of ornithologists had begun their work and
all recent writers have been indebted to his results for
much of their knowledge of Maine birds. He was the
first to describe many species and found the first nests
and recorded the nesting habits of many birds then new
to science. One of these was that of the large Sheldrake ;
another that of the Canada Jay ; another that of the
Crossbill ; another that of the American Merganser.
Winfred A. Stearns, in his New England Bird Eife,
acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr. Boardman for a
description of the nest of the Canada Jay, while Mr.
George Bird Grinnell, in his American Duck Shooting,
New York, 1901, makes no less than six acknowledg-
ments to Mr. Boardman for original information and
prefaces his account of the nesting habits of the American
Merganser, pages 227-228, by saying : ' ' Definite infor-
mation as to the breeding habits of the American Mer-
ganser were first given by Mr. George A. Boardman of
Calais, Maine, to whom ornithology owes so much."
The entire account appears in his paper on Tree Nest-
ing Ducks, in this volume.

Writing to Mr. Boardman under date of December 2,
1862, Prof. Baird says : "I had not before known of the
occurrence of the banded three-toed W'Oodpecker so far
south. Try and get us a good specimen." This and
similar statements found in his correspondence show
how constantly Mr. Boardman was finding out and record-
ing new things about birds which information he was
freely giving to the leading naturalists of the country as
his contribution to science, seldom wishing to be known
as the first to establish such facts if only science in
general received the benefit of the same. Many instances

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 117

in the letters of Prof. Baird niiglit be quoted to show the
esteem in which Mr. Boardman's acquirements in ornithol-
ogy were held by that great naturalist. Writing to him
on November 15, 1865, Prof. Baird says : " We were
advised of thirty -two boxes of arctic eggs, etc., this fall
— they will not be here, however, till May or June, not
getting to St. Paul before winter. In the lot are 1200
more Ptarmigan eggs ; I think when they come I will
send for you to help catalogue them. A correspondent
near I^ake Winnipeg advises of eggs of Franklin's gull,
crested grebe, red head duck, etc., all new to us."
Again writing Mr. Boardman September 26, 1877, Prof.
Baird says : " The discovery of a Pine Grosbeak on Mt.
Victor is a curious fact. Can you not arrange to have
some one go there in the spring after the eggs ?" These
instances show the confidence placed in Mr. Boardman
by America's great ornithologist.

All writers upon New England bird life and generally
upon the birds of eastern North America have been gen-
erous in their acknowledgments to Mr. Boardman to
whom they have been under obligation for many facts
stated by no previous naturalist. Dr. T. M. Brewer, writ-
ing of Eagopus albus, the Willow Ptarmigan, in Bulletin
of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Vol. II., page 46,
says the statement he has made "rests on the high
authority of Mr. G. A. Boardman." Regarding this
species Mr. Stearns says in New England Bird Eife, Part
II. , page 145 : ' ' Mr. G. A. Boardman assures me that he
has been unable to satisfy himself that this Ptarmigan
has ever been known to occur in New England."

William Butcher, in his monograph on The Labrador
Duck, in The Auk, Vol. VIII., page 201, April, 1891,

118 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

makes no less than seven quotations from notes by Mr.
Boardman, who says the last one of this species he knows
to have been taken at Grand Manan was shot in April,
1871. " I sent the skin to John Wallace of New York
to be mounted for Prof. S. F. Baird of the Smithsonian
Institution. Not knowing its value, Wallace let some
one get the skin from him and it was thus lost to the
Smithsonian as he could not tell who had it." Writing
to Mr. Dutcher, October 29, 1890, Mr. Boardman says :

* ' I began to collect birds about fifty years ago and
wanted to get a pair of each species — I did not care for
more. The I^abrador Duck I procured without much
trouble and if I had any duplicates sent to me I did not
save them any more than I should have saved duplicates
of Scoters or Old Squaws. I have no doubt I may have
had others. I had shooters all about the coast of Grand
Manan and Bay of Fundy sending me anj'thing new or
odd. Anything they sent me that I already had mounted
generally went to the manure heap. About twenty years
since, Messrs. John G. Bell and D. G. Elliot of New
York wrote to me to try and get them some Labrador
Ducks. I wrote to all my collectors, but the ducks had
all gone. It seems very strange that such a bird should
become extinct as it was a good flier."

Prof. Ora W. Knight, in his Birds of Maine, published
in 1897, says: " George A. Boardman of Calais has
observed and taken two hundred and fifty-seven species
within Washington county. His list is copiously anno-
tated and is the result of long years of careful observa-
tion."

Baird, Brewer and Ridgway who published their His-
tory of North American Birds between 1874 and 1884,

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 119

refer frequently to the observations of Mr. Boardman and
quote from information specially furnished by him. Upon
page after page throughout the five noble volumes of that
work acknowledgments are given to Mr. Boardman. Mr.
Charles Hallock, in his Camp Eife in Florida, gives
acknowledgment to Mr. Boardman as ' ' that well-known
student of natural history whose writings have special
value to the scientist . ' ' Other writers who have benefited
from his studies and given due credit are Elliott Coues,
D, H. Minot, Robert Ridgway, Everett Smith, E. A.
Samuels, Ruthven Deane, N. Clifford Brown, J. A. Allen,
A. E. Verrill and Charles Hallock, as well as the lesser
known authors who have written about New England
birds.

In volume third of the American Naturalist, page 837
— September, 1869 — Mr. Boardman has an interesting
note on the collection and care of birds' eggs. He says :
In collecting eggs the utmost importance is to be placed
upon the proper identification of the specimens. To
every bird's leg attach a label noting sex, date of cap-
ture and locality. Blow the eggs with a blow-pipe.
Make but one hole and that on the side. Above the
hole write the initials of the collector and under it the
number, also the Baird Smithsonian number. All the
eggs in one nest should have the same number. Suppose
I take my first nest, Canada Jay, March 15, with three
eggs. I mark all three eggs, say No. 5, and keep a
small note book, properly ruled, in which I record the
date, name of bird and number of eggs, number of egg
in Baird list, and remarks, as : "Taken by myself (or as
the case may be) out of a small spruce, six feet from the
ground, old bird shot," etc. A printed label with the

120 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

name of the bird looks very neatl}-. In the case of small
birds always preserve the nests as they are often more
interesting and valuable than the eggs themselves. All
the eggs of the same nest, and the nest, being numbered
the same, by a reference to the little note-book the
identification of any eggs (even if they get mixed) is
very easy and the history of any specimen can be ascer-
tained. If an egg has been set on very long this will be
found a good process to clean out the embryo. Make a
little larger hole than usual in the side, pick out as
much of the young bird as you safely can and then blow
water into the egg with a blow-pipe ; let it stand for
some days in a dark drawer or box. Keep repeating
this process about every third day, graduall}- blowing
more w'ater into the shell and picking a little out till the
whole of the embr3'0 has decayed and is removed. This
is a safe and sure way for a rare and valuable egg. I
often put large eggs where the cabinet-bug — Dermetes
— can get into them and clean out any foreign matter
adhering to the shell.

Among the subjects in wdiich Mr. Boardman was
interested were those of albinism and melanism. These
singular freaks in nature, the perfectly white bird with
pink eyes, the parentage of which was of a different fixed
type ; with the opposite of albinism, melanism, the
abnormal development of black or dark pigment in the
pelage of an animal or the plumage of a bird, interested
Mr. Boardman greatly. He had the largest collection of
albinos among his birds of an)^ private collector in the
United States. In his museum were the following —
the list having been copied from the catalogue of birds

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESUETS 121

which went with his collection to the New Brunswick
government :

Mocking Bird, Common Crow,

Bobolink, Euifed Grouse (2),

Snow Birds (2), Butter Ball,

Barn Swallow, Robins (1 pair).

Red-wing Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole,

Purple Finch, Bank Swallow,

Song Sparrow, Rail,

Cow Bunting, Wilson's Snipe (2) ,

Savannah Sparrow, Woodcock,

Chipping Sparrow, • Cedar Bird,

Little Black-head Duck, Red-tail Hawk.

In the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club,
Vol. III., page 47, January, 1878, appears the following
note on the melanism of the Robin — Turdus migratorius
— by Elliott Coues, which is very interesting :

A case of melanism of Turdus migratorius, much less frequent
(except in Falconidae) than leucisra, comes to my knowledge
through the attention of Mr. G. A. Boardman, who desires me to
make a note of it for the Bulletin. The young Robin, "as black
as a Grackle," is still living in Mr. Boardman's possession. About
two rnonths ago this ornithologist heard of a nest of black Robins
being taken at St. John, and wrote to the owner or collector about
it. The person, however, lost his life in the great fire which
occurred there, and Mr. Boardman, not liking to trouble the
family by writing under such circumstances, went to St. John and
inquired about the black Robins. The stoiy proved true, and one
of the birds was purchased. " When I first got the bird, " writes
Mr. Boardman." he was in pretty good j)lumage, but his feathers
are now half out, and I am hoping that he will not disappoint me
by coming out red. Most of the feathers on his head and neck
are new, I think, and jet black. His tail is now gone, but that was
pure black too. I see no signs of the normal plumage." Mr.
Boardman writes me later, under date of September 23, that he
has been much interested in watching the moult of the black

122 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Robin, and says : " He acts as if he were going to be an albino.
His new tail is about half grown out, and is nearly white, with a
black stripe down each feather. His breast, head, neck and back
are jet black, but very much out of feather. He would now make
a funny specimen — part albinic, part melanistic." The parents of
these young were not peculiar in color. Since the above paragraph
was penned, the bird has been killed, stuffed and sent to the
Smithsonian where I have seen it. It is black, with white wings
and tail. — December 15, 1877.

Previous to writing to Prof. Coues about this black
robin he had written to Prof. Baird, as appears from a
letter to Mr. Boardman, dated September 26, 1877, in
which he says : "I would not interfere with the move-
ments of the Black Robin. Let him turn himself into a
white one if he chooses. Do not kill him until he has
completed his vagaries. You must write out the whole
subject in detail and publish it. It will be of very great
interest." On December 5, 1877, Prof. Baird writes:
" Much obliged to you for sending the robin and I shall
probably be able to acknowledge its receipt before closing
this letter. In your article about the bird give first its
history ; how it came into your possession ; what its
coloration was when you had it ; when it moulted ; what
change took place then ; how long this was in operation ;
whether the single feathers changed their color from
white to colored, or the reverse ; whether the change was
in new feathers coming out," etc. Writing on December
12, of the same year, he says : " The Black Robin was
received and is a great curiosity, greater than I antici-
pated from your letter." What an interesting thing is a
bird, especially if it be a black robin or a white crow.

While Mr. Boardman's greatest love of natural history
objects was for that of birds, he was well informed upon

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 123

all other branches of natural history and out-door life,
was an experienced woodsman and a famous and enthusi-
astic angler. The adjacent lakes, streams and salt water
estuaries of the St. Croix system in the days when Mr.
Boardman was in his prime, constantly furnished him
with the best fish that ever graced a hook — not only the
pelagic roamers of the ocean, but the landlocked salmon,
togue, trout and salmon of the waters inland, the lakes
and streams which he knew so well. Prof. P . W. Glover,
for many years in the United States Agricultural Depart-
ment at Washington, was a comrade of his in the days
when landlocked salmon bore the name of Salmo gloveri ;
and the two were the first to determine the species and
class it accordingly. In an entertaining letter dated at
Calais, May 1, 1887, to Mr. Charles Hallock, Mr. Board-
man enumerates some of his earlier angling friends, from
which an extract is made :

There were Rev. Dr. George W. Bethune; Rev. James Smith,
a Baptist minister of Philadelphia ; Geo. P. Trott of Philadelphia ;
George Dyer, a lawyer of Washington, D. C. ; G. P. Whitney of
Boston, a noted fisherman, with Ben French, Stephen Pineo, John
Pollice and Frank Waite as river men and guides. Senator George
F. Edmunds was up once or twice with one of my sons, and had
great sport. Henry Ward Beecher and his father were up, and
also Walter M. Brackett, the fish painter of Boston ; my brother,
Wm. H. Boardman and Geo. M. Porter of St. Stephen. Mr. Bab-
cock of Boston, died from snake bite in Florida at Pine Island
two years ago. F^ank Kennedy, also a fisherman, was with him.
Stimpson H. Dennison, Boston; Geo. H. Richards, Boston; his
father, Francis Richards, and Uncle Henry Richards used to come
up years ago ; Judge Ritchie of New Brunswick ; Dr. Leith Adams,
Prof. Bailey of Fredericton, N. B., and many others whom I do
not now recall to mind. It is over fifty years ago since I began
to go to the lakes, and I can see great changes. Fish then were

124 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

very abundant, but have now been killocl by tanneries, pickerel, etc.
Our St. Croix river used to be a great breeding place for water
birds, but since pickerel were put in about thirty' years ago they
have naost all left. Pickerel destroy the chicks, so that very few
ducks or grebe now breed with us. Year before last there was
very good salmon fishing with fly just above the toll bridge
between Calais and Milltown. Some were taken last year, but not
so many as in former years.

One of Mr. Boardman's sons furnishes the following
interesting incidents showing the exactness of his infor-
mation regarding bird life and the estimation in which
he was held bj' learned men in Great Britain : " Father
did not begin serioush^ his ornithological collection until
he had been in business for uearl}^ a quarter of a century.
He therefore brought to it the trained instinct and exact
knowledge of a thorough business man. He spent nearly
twent}' winters in the state of Florida, and while there,
from 1868 to 1873, he made a collection of the birds of
that state for the Smithsonian Institution. Prof. Spencer
F. Baird, who succeeded Prof. Henry as Superintendent
of the Smithsonian Institution and afterwards as Fish
Commissioner of the United States, stated that father
was the only one whose returns to the Institution needed
no correction. Henr}^ Osborne, who for a number of
years was the president and general superintendent of
the railroad running from St. Andrews to DeBeck Junc-
tion was something of a naturalist and a great friend of
my father. He now lives in Eondon, England. About
four years ago I lunched with him in London at the
Carlton Club. He kindly took me about to the London
Society of Natural History, the British Museum, the
Zoological Gardens of London, and introduced me to the
managers thereof, and I confess I was not a little

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESUETS 125

surprised at the acquaintance they had with father's writ-
ings as an ornithologist and a man of exact knowledge
on scientific matters. Mr. Osborne stated to me that he
considered father the best friend he ever had ; that his
advice and counsel, of which he availed himself con-
tinually while in this country, saved him at least once
from bankruptcy. I also visited Henry E. Dresser at
Topclyffe Grange, Farnborough, Beckenham, Kent,
England, who, together with the oldest son of Baron
Rothschild, brought out the most elaborate and learned
work on the Birds of Europe ever published, with life size
portraits of the birds in colors. Mr. Dresser visited father
at Calais in 1860 or 1861, and speaks not onlj- all the
European languages, Russian included, but also Chinese
and was for many years in correspondence with father.
Mr. Dresser informed me that in the comparison between
the American and European birds of kindred species, in
which there is quite a difference in size and coloring in
manj^ instances, he relied outside of his own experience
more fully upon father's descriptions than that of an}-
other collector."

The formation of Mr. Boardman's large private col-
lection in ornithology represents but a part of his work
of this kind during the years in w'hich he was engaged in
active field stud}' and collecting. He carried on an
extended correspondence with naturalists in all parts of
this country, in New Brunswick, in Canada and in Eng-
land. With mau}' of his correspondents he also engaged
in a regular and business-like system of exchanging
specimens, his correspondence showing how extensive
these exchanges were. He made many gifts to institu-
tions and museums, including the Boston Society of

126 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Natural History, Boston, Mass. ; Museum of Compara-
tive Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. ;
Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. ; Portland Society of Nat-
ural History, Portland, Maine ; Natural History Society
of New Brunswick, St. John, N. B.; Zoological Society
of London, London, Eng., and the Smithsonian Institu-
tion and Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
He also exchanged specimens with the commercial nat-
uralists in New York and Philadelphia.

On nearly every one of his vessels that carried lumber
to foreign ports a box of specimens was sent by Mr. Board-
man to some correspondent and often separate smaller
boxes and parcels to other individuals were included.
Naturalists were constantly writing to him for specimens
and his response to their requests were always liberal and
prompt. Mr. Boardman's largest contribution was to
the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C, regard-
ing which the Secretary, Prof. S. P. Langley, says:
" The records here show that Mr. Boardman contributed
to the collections forty-eight accessions, consisting largely
of birds and bird skins and comprising in all nearly two
hundred specimens. The most noteworthy of Mr. Board-
man's gifts to the Institution were several specimens of
the now extinct Labrador Duck ( Camptolaiynus lah-ador-
ius), which is very rare, a single skin being worth at the
present time about $1,000."

In reference to this very valuable contribution to the
Smithsonian it is related that when in New York, on one
of his visits to the South, he went to the museum in
Central Park, which had some duplicates of these ducks
and the director ordered an assistant to pack the ducks
and send themto Mr. Boardman's address in Washing-
ton. Upon his return from the south, in the spring, he

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SOME SCIENTIFIC RESUI^TS 127

was surprised to learn from Prof. Baird that they had
not come. When on reaching New York he went to the
museum and told the director that he had not received
the ducks. The director sent for his assistant and asked
why he did not send the ducks to Mr. Boardman as
instructed last fall. He replied that he did not think that
the director knew how valuable they were, to which he
replied that there were ' ' no duplicates in the museum
too valuable for Mr. Boardman."

Among the animals in which Mr. Boardman was much
interested were our native bears. Writing in Forest and
Stream of March 4, 1899, about the ways of bears, he
says : "I have found great trouble in getting specimens
of very young bears. The hunters, always in a hurry to
get their bear bounties, take them to the treasurer for the
money and he cuts off the nose from the skin of the old
one and the whole head of the little ones. In my many
winters in the south and in California, where bears do not
den, I have never been able from the hunters to find one
nor ever had seen one until it was old enough to follow
the mother." Great was Mr. Boardman's delight, there-
fore, when, in February, 1900, one of his woodsmen
found a female bear in a den with three cubs — " queer
little things, ' ' he says they were in an article published
in Forest and Stream of March 17 of that year. " They
weighed about twelve ounces each ; length from end of
nose to end of hind toe, twelve inches — not much larger
than a full grown red squirrel. They lived about a week
after the old one was killed. From the umbilicus being
entirely healed I should judge them about two weeks
old." A photograph of these young cubs was published
in Forest and Stream and is here reproduced.

128 THE NATURAI^IST OF THE ST. CROIX

Mr. Boardman sent a copy of this photograph to his
grand-daughter, Marjorie Boardman at Minneapohs,
Minn., writing her a pretty letter February 22, 1900, in
which he said : "I wrote your father about my woods-
man who killed an old mother bear that had three little
baby bears that did not have their eyes open. They
only lived about a week after the mother was killed. It
was too bad to kill the old mother bear, but, I suppose
she had no business to have been a bear." No natural
history specimens which Mr. Boardman ever had pleased
him more than those cubs, as he considered them very
rare.

Mr. Boardman was a naturalist of the old school and
employed the methods of the old field naturalists in his
studies and his collecting — "first shoot your bird."
But there was nothing wanton in his work. He was care-
ful and humane. Even as early as 1869 he deplored the
wholesale slaughter of the birds in Florida, killed by the
hundreds for their plumes and at that time was anxious
that laws should be enacted and enforced for their pro-
tection before they should become exterminated. Eater
our own laws for bird protection and the requirements of
a license to take birds for scientific purposes met with his
earnest and hearty support. Practical woodsman that he
was, as well as naturalist, Mr. Boardman knew the whole
art of woodcraft. He was used to camps and acquainted
with camping outfits. He knew all the birds of the woods
by their song, his favorite warbler being the. Hermit
Thrush. He knew all about guns and dogs. In one of
his autobiographical sketches Mr. Boardman recalls that
in his early life the brothers, Henry and Francis Richards,
who came from England as agents of the rich Binghams

SOME SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 129

who owned large tracts of timber land on the St. Croix,
were the first men he had ever seen to shoot snipe over
trained dogs. He had made a study of guns and many
letters on the subject passed between himself and Prof.
Baird, the latter recommending the Maynard gun which
Mr. Boardman used to great satisfaction. He was known
from Maine to Florida as the best wing shot of his day.
Regarding dogs he had much correspondence with Mr.
John Nesbit, Jr., of Cambridge, Mass., who was one of
the most famous importers and breeders of setters of his
time and Mr. Boardman used to say the reason his own
dogs knew so much was because they came from the town
where Harvard University was located.

Throughout Mr. Boardman's long correspondence with
naturalists, extending over many years and embracing
hundreds of letters, only a single instance occurs in
which he expresses any desire for personal recognition.
This occurs in a letter to Prof. Robert Ridgway written
from Calais, December 8, 1884, in which he presents
that naturalist with a skin of Falco columbarius, from
Florida. From that letter the following extract is made :

I do not kuow as I should have written again so soon only
you said you would return the skin ; but if it is so unique a speci-
men and among your great numbers have none like it, the right
place for it is the United States Museum, as you might want it for
purposes of comparison. I did not suppose you could make a new
race from one specimen and do not remember as I said anything
about race. But I described this in such a way that if it should
prove different when you get other skins with which to compare it
before others may do so, as to be ahead and call it Boardman's
Pigeon Hawk. I have been sending lots of queer specimens to
Washington ever since Kennicott's time and if I have found one
which you can call for me 1 shall be well paid.

CHAPTER vrn

peksonaIj characteristics

ONE of the most prominent characteristics of Mr.
Boardman's individualitj- was his intense devotion
to that subject in which he was engaged. Whether it
were business, science or recreation, he gave himself
completely to whatsoever demands they made upon him
for the time being. The conscientious devotion which he
rendered to his employers' interests when a j-oung man
characterized him throughout his entire business career.
An early riser all his life, he made a long day in the
store, at the mill, in the business ofl5ce. He expected
his employes to be as faithful to his interests as he had
been to the interests of his employers when a young
man ; and many were the lessons of industry, economy
and thrift which he gave to the men working for him in
different capacities. As his business activities increased
and their duties became more exacting he simplj^ doubled
his diligence and discharged most joyfully the added
responsibilities.

His habits of business were most exact and methodical
and he performed every duty the moment it was required.
He never put. off till tomorrow what could be done

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 131

today. Grasping a business proposition or meeting a
business contingency lie surveyed it rapidly, judging
and acting promptly and almost invariably his decision
was right. He rarely made mistakes in judgment or
errors in acting. It is but one illustration of this to say
that only ten days before his death he had balanced his
books and brought forward an inventory of his estate —
up to January 1, 1901 — everything being clearly stated
and so complete that no mistake could possibly arise.
Had this not been the case at each recurring year pre-
viously, it might almost have seemed as though he was
expecting death.

In 1853, Mr. Boardman commenced a private diary,
keeping the same in the small pocket form so well known,
the little books being uniformly two and one-half by four
inches in size and being printed and ruled to from six to
ten lines under each day's date. The first entry was
made Monday, January 14 and the record was continued
for a period of fortj'-eight years. It is indeed remarkable
that in this long time but two breaks occur in the daily
record. The first was for a single day, March 1, 1884,
when he was in Florida; the other from March 8 to
March 23, inclusive, following the death of his wife and
during his own severe illness. The records are neces-
sarily brief, being made in Mr. Boardman's neat and
uniform handwriting and generally with a pencil. They
embrace items of personal expenses, state of the weather,
where he was on each day, letters written, birds seen and
shot, his occupations for the day, engagements, where
he attended church and who preached, with other similar
memoranda. More than anything else this diary attests

132 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

his methodical habits while its practice no doubt con-
tributed to such habits, to his promptness and to his love
of order.

Mr. Boardman was a man of domestic tastes and social
temperament. The centre of his life was his home and
he ever believed in its abiding influence for good. He
always remained 3'oung and among his friends was at
seventy what he was at forty — simple, alert, frank,
bright, full of wit and story, quick at repartee, or serious
in conversation if the occasion demanded it. His force
and purity of character, his genial disposition and his
winning smile always created an atmosphere in what-
soever company' he entered. His presence never sup-
pressed fun or light talk, while the gayest welcomed his
coming and to the young he was a companion, while his
tone was always pure, elevated and refined. At the same
time he was sensitive to the feelings of others and to the
conditions about him. To his wife he always turned
with perfect confidence for sympathy and support. Speak-
ing of his mother and of his recollections of home one of
Mr. Boardman's sons writes :

My mother — the inseparable companion of my father for more
than fifty years — was one of those sterling New England women
of advanced ideas for her time, a model housewife, interested with
father in the advancement of the educational facilities in the vil-
lage, and perhaj)s no other person was more instrumental in the
founding and maintenance of the beautiful cemetery at St.
Stephen, in which lovely spot both she and father have a
sepulchre. She was very fond of flowers and had for many years
one of the most beautiful rose gai-dens in that part of the country.
Unlike father she had none of the Celt in her composition, but
always regarded life as a serious proposition. She lived at a time
when large families were the rule instead of the exception. There
were eleven of us children, ten boys and one girl, six of whom

MRS. GEORGE A. BOARDMAN

THE NEW YOM
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASl'OU. LENOX AND

TILDEN pnHND'TTOVS

B L

PERSONAI. CHARACTERISTICS 133

died in infancy. Our next door neighbor, Mr. Ed. Smith, had
twelve children and on the other side the family of Mr. James
Murchie, fourteen children, all of the latter save one, I believe,
living to-day, and no finer family w^as ever raised in any commu-
nity. Until the time of Mr. Murchie 's death he was one of father's
warmest and most intimate friends. Speaking of large families,
1 attended my grandmother Boardman's golden wedding about my
sophomore year in college, at which if my recollection serves me,
there were seventy-two members of the family present, children,
grand children and great grand children, none of whom had ever
been accused of any wrong doing. And as I remember business
men on the St. Croix river, " captains of industry" as they are now
termed, I believe there were more men living on the St. Croix at
that time who were fitted to be President of the United States and
more women who were endowed with gifts entitling them to
reign, than in any community in which I have since lived.

Mr. Boardman was one of the few men who possessed
the happy faculty of always remembering every one whom
he ever met and being able to call them by name. When
travelling he was always on the lookout for old acquaint-
ances and enjoyed shaking hands and having a few
words with them, generally ending with a hearty laugh.
It made no difference whether it was a millionaire or one
of his former workmen, a negro or a Chinaman — he
treated them all as gentlemen and they all seemed
equally pleased to see him.

His excellent business judgment and always correct
decision regarding investments were prominent traits in
Mr. Boardman' s character. This was shown all through
his life but especially at the time the business revival
came to Milltown, N. B., when the present cotton mill
company located in that place. Beside his own home
he owned four other pieces of property and a saw mill,
including the water power and one-fourth interest in

134 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

the water power where the cotton mill is located. He gave
his interest in that to the cotton mill company to induce
them to locate there ; then sold them the land surround-
ing their mill, his homestead and the saw mill (as they
wanted the power to pump water), a tract of land for
homes for the employes and the balance he sold to other
parties. It was the only time in the history' of the town
when there was any demand for property and he was the
only one that showed the good judgment to sell. Another
instance of his good business judgment was shown in his
never making investments in Florida, although he had
spent many winters there when northern men were
investing largely in business enterprises that promised
large returns ; and when one of his sons also resided
there, was himself largely interested in railroads, orange
grov^es and hotels. None of them, however, could ever
induce Mr. Boardman to invest in their enterprises to
the extent of even one cent.

His love of home was a very strong trait of his char-
acter. His affection for the place in which he lived, had
passed his active years and had made his money, was of
a kind with his love of the domestic fireside and of his
own family.

To all the interests of the city where he lived he was
devoted — the church, the schools, the streets, the town
improvements. Connected with many large corporations,
with banks, steamboats, railroads, shipping and mills,
he realized their worth to the community and was always
active and constant in the public duties they imposed.
But when these had been attended to he entered into
the social and home pleasures with all the vigor of
youth. After having spent two or three winters with his

PERSONAlv CHARACTERISTICS 135

children at the west, when it was not known but he
might make that his future home, he returned to Calais
with all the gladness of a boy returning after long
absence to his childhood's home.

When asked by his sister if he was not to live in
Minnesota thereafter, he replied: "Emily, I'd rather
live in Calais and go up to the cemetery and read the
names of my dead friends on their gravestones than to
live in Minnesota for all there is out there." Not long
before his decease a consensus of the leading citizens of
Calais and St. Stephen had been obtained as to whom
they regarded the most successful man who had ever done
business on the St. Croix and the unanimous opinion
was that it was George A. Boardman. He had been
happy in his domestic relations ; had been successful in
business ; had retired with a competency at a compara-
tively early period ; had devoted his life, most rationally,
to the pursuit of science; had won the friendship and
confidence of the leading naturalists of the country and
had secured the love and respect of his fellow citizens to
the extent that he was easily the first citizen of the two
cities in which he had spent his entire life. Measured
by the standard not alone of dollars or political promi-
nence, but of personal enjoyment, the fame that comes
of worthy service and the happiness following a well-
spent life, Mr. Boardman had lived the simple, successful
life and had won the palm of deserved honor at the hands
of his peers.

Because of his Massachusetts ancestry he possessed a
large share of the Puritan conscience. If it ruled him
to strict life and the performance of rigid duty it was,
happily, a duty to which he willingly yielded, day by

136 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

day, throughout his long life. He was always a con-
stant, prompt and loving attendant at the Congregational
church in Milltown and in Calais. When absent from
home he always attended church and no entries in his
diary are more regular than those which record his
attendance at church in Philadelphia, Boston, New York
and Washington where he always went to hear the most
eminent preachers of the time. At home, when enter-
taining friends, he invariably went to church on Sunday,
even if his guests did not ; and when Prof. Baird and his
family were his guests he records going to meeting while
Prof. Baird "kept house." Returning from the south
in 1865, he reached Portland on Fast Day, April 20,
where he remained for the day and attended the union
ser\dce at one of the churches. But he was liberal and
tolerant. An anecdote is related by one of his sons : —
"While we lived in Milltown, in a house near the
Catholic church, I noticed twice ever^^ year the priest
came to the house to see father. In those days the
Protestant churches imparted the impression that being
a Roman Catholic was next to being entirely lost, so I
inquired of him what the priest came for. After deliber-
ating a few minutes he said, 'Albert, you know that
within a year or two the Catholic parish here has con-
structed a new church, school house and residence for
the priest. I sold them the lumber for this operation
and, being a little short of money, they came to me for a
loan. The priest comes twice a year to pay the interest
and always comes promptly on the day it is due.' "

An extract from a letter to Prof. Baird written at
Boston, May 23, 1869, shows the regard which he had
for the observance of the Sabbath : ' ' Saw Doctor Brewer

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 137

yesterday. Think I will go down and make him a call
this afternoon. It being Sunday he might be at work
with his eggs, stamps, etc., and I can keep his mind
away from such things Sunday."

While compelled to go out to service at the early age
of thirteen years and being deprived of the advantages
of an education in early life, he was determined that his
sons should have a college education. Three were grad-
uated from Bowdoin in the years 1866, 1869 and 1873,
respectively, and the fourth, who preferred to go west,
attended the University of Minnesota. " I do not think,
however," says one of those who went to Bowdoin, "that
all of his sons combined, with the advantages he gave
them, ever acquired an education comparable with that
which he himself assimilated through his most extensive
reading and association with scientific and literary men."
He continues : ' ' Personally, about the only things of any
service in life which I ever learned came from my asso-
ciation with my father during our only too brief com-
munion. The love of nature, which came to all of us
boys from our father and mother, has been my chief
treasure. From them we learned to love the secrets of
the woods, the notes of the birds, the hiding places of
the arbutus, the murmur of the pines, the pool beneath
the alder shade where the trout lie hidden and to love
our dumb companions. Their love of the beautiful was
in contrast with many homes I can remember."

Mr. Boardman's personal acquaintance with the lead-
ing naturalists of the country was very extensive. In
Boston, New York, Washington, Philadelphia and
throughout the south he knew all the ornithologists of
note, although he did not correspond with them as often

138 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

as he did with his more intimate friends. His brother
Gorham, who resides in Brooklyn, writing in 1902, says :
"I was, several summers ago, when at Nantucket,
introduced to a gentleman who said, ' Mr. Boardman,
what, Mr. George A. Boardman of Calais, the ornitholo-
gist ? ' I replied 'no, but I am his brother.' 'WeU,'
he said, ' he is known by every lover of birds from Maine
to Florida.' " In whatever place he was, from Maine to
Florida or from Washington to the west and to Cali-
fornia, there were those whom he knew. And he prized
their friendship. It was his first duty at every place
where he stopped on his many journeys from one state
to another "to go all around and see the folks " or call
upon his scientific friends. He loved to do this and it
was a duty as well as a pleasure that was never neglected.
The same was true when Mr. Boardman returned to his
home in Calais from winters spent in Florida or at the
west.

His good nature never forsook him. He was always
cheerful and sunny. The apt story, the winning smile or
the hearty laugh were evidences of his happy disposition.
He was thoroughly unselfish. Nothing is more common
in letters to his scientific friends, when describing any-
thing new, rare or curious that he had obtained, than for
him to say : ' ' This specimen I will send to the National
Museum that it may be available for comparison ; it is
too important to be kept in a private collection." When
in Washington he was most attentive and helpful to per-
sons in Maine who were interested in visiting the depart-
ments or the museums. Many have been his acquaint-
ances who tell of the pleasure they had in being conducted
through the exclusive formalities of Washington life by

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 139

Mr. Boardman, who, from his familiarity with the depart-
ments and acquaintance with their chiefs, had the advan-
tage of the inside knowledge of thinsg which he shared
with his friends.

Prof. Leslie A. Lee of Bowdoin College, Brunswick,
who was chief of the Albatross scientific corps in its
dredging work under the United States Fish Commis-
sion in 1885 and 1886, teUs how, in the evenings after
work was over as they were seated upon the veranda at
the headquarters building at Woods Holl, Prof. Baird
for hour after hour, would talk about Mr. Boardman, of
his rare attainments, his accurate knowledge, his keen
observation and tell story after story of their experiences
together in the Maine w^oods or in their studies at the
Smithsonian at Washington.

Mr. Boardman was ver}- fond of reading. In fact, as
his daughter Mrs. Taylor says, he "read ever>'thing "
excepting novels and was very fond of the poetry of
Browning. He took regularly seventeen magazines,
journals and newspapers and read them all. In a letter
to Prof. Baird written at MiUtown, N. B., November 30,
1879, he says: "I am hard up for reading matter.
Have not seen a Smithsonian report for a long time ;
should be glad of most anything." Again, writing to
him from Minneapolis, March 6, 1883, he says : " Can-
not you send me something to read. Have not seen a
Smithsonian report for a couple of years, nor any of your
bulletins. There are very few naturalist folks here, all
are on a rush for business. I have found Chicago the
same, no collectors of anything." He had a splendid
memory, remembering everything he read and the names
of all persons whom he ever met. He was very regular

140 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

in his habits, generally retiring at nine o'clock in the
evening. He always looked on the bright side of things
and remained a boy all his life. This cheerfulness and
good nature, the optimistic view he always took of
human affairs, was founded upon his belief in the Divine
goodness and in the benevolent order of all things as
directed by the Great Creator. A single passage from a
letter written to Prof. Baird at his brother's ofiSce in
New York, when Mr. Boardman was on his way south,
is of deep interest in this connection. It is dated Janu-
ary 12, 1869. "I was much surprised," he writes, "to
hear of the sudden death of Mr. Cassin. Mr. Lawrence
told me this morning. I hardly know what Philadelphia
and all the naturalist people are to do without him.
How many of our naturalist friends are being taken
away. But it is just as natural to die, as to be born and
all we can do is to be ready when we are called." No
one who knew his life could ever have had a doubt but
he was ready, always, for the final summons.

How did this plain, unschooled man become the friend
of the great scientists of the country ? What elements
of character did he possess which made him their close
and trusted companion and co-laborer in the paths of
science ? It was because he possessed a union of the
characteristics which have just been outlined. He was
a true lover and devout worshiper of nature. He was
endowed with an extraordinary natural gift for the
acquisition of scientific knowledge ; few men living and
few men who ever lived had the gift of knowing birds
and bird ways in so generous a measure as did Mr.
Boardman. His moral qualities were of the highest
order and his frank, genial personality won friends to

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 141

him which his noble character, friendliness and unselfish-
ness made sure and constant. His friends were friends
for life. He never lost enthusiasm for his studies in
ornithology and was always making some real and true
additions to the sum of human knowledge in this inter-
esting science. His words were those of truth and his life
was simple, noble, honest.

Among the articles which Mr. Boardman contributed
to the Calais Times during the last few years of his life
was a biographical sketch of his friend, the late James
Murchie of St. Stephen. The closing paragraph of that
fine article applies with great aptness to Mr. Boardman's
own life : "There was manifested in him none of the
decrepitude or petulance of old age. When last I saw
him, his face was sunshiny, for his 86 years had always
been maturing goodness. The length of his life is
neither magical nor mysterious, when we consider cer-
tain habits and dispositions which he possessed. He
lived simply and loved simplicity ; he was unostentatious,
industrious, frugal and democratic. Temperate in all
things, he was a later day Puritan, an improvement on
the old Puritan in that it adds cheer to a loyal devotion
to the right. His great age was beautiful simply because
his youth had been so ; his October was the natural
result of his May. His latter days had a magnificent
maturity because in his younger days he had always
sought that which was good. He was like one of those
glorious maples that we see in October, that nature
crowns as the resplendent monarch of the surrounding
forest."

CHAPTER EX

APPRECIATIONS AND HONORS

AT Mr. Boardman's death the local, general and
scientific press united in graceful tributes of respect
and eulogy. A selection from those published with some
extracts from private letters addressed to members of his
family are given. An extract is also made from an article
contributed to Forest and Stream of August 5, 1899,
by his friend, Mr. Charles Hallock. In order to avoid
unnecessary duplication biographical and business details
have generally been omitted from the following appre-
ciations :

Charles Hallock, in Forest and Stream, August 5, 1899

The honored subject of this sketch seems to be one of those
elect whose hves have been graciously prolonged because of their
usefulness to men. Eecognized for three-quarters of a century as
a keen, discriminating naturalist, and possessing the most com-
plete pi'ivate museum of natural history extant, he is now in his
eighty-second year, as painstaking as ever in his investigations,
devoting himself \%ith energy almost unimpaired by time to his
favorite pursuit and study. Statedly, every week he contributes
to the Calais Times an article on such natural history subjects as
engage the interest of household readers and inform them of the
peculiar places which our familiar creatuies of the fields and

APPRECIATIONS AND HONORS U3

swamps and woods occupy in the animal kingdom. In this man-
ner he does much to remove prejudices against insects, birds and
reptiles deemed noxious, and this helps to preserve the biological
balance among associated fauna.

Now it happens that students and scientists who have become
eminent in their profession are usually so segregated and intent
on theu- transcendental pursuits that they often fail to become
conspicuous among the world's honor men ; and hundreds of such
are enrolled on the unpublished book of the immortals whom the
general public has never heard of, simply because they occupy a
superlatively higher plane. These have no time to exploit their
achievements. Such a man, I may be pei-mitted to say, is George A.
Boardman of Calais, Maine, an ornithologist of highest repute
among scientists, a contemporary and whilom associate and co-
worker with Audubon, Agassiz, Downs, Todd, Baird and Bethuue,
those studious observers of natural objects whose renowTi lingers
after their departure like the afterglow of a midsummer sunset.
Scores of his rarest specimens have gone into the Government
collections at Washington, not without a transient pang, yet with
heroic recognition begotten of a keen sense of Uncle Sam's
priority and inherent right of possession. For example, he had
in his museum at Calais (which is installed in a spacious two- story
building devoted exclusively to the purpose) an incomparable lot
of Indian stone implements of most every kind, including some
fine spear heads found at the Grand Lake Stream while digging
for the first dam in 1860, not far from Dr. Bethune's old camp.
Prof. Baird, he remarks, ingenuously enough, " thought the Gov-
ernment Museum had the best right to them and took them away."

" When Prof. Baird used to visit me," he writes, " we used to
go among the elderly people and pick uj) lots of tmmpery such as
spinning wheels, flax wheels, old canoes and Indian things. I had
a queer old wooden anchor which was dragged up in the lake,
such as Indians used to hold their canoes while fishing. Baird
thought this a good find. There was a shell heap about twelve
miles below here that we used frequently to visit and dig over.
He was a very happy man when on the hunt for relics. Even
after he was taken sick he used to write me that he wanted to
come up and finish that shell heap."

144 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

The chief feature of Mr. Boardman's zoolopcal collection is a
complete presentation of the local fauna of Maine, including 278
species or varieties of birds found in the eastern section. The
museum iu its entirety comprises some 2,500 specimens, mounted
and in skins, with the young and eggs of the most of them ; also
a good collection of horns — thirty-five different kinds. Among
his rarer miscellaneous specimens are the skins of a black wolf
and of a bay lynx {Lynx rufus), both obtained in Florida, where
he passed no less than twenty winters.

Mr. Boardman has been prominent all his life in important
business interests, and now is in banks, in steamboats, vessels,
lumber and mills. In 1870 he retired with a competency, but his
time is quite fully occupied iu a variety of ways, the public for
the most part being beneficiary.

J. A. Allen, in The Auk for April, 1901, Vol. XVIII.,

Pages 219-220

Mr. George A. Boardman, an Associate Member of the Ameri-
can Ornithologists" Union, died at his home at Calais, Maine, Jan.
11, 1901, at the age of 83 years. He was born in Newburyport,
Mass., Feb. 5, 1818, and went with his parents to Calais in 1828.
His ancestors came from Yorkshire, England, and settled iu
Newbury, Mass., in 1637. Mr. Boardman, for over thirty years
was engaged in the lumber business on the St. Croix river, retir-
ing from active business in 1871. He was well known as an
enthusiastic naturalist and sportsman and was a warm friend of
the late Dr. T. M. Bi-ewer and Professor Baird and of many later
and less prominent naturalists. It was his habit for many years
to spend his winters in Florida, stopping at Washington, New
York, and other points on the journey to and from Maine to his
winter home, to renew acquaintance with his many naturalist and
other friends.

The present writer first made his acquaintance at Jackson-
ville, Florida, in December, 1868, and later the same winter passed
a few days with him at Enterprise on Lake George. He had
already become familiar with the bird life of Florida, where for
many years it was his habit to collect specimens and take field
notes, giving liberally of his specimens to Professor Baird of the

APPRECIATIONS AND HONORS 145

Smithsonian Institute, and sharing his field notes with other
workers. As early as 1862 he published a Catalogue of the Birds
Found in the Vicinity of Calais, Maine and about the Islands at
the Mouth of the Bay of Fundy (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.,
IX., pp. 122-132), an annotated list of 231 species. His collection
of Maine birds is notably complete, numbering, it is said, 278
species (cf. Forest and Stream, August 5, 1899) and comprising
some 2,500 specimens, mounted and in skins, besides a large collec-
tion of eggs. He was a frequent contributor to Forest and Stream
and other natural history journals, including the American Natu-
ralist and the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, and up
to the last days of his life is said to have contributed, "statedly,
every week," to the Calais Times, "an article on such natural
history subjects as engage the interest of the household readers
and inform them of the peculiar places which familiar creatures
of the fields and swamps and woods occupy in the animal king-
dom."

Mr. Boardman was a man of genial and attractive personality,
and after his retirement from business, some thuty years ago,
devoted much of his leisure to travel and natural history pursuits,
his interest in such matters having a wide scope.

The Calais Times, January 17, 1901

It is with profound grief that the Times records the decease
of this eminent citizen. Mr. Boardman passed peacefully into
pleasant dreams, at his home on Lafayette Street, last Friday
morning. In our sense of personal sorrow which the event
brings, all readers will share. His weekly articles contributed to
this paper during the past five years, on scientific, ethical, educa-
tional and political subjects would fill a volume. His last article
was published in the issue of December 20, on the subject of Wars
of the Century. He was also a contributor to other papers and
magazines, especially the Forest and Stream, for many years and
until two weeks before his death, and the constant demand for
his writings attested their merit and the interest they aroused.

It will require more than a single article to portray Mr.
Boardman's life, work, and qualities, all of which were of a kind
to induce respect, confidence and friendship. His life was in the

146 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

daylight, aud he was esteemed of all acquaintances. At an out-
ing of prominent citizens, three years ago, it was decided by a
unanimous vote that George A. Boardman, of all men who had
resided in the St. Croix valley, had best enjoyed the blessings and
fruition of human life. Successful in business, fortunate in family
relations, contented in his studies, broad and keen in intellect,
varied in accomplishments, stainless in character, observant of
aflfairs, with ample wealth, he was passing his declining years
vrith a happiness that befitted a naturalist, Christian and noble-
man. He was the last of the aggregation of gi'eat business men
of the last generation who won fortune from the lumbering indus-
try here.

He conducted the largest lumber business on the St. Croix
river until 1871, when he retired from active business to enjoy the
fruit of his labor in travel and in pursuit of his favorite study.
He had been a noted naturalist and an authority on ornithology
for nearly fifty years. His private museum comprised the finest
collection of mounted birds in New England, if not on the conti-
nent.

He had studied the fauna of Maine as no other field naturalist
has ever done, and passed twenty winters in Florida and other
southern lands in pursuit of his favorite studies. He was a life
member of the Natural History Societies of Boston, Mass., and
London, England, a lifelong friend of Profs. Baird and Coues of
the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, Dr. Brewer of
Boston and Charles Hallock of New York. Among his other
scientific and literarj^ friends were Kev. Dr. Bethune, the eminent
theologian. Senator Geo. F. Edmunds, Walter Brackett, the cele-
brated painter of fishes. Rev. James Smith of Philadelphia, Prof.
Bailey of Fredericton, N. B., Dr. Leith Adams, Judge Ritchie of
New Brunswick, Henry Ward Beecher and scores of other eminent
personages.

St. Croix Oourier, January 17, 1901

By the death of George A. Boardman the valley of the St.
Croix has lost one of the most aged and best known of its resi-
dents. By reason of his extended life and the variety of interests
which he touched, added to a genial and social disposition, he

I

APPRECIATIONS AND HONORS 147

became knovm to an unusually large number of people. His
departure creates a vacancy in many circles.

Havino: acquired an ample competence in business Mr. Board-
man exhibited a rare spirit of contentment with his acquisitions
and in mid-life withdrew from active business that he might
devote himself to other interests.

He had become deeply interested in ornithology. The first
impulse in this direction is believed to have been received when,
on a visit to South America in charge of a cai-go of lumber, he was
struck with admiration by the birds of brilliant plumage there
seen. He began to collect specimens and learn the art of mount-
ing them. Thus was laid the foundation of the notable collec-
tion which he has left, embracing representatives of all the laud
and water birds found in this section of the country, together
with not a few from other localities. In the collection are to be
found also the eggs of all the species and the nests of many.
These specimens, by the completeness and the fine skill with which
they have been prepared and mounted, form an ornithological
cabinet which probably has no equal in New England, at least in
private ownership.

The pursuit of this branch of natural history brought Mr.
Boardman into acquaintance with men of science in difterent parts
of the country. The list of his distinguished friends would be a
lengthy one, friends who were attracted to him not only by a
common taste, but also by his kindly disposition and warmth in
friendship. He was a member of the natural history societies of
Boston and of London and was accustomed to contribute papers
of value to the publications of these bodies.

The Calais Advertiser, January 17, 1901

In the death of George A. Boardman, who departed this life
Friday morning, Calais loses the last of the old line of lumber
manufacturers, who developed that industry on the St. Croix
and turned the wilderness into a city of homes for a prosperous
people. Having amassed a competency, Mr. Boardman retired
from active business life, although retaining a lively interest in
several companies in which he was a shareholder, and at the time
of his death was president of the Frontier Steamboat Company,

148 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

having succeeded the late James Murchie. After his retirement
Mr. Boardman gave the greater part of his time to the study of
natural history, and especially to the fauna of Maine and New
Brunswick, and was considered an authority in everything per-
taining to ornithology. He possessed considerable literary ability,
and was a valued contributor to several periodicals. Mr. Board-
man's cheerful countenance and genial manner will be missed by
old and young, rich and poor, for he had a kind word for all.

The Maine Sportsman, February, 1901

Sportsmen and naturalists everywhere, acquainted with Mr.
George A. Boardman, of Calais, will keenly regret to learn of his
death which took place on the morning of January 11. In spite
of the fact that he was within two months of being eighty-three
years old, his mind was clear and active and he kept in close
touch with the progress of natural history study in New England
and particularly in Maine, in which he was greatly interested.
Mr. Boardman had a most genial disposition and, although the
writer met him but once, yet he cari-ied away such pleasant
memories and anticipations of future meetings, that he feels as if
he, as well as the ornithologists of New England, had met with a
personal loss in the passing over of this kind, helpful, earnest
man.

Minneapolis Journal, January 12, 1901

George A. Boardman, one of the most learned naturalists in
the United States, died yesterday morning at his old home in
Calais, Me., at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He was
the father of County Attorney Fred H. Boardman and Mr. W. B.
Boardman of this city, and Mr. A. J. Boardman, now of Phil-
adelphia, but formerly a prominent Minneapolitan. The deceased
had been a successful business man and was interested in banks,
lumbering and other industries, as well as in shipping. He retired
from the active affairs with a competence in 1870 to occupy him-
self with his favorite studies and public matters. His natural
history museum is conceded to be the finest and largest private
collection in America. In the Zoological collection alone there
are 2,500 specimens mounted and in skin, with the young and eggs

APPRECIATIONS AND HONORS 149

of most of them. Not only was he a student and naturalist, but a
keen sportsman as well and a famous and enthusiastic angler.

Boston Journal, January 13, 1901

George A. Boardman, a prominent and wealthy citizen of
Calais, Me., died at his home Friday morning, January 11, aged
eighty-three years. He had been a noted naturalist and an author-
ity on ornithology for nearly fifty years. His private museum
comprised the finest local collection of mounted birds in New
England, if not on the continent. It is to be placed in one of the
Government buildings at Frederictou, N. B. and to be known as
the George A. Boardman Collection. He contributed many inter-
esting articles to Forest and Stream and other magazines and
papers, up to within two weeks of his death. The last issue of
Outing speaks of him (with others) as one of the noted sportsmen
of the past century.

Forest and Stream, January 26, 1901

The deatli of Mr. George A. Boardman, recorded in another
column, removes from the list of Forest and Stream's subscribers,
contributors and readers one of the very oldest. Mr. Boardman
was for a large part of his life an active business man, but like
many of those who work hardest in the world's business, he made
time to pursue what was his pleasure as energetically as he did
his business. For more than fifty years he had been a naturalist,
and had done work vdth and aided some of the most eminent of
the naturalists of this country. Audubon, Agassiz, Baird, Downs
and others were among the men with whom Mr. Boardman was
associated, to whom he freely gave of the interesting facts that he
had collected and among whom to some extent he distributed
the collections which he had made.

Notwithstanding this generosity, he was able to gather
together a very large museum which, as might be supposed,
represented vvdth singular completeness the fauna of eastern
Maine. Mr. Boardman was thus naturally one of the first author-
ities on the fauna of the extreme Northeastern United States, and
it was to him that application was first made for information on
that subject.

150 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Besides his fondness for natui-e, he was a keen sportsman,
and above all, an enthusiastic salmon angler, and very many of
the older and better known anglers of the Eastern United States
used to visit him and fish with him.

ilr. Boardman was, it is believed, the second subscriber on
the list of Forest and Stream when it was started in 1873, and
from that time to this he had taken it without a break.

Hon. George F. Edmxinds, United States Senator from

Vermont

I can say with sincere gratification that so far as my acquaint-
ance with Mr. Boardman went, I was strongly impressed with
the extent of his knowledge, the puritj' of his character and his
very agreeable manners.

Robert Midgway, Ctcrator Smithsonian Institution, Wash-
ington, D. C.

Although I saw Mr. Boardman but seldom, I nevertheless
remember well his kindly face, his friendly and genial greeting
and his bright and interesting conversation.

D. G. Elliot, New York

Mr. Boardman was a most careful observer and his statements
of things he had seen were thoroughly reliable. Men like him are
always rare and it is a pity that they are obliged to leave the scene
of their labor.

Prof. William H. Doll, National Museum, Washington, D. C.

My knowledge of the late George A. Boardman was confined
to personal intercourse with him at the Museum and at Prof.
Balrd's house on his way to and from Florida in the early years
of my connection with the Museum. Like all who made his
acquaintance I felt a sincere regard for him, his mild, kindly
manner and consideration for those younger and less experienced
being always manifest.

APPRECIATIONS AND HONORS 151

Henry E. Dresser, London, Eng.

Mr. Boardman lived to a great age and lived an active and
useful life and one cannot be sorry for his death but only for those
who have lost him. It is now^ nearly 40 years since I last saw him
at Calais, but it seems but yesterday, and I have a most pleasing
recollection of the time I spent in his company talking over bird
matters. He was a most excellent field naturalist and a keen
observer, and to me who then was but a young naturalist he was
always most ready to lend a helping hand as he was to any young
fellow who was interested in ornithology or oology.

Among the honors conferred upon Mr. Boardman
were the following : He was chosen a corresponding
member of the Boston Society of Natural History, April
16, 1862. On April 10, 1863, he was elected a cor-
responding member of the Natural History Society of
New Brunswick, St. John. At the first congress of the
American Ornithologists' Union held at New York in
September, 1883, he was elected an associate member of
that body. He was also an honorary foreign member of
the Zoological Society of I^ondon, Eng. On the occa-
sion of the dedication of the new building of the Ameri-
can Museum of Natural Historj^, New York, which was
opened by President Rutherford B. Hayes, December 22,
1877, Mr. Boardman was invited as a special guest.

CHAPTER X

CORRESPONDENCE WITH NATURAI.ISTS

MR. BOARDMAN was a voluminous letter writer.
His list of correspondents embraced nearly every
ornithologist of note in this country, of the period when
he was most active in his ornithological collections and
studies, together with many in New Brunswick and
some in England. He not only spent a great deal of time
when at his summer home on the St. Croix in cor-
respondence with his naturalist friends, but when at
Florida during the winter he was a constant and frequent
letter-writer. Not only this, the letters which have been
examined that were written by Mr. Boardman show that
when stopping in Boston, New York or Philadelphia for
a day or two on his journeys to or from the south, he
wrote many letters to his correspondents when at his
hotel. If he called upon his scientific friends or saw any-
thing new at the museums he was always sure to write
half a dozen letters to his correspondents, telling them
whom he had met and what he had found that was new.
This was especially the case when stopping at his brother
Gorham's in New York. Even when on his trips to the
west and to California, as well as during his visits at

CORRESPONDENCE 153

Clifton Springs he was devoted to his correspondents and
many were the letters he sent them, detailing the incidents
of his trips, telling them what he had seen and inquiring
for their well-being. In one instance he wrote a long
letter to Prof. Baird while remaining in the railway station
at Boston, waiting for a train. It was on December 18,
1875 and was in reference to obtaining a pair of moose
for the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. He loved
to remember his friends and was most happy to answer
their inquiries or do them a favor. Moreover his letters
were always familiar and interesting. He had the happy
gift of saying pleasant things and writing about common
experiences and observations in a most entertaining way,
especially when writing to his most intimate friends.

Systematic and careful as he was in all his business
methods, Mr. Boardman retained the letters that were
addressed to him and always filed them in the most
orderly manner. Between three and four hundred letters
addressed to him by his scientific correspondents and
friends have been examined in the preparation of this
memoir.

It has been diflScult, however, except in few instances,
to obtain many of Mr. Boardman' s own letters. Those
to Prof. Spencer F. Baird of the Smithsonian Institution;
to Dr. William Wood of East Windsor Hill, Conn., to
Robert Ridgway of the Smithsonion Institution, to Mr.
J. A. Allen of the American Museum of Natural His-
tory, New York, and to Mr. Charles Hallock of Jersey
City, N. J., have, however, most fortunately, been
obtained and made use of. A list of the naturalists with
whom he was in correspondence and whose letters were
preserved by Mr. Boardman other than those just named,

154 THE NATURAI^IST OF THE ST. CROIX

embraces the following well-known names: D. G.
Elliot, A. E. Verrill, George N. Lawrence, T. M.
Brewer, William Brewster, C. Hart Merriam, Charles J.
Maynard, H. A. Ward, A. E- Heermann, Elliott Coues,
H. A. Purdie, John Krider, A. Eeith Adams, N. Clif-
ford Brown, Everett Smith, Ruthven Deane, J. B. Holder
and E. W. Bailey. In addition to these scores of letters
from lesser known natuialists as well as from local orni-
thologists and observers in different parts of the country,
are included and have been carefully examined. With
many of these last named Mr. Boardman carried on a
regular although occasional correspondence, while scores
of other letters were addressed to him by young natur-
alists who asked for instructions or by observers who
wrote making inquiries upon interesting, but little under-
stood, points in bird life, and upon which they knew Mr.
Boardman possessed information. The letters of acknowl-
edgment and thanks found among his papers are sufficient
to show that all such inquiries were promptly and thor-
oughly answered. His kindness and helpfulness to young
naturalists were proverbial among all his scientific friends
— a fact to which these letters give abundant testimony.

Mr. Boardman's most constant correspondent in this
country, as well as his dearest and most intimate friend,
was the late Prof. Spencer F. Baird, for many years sec-
retary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

Spencer Fullerton Baird was born in Reading, Pa.,
February 23, 1823, and graduated from Dickinson Col-
lege in that state at the age of seventeen years. In
1845, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Baird was chosen
professor of natural history in Dickinson College, and
five years later when only twenty-seven years of age was

SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD

Secretary of the Smithsouiau lustitutiou, Washiugtou, D. C.

1878—1887

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CORRESPONDENCE 155

appointed assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution.

An outline of the scientific career of this remarkable
naturalist would embrace the following briefly stated but
distinctive periods of scientific activity : A period of
twenty-six years devoted to laborious investigation of
the vertebrate fauna of North America, 1843-1869 ; fort}'^
years of continuous contribution to scientific literature
of which at least ten were devoted to scientific editiar-
ship, 1840-1880; four years devoted to educational work,
1846-1850 ; forty-one years devoted to the encourage-
ment and promotion of scientific enterprises and the
development of new workers among the young men with
whom he was brought into contact, 1846-1887 ; thirty-
seven years devoted to administrative work as an ofl&cer
of the Smithsonian Institution and in charge of the
scientific collections of the government, 1850-1887 ;
twenty-eight years its principal executive officer, 1850-
1887 ; nine years secretary and responsible head of the
Smithsonian Institution, 1878-1887; sixteen years United
States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, a philan-
thropic labor for the increase of the food supply of the
world and incidentally for the promotion of the interests
of biology and physical investigation, 1871-1887.

Prof. Baird's published works embrace his History
of North American Birds, five volumes, 1874-1884 ; the
reports of the Smithsonian Institution and of the United
States Fish Commission, while a complete bibliography
of his works would embrace over one thousand titles, two
hundred of which are to be classed as formal and elaborate
contributions to scientific literature. With the publica-
tion of his quarto work of over two thousand pages on

156 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

the Birds of North America, as one of the volumes of
the Pacific Railway reports began what has been most
appropriately termed the Bairdian period of American
ornithology and the beginning of the work of the Baird-
ian school of naturalists — a period covering nearly thirty
years, and one, says the late Dr. Elliott Coues, " char-
acterized by an activity in ornithological research and a
rapidity of advancement without a parallel in the history
of science."

Prof. Baird was a keen archaeologist and originator
of the National Bureau of Ethnology. He designed the
government vessels, the Fish Hawk and Albatross, used
in the service of the United States Fish Commission and
was instrumental in obtaining from Congress the appro-
priation for the building of the east wing of the Smith-
sonian Institution. Roj^al honors were bestowed upon
him by the governments of Australia, of Sweden and
Norway and of the Republic of France ; while he was
elected to membership in ten foreign scientific societies of
high renown. While in the discharge of his duties in
connection with the Fish Commission, Prof. Baird died at
Woods HoU, Mass., August 19, 1887.

The correspondence between Prof. Baird and Mr.
Boardman began in 1862. Among Mr, Boardman's
papers have been preserved nearly one hundred letters
from Prof. Baird ; while in the Baird collection in the
Smithsonian Institution are one hundred and seventy
letters from Mr. Boardman — all of which have been
read with great care. The earliest letter from Prof.
Baird bears date June 18, 1862 and the last, September 9,
1886. The first from Mr. Boardman bears date January
4, 1865 and the last, September 5, 1886, covering a

CORRESPONDENCE 157

period of twenty-four years. Between June 18, 1862
and September 12, 1868, there are eight letters addressed
to Mr. Boardman in Prof. Baird's own hand ; after that
the letters are in the handwriting of his secretary,
although signed by himself — except in case of one very
brief letter dated at Eastport, Maine, June 26, 1872, and
a somewhat lengthy postscript to a letter from Washing-
ton, November 1, 1869.

The first letter from Mr. Boardman to Prof. Baird
found in the Smithsonian collection is dated at Milltown,
January 4, 1865, which is in answer to a letter for
information. But earlier letters than this from Mr.
Boardman must have been written, as in his of June 18,
1862, Prof. Baird begins by saying: "Yours of June
13 is just to hand and I hasten to answer it." He says
in this letter: "Any chicks of partridge, grouse and
ducks will be very acceptable. Embryos in alcohol will
also be desirable if well identified. I have never seen
the egg of solitary sand piper ( I w^ant to very much ! ) but
think it will be somewhat like that of spotted tattler,
though larger." Writing from Carlisle, Pa., July 21,
1862, Prof. Baird says: "The bird you send is the
female of the Black Poll warbler ; possibly of the Bay-
breasted ; but I think not. The females of the two can
scarcely be told apart. I would like another dusky
duck's egg very much indeed. Any certain eggs, how-
ever common, are always welcome."

In all the early letters to Mr. Boardman, Prof. Baird
is teUing him what they want at Washington and giving
suggestions for collecting. November 19, 1862, he writes :
" If you have the sets of eggs and nest of the three kinds
of thrushes, with parents, I wish very much that you

158 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

would send them in order that I may satisfy myself
positively in regard to them, especially the spotted egg
and bush or tree nests. We want very much a good
specimen of the cinerous owl. A series of Jaegers, too,
would be very acceptable as Mr. Coues is now preparing
a monograph of this genus. A young white-wing gull,
too, we would like. Can't you send us some of those
northern eggs you speak of ? Where were they collected ? ' '
November 23, 1865: "I would much like a good lot
of good skins of the three-toed woodpeckers ; good cross-
bills ; Hudson Bay tits ; Canada Jays ; Hawk and Richard-
son's owls ; Acadian owl ; Pine Grosbeaks ; Pine finches,
spruce and common partridges and the like, for our
exchanges. What you gave me last summer have
answered a capital purpose." May 20, 1868: "I am
glad you have the Pied duck and have got us a speci-
men. Don't forget that it is the otily North American
duck not in our collection and next to Great Auk, perhaps
our greatest desideratum among water birds. I can't
ask you to send this one, but I speak for the next."

Writing from Beverly, Mass., September 12, 1868, after
a visit to Mr. Boardman at Milltown, Prof. Baird says :
' ' I cannot tell you how I hated to leave with all the
projected trips incompleted. I don't know when I have
had so nice a time and shall always be grateful to you and
Mrs. Boardman, to say nothing of Charlej' and Georgie,
for your kind attentions." On this visit Prof. Baird had
become much interested in the shell heaps of the St.
Croix valley and the many Indian relics, which, on sub-
sequent visits he gave much time in excavating and
studying. In the same letter occurs the following: " I
really must have Pollice's spear if I have to get the

CORRESPONDENCE 159

United States district attorney to seize it as smuggled
from old Indians without paying duty ; or else as a
Fenian weapon intended for invading New Brunswick.
I will ask Prof. Henry to let me send you a lot of showy
shells and birds to trade for this and other purposes. I
hope you will find out all the shell heap localities and
dig all you can ; there will be plenty left for me to do
when I come up again. I intend to make a specialty of
this subject and want to work it out thoroughly. Note
all you can about thickness and succession of beds;
interpolation of gravel; position of best remains," etc.

In a letter dated Washington, November 22, 1869, Prof.
Baird writes : " Ridgway is now hard at work upon the
North American hawks and is doing a good work. He
finds a species like the European Merlin, but differing
both from that and from the Pigeon Hawk. I will show
it to you when you come. Write soon and let me know
when we may expect you. I hope you will arrange so as
to pay us a good visit on your way south." Writing to
Mr. Boardman, who was then in Florida, January 27,
1871, Prof. Baird says: " The fish bill has passed the
House and has a good chance of going through the
Senate so that you may yet be called upon to furnish
oflBcial information of what you know about fishes and
you will please be prepared." To this letter a postscript
is added from Mrs. Baird : "I send a handkerchief left
here, thinking you may want it. — M. H. C. B."

" I would like very much," Prof. Baird writes from
Woods Holl, Mass., July 25, 1871, "to 'knock off'
work here and go with you up Princeton way to shoot
young ducks ; but I rather think I had better stick to
my business the present summer, hoping that perhaps I

160 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

may have the pleasure of the excursion next year." In
a letter dated November 23, 1871, he writes: "I am
much obliged to j'-ou for the potatoes and shall value
them both for their own merits and for the kindness
which prompted you to forward them. I only hope that
you and Mrs. Boardman will help us eat some of them
in Washington . ' ' This was after Mr. Boardman had sent
Prof. Baird a barrel of p T-tatoes as he had been in the habit
of doing. He had, also, from time to time, sent firkins of
butter and jars of raspberries. What a bond of union such
gifts were between country and city friends in the good
old days ! Writing to Mr. Boardman in Florida, Feb-
ruary 2, 1872, Prof. Baird says : " You must not apolo-
gize for routing us out so early on the day you left as it
was by no means unnaturally early and was not of the
slightest consequence. As an offset I shall claim the right
of doing the same thing some day at your own house — but
if you talk too much about this it may prevent me from
exercising this privilege." Again writing to him while
in Florida in the winter of 1873 he says : " I do not at
present think of anything very special in the way of birds,
although w^e would be glad to have some skins of the
Florida Jay, the Ivory Bill, the Red Cockade and Wood-
peckers, Paroquet, etc. I hope, however, you will be
able to secure some Limpkin eggs of which, as you
know, we have only one and that from Cuba."

The kindly personal interest expressed by Prof. Baird
regarding young naturalists and in all his friends, is
shown in many letters. "The j^oung gentleman from
New Bedford," he writes to Mr. Boardman, October 10,
1870, "who wants to go with you next winter is William

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PUBLIC LIBRARY

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CORRESPONDENCE 161

Nye. You will find him an excellent companion, per-
fectly able to look out for himself and to take his share
of the hard work of the campaign." On May 3, 1872:
" I am sorry that poor Krider has been so much affiicted
in his family. I had heard nothing of his misfortunes."
On May 21, 1871, he inquires: " Who is Mr. Whitney
and what does he do for a living ? ' ' and on June 3 of
the same year says : "Many thanks for the information
respecting Mr. Whitney. Can you give me any idea how
long he is likely to stay in California and whether a let-
ter addressed to him would reach him in time to secure
some specimens." In this letter he also adds: "I am
glad to hear that you are able to give Willie Bryant some
help in his researches. I trust he will follow in the foot-
steps of his father so far as natural history is concerned."
In a letter dated May 17, 1872, he says: " I am glad to
find that you got home safely and that Mrs. Boardman is
better. Perhaps if you will take her on your next excur-
sion to Florida she will be less troubled with that heart
complaint. ' ' In the very last letter that Prof. Baird wrote
to Mr. Boardman, dated at Woods Holl, Mass., Septem-
ber 9, 1886, occurs this sentence: "I am glad of the
prospect of getting the skin of the black lynx ; it will be
quite a novelty to us."

Letters from Prof. Baird to Mr. Boardman

Washington, D. C, Nov. 1, 1869.
My Dear Mr. Boardman ;

Yours of the 25 of October is duly at hand ; and for a letter
that might be presumed to give an account of a wedding in the
family, it has about as little reference to that subject as it well
could. You do not tell us how the bride looked, nor the bride-
groom, nor any of the particulars that the ladies especially are so

162 THK NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

anxious to learn; and not the first bit of cake has, so far, come to
hand. I suppose, however, you intend to bring your trunk full of
it when you come.

Is it not about time for you to tell us a little as to your plans
for the future, and when w^e may arrange for killing the fatted
calf for yourself and Mrs. Boardman and Willie? Tell Willie that
Mr. Elliot is expected back in a few days ; and he will have plenty
of pictures to look at, as well as be making new ones all the time.

The report you asked for, for Mr. Pollice, has already gone to
him. Let me know if anybody else remains to be supplied. We
have sent to Dr. Todd, to Simpson, and to Connor. Who else is
to be remembered?

The skulls of the South African beasts are what we now
want above everything else of that kind. Xothing would come
amiss. Entire skeletons of course are most desirable ; but single
skulls, with the teeth and horns as perfect as possible, including
the lower jaws, will be very useful to us. We have one entire
elephant skull, I think it is South African ; but other specimens,
even single teeth, will be welcome. The rhinoceros we have not
and want it very much. Nothing of the mammalian kind will
fail to be acceptable.

Eidgway has not reached Washington, but will probably be
here before long. His collections are probably in our cellar,
although I do not distinguish any box as his, among quite a large
number sent in by Mr. King.

I am glad you have the nest of the Goshawk, and hope it will
reach us in safety. We want to procure such large specimens, as
they can only be exhibited where there is an opportunity for
giving them ample room, which can be done in our museum.

We have already sent you three copies of the bird catalogue,
printed only on one side ; but if you want more let me know\ We
expect Dr. Brewer with Mrs. Brewer and Lucy to pay us a visit
soon after Thanksgiving. The Dr. expects to make some big
hauls in the way of eggs. I did not find much of special novelty
here, on my return ; very few eggs of any account, and only one
case of birds from Bishop, embracing nothing new, and nothing
very rare. Our Arctic collections, wiien they reach us, which
will be in the course of a few months, will doubtless be full of

CORRESPONDENCE 163

interest. We had from Willis the other day a box containing 350
eggs of the Arctic Tern, and about 50 of either Sheldrake or Black
Duck; and I wait your coming to determine which.

Yours truly,

Spencer F. Baird.

How do you like the preceding experiment of phonographic
reporting* or have I tried it on you before? I found Professor
Henry quite ill on my return, and although better I have still to
attend to most of his share of correspondence so that 1 have been
obliged to call in services of a reporter. It is very nice in some
respects, as I gain a great deal of time, and sometimes work off 40
or 50 letters in a couple of hours. It is however not quite satis-
factory as you cannot tell when you are repeating words or ideas
unnecessarily and the chain of connection is not so clear.

I am adding to the box for Cheney and have just put in some
shells for his wife.

Washington, D. C, Jan. 7, 1871.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

Yours of the 4th came to hand yesterday, and I hasten to say
how happy we shall be to see you and Mrs. Boardman here. Give us
word by telegraph, the morning you start, in order that we may
be completely prepared for you.

I am much interested in what you say about the African ani-
mals. Please send on directly here all you can beg, borrow or
steal, and we will decide in regard to their preparation. We shall
have all that are capable of it, suitably mounted for exhibition as
specimens, making skulls of any that will not suit our purpose.
We expect a first-rate taxidermist here in the course of the winter,
who probably will be able to do full justice to them. We do not
want anything set up in our museum looking preW?/ loell ; nothing
but the very best taxidermy will suit us now.

Cannot you get for us that big Wild Boar. It might serve to
stare out of countenance some of our animals of a similar nature

*This addenda — in Prof. Baird's own hand — to the letter of November 1, 1869,
refers to its having been dictated to a stenographer, or to a " reporter " as he terms it, a
form of letter writing that was then new.

164 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

that now roam in Washington undisturbed. So do the best you
can for us, "and your petitioner will ever pray."

With much love to Mrs. Boardman from all of us, believe me.

Truly yours,

Spencer F. Baird.

Washington, D. C:, May 9, 1871.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

You may be sure that we shall look out for the barrel of
potatoes, and hope it will cuine before we leave. Our plan is still
to get away to Woods IIoll as early in June as possible, although
the precise date is a matter of some uncertainty. I had a very
pleasant interview to-day with Mr. Whitcher, the Fish Commis-
sioner of Canada, and he proposed a good deal of joint work. He
says if I will go to the Bay of Fundy next year he will be present
himself, or by deputy, and will furnish on the part of the gov-
ernment, all necessary assistance in the way of vessels, etc., and
we can have a good time overhauling the natural history of the
fishes. This was what I had looked forward to, and was very
glad to have him suggest it.

We have agreed to take the Moose that your boy sent
Wallace, and the Caribou, at $75 each, which he says was about the
price of mounting ; and I believe he has already been paid this
amount, so that it will hardly be possible to have the one Brewster
offers.

I suppose you have not seen Wallace's specimens so as to
judge of their excellence. He promises to keep them on hand
until we want them, which will not be until next fall.

Ridgway has painted up your Auk's egg and it will be sent on
very soon. I will put it in the same box with that little duck
that has been here so long, and forward it in a day or two to your
brother Gorham. Eidgway has just returned from New York,
where he has had a very good time. He is very much interested in
the Central Park.

I hope those Moose skeletons will be forthcoming, as we
have lately had inquiry for Moose bones and were unable to
exhibit them. Love to all.

Very truly yours,

S. F. Baird.

CORRESPONDKNCE 165

Woods Holl, Mass., July 17, 1871.
My Dear Mr. Boardman :

I am delighted to hear that you have at last succeeded iu
getting for us a skeleton of the Moose; and write to ask you to
forward it by some vessel loaded with lumber and bound for Wash-
ington. If you can send it to the care of our friend Mohun it will
be well, as he is very clever in such matters. Please let me know
the bill of expense, in order that I may send it to Washington and
have it paid. It is of no consequence whether or not the skeleton
reaches Washington before the middle of October, or even later.

I am glad you sent the Labrador Duck to Wallace to be
mounted for us. I enclose a letter received from Cheney in regard
to a strange duck which I cannot make out ; can you give me any
suggestion in regard to this?

I am not at all astonished that Dresser was not satisfied with
the California book, either as to the descriptions or the biographies.

I flatter myself that the new work will be a totally different
affair, and that in it he will find all that is to be known in regard
to the habits, as well as descriptions of our American species. I
am glad to have information in regard to Allen's movements,
which I have not previously known. He will undoubtedly make
a magnificent collection of all sorts of things. Could you not get
Capt. Treat to save for us the jaws of the sharks he takes and
throws away this summer? That will give me a clue to the species,
and should I get to Eastport next summer I shall then arrange to
make a more complete collection.

I am hard at work here, studying up the fish, and have already
collected quite an amount of valuable information on the subject.
If you come to Boston before September, I wish you would run
down for a few days and see us here.

Very truly yours,

Spencer F. Baird.

Washington, D. C, Feb. 17, 1872.
My Dear Mr. Boardman :

Yours of the 11th has just come to hand with its eftectual
disposition of the question of the Coontail cat. I am not at all
surprised at the result, I am glad to find the question set at rest.

166 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

I envy you your trip up the St. John in the little steamer.
Don't you think you ought to have a dredge along and do what
you can iu st-rapiug the bottom on the way? I shall be glad to
have you secure the alligators referred to ; and hope you will get
at least one. Dr. Brewer came last night and will remain until
some time next week. He brought that undetermined uest and
egg that you collected last year, the female parent of which was
described as like a female Bobolink. We have been looking over
the matter, however, and have come to the conclusion that it is a
Pine grosbeak. I have, accordingly, confiscated the specimen, in
the interest of the Smithsonian Institution, and intend to hold on
to it.

I wrote to Bickmore about that Labrador Duck and told him
we would be very glad to have it for the Smithsonian. He writes
in reply to know what we will oft'er the ]\Iuseuui of Natural History
for it. I then responded that if he chose to put the intercourse
between the Smithsonian and the New York Museum on a stiict
exchange, quid pro quo, it was all right, but it was not exactly the
way we were in the habit of treating such institutions ; that it had
been our intention to give the Sluseum a first-rate series of our
duplicates without any consideration of the question whether they
could give auj^ exchange; but if he preferred the other plan I
would send him a list from which to make a selection. This
would be rather a poor way of doing business for the Museum, as
we have so much more to give than they have to return.

Give my kind regards to Prof. W3'man and tell him I hope
he will stop in Washington on his return and see us.

Very truly yours,

Spencer F. Baird.

Washington, D. C, March 9, 1872.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

Yours of the 3d is safely at hand, and I envy you the nice
time you are having in Florida. I hope you will come back full
of treasures and ready to share them, as ever, with the Smith-
sonian.

I am hapi^y to say that we are in possession of the Labrador
Duck, a very nice specimen which arrived yesterday. A week or
two ago I wrote to Bickmore asking whether he wished the

CORRESPONDENCE 167

relations between the Smithsonian and the New Yorlc Museum to
be put on a strictly commercial basis; and I received a private
letter from Mr. Haines, who in some way had heard of our cor-
respondence and who disavowed any such ideas of a quid pro quo
as Mr. Bickmore seemed disposed to establish, and said the
Museum would be always happy to give the Institution whatever
they had to spare. Shortly alter Bickmore wrote stating that it
gave him much pleasure to send the specimens ; so that I suppose
he had received some sort of hint from the committee.

We have nothing new since the date of your last letter except
that collections of one kind and another are coming in ; and we
are hard at work trying to keep matters in good condition. We
shall send off Monday the ^Nloose skeletons to Ward to have them
mounted and prepared in his best style.

Ridgway is here hard at work at the Water Birds, and we
have about 120 pages of our new book in type, though the work
goes on rather slowly. AVith much love from all our people I
remain,

Sincerely and truly yours,

Spencer F. Baird.

Eastport, July 17, 1872.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

I want to come up, before a great while, and pay you another
short visit ; but cannot quite see my way clear to do it just now.
I write, however, to say that we hope, as soon as the Revenue
Cutter is finished to make the long talked of trip to Grand Mauan,
and we shall be glad to have you and Mrs. Boardman ready to
join us in the excursion. Mr. Cheney was over here yesterday,
and I arranged to have him in readiness to take us around when
we go.

On Monday last, the Senator, Mr. Paine, Capt. Treat and
myself went up to visit the pond, not far from Robbinston, into
which the captain had put a number of salmon fifteen years ago,
and where the fish had been reported visible on several occasions.
We took with us a large salmon net and set it in the lake but
caught no fish. Many of the neighbors, however, assured us that
they had seen huge fish, of from ten to twenty pounds, jumping

168 THE NATURALIST OF THK ST. CROIX

out of the water. We had a delightful excursion and returned
yesterday iu good condition.

Please let me know the amount that you advanced to French
for the Grand Lake Stream expedition. This, I presume, cost
considerably more than the first estimate ; probably somewhere
from twenty to thirty dollars. Of course this is a matter of no
consequence, and I only ask that I may not forget to pay you
when I see you.

Maynard made his appearance last week and went to Grand
Manan the next day. Cheney says that he and Herrick are col-
lecting a great many birds. Herrick, among others, has several
hundred skins of Petrels. I wish you would see Mr. Eaton again
and find out whether he has sold the engine of his steamer, or
whether she is available for mj' use. If he proposes to rent her
to me I would like to have him give me his terms in writing so as
to form the basis of a regular contract.

Verrill has not yet arrived, but I expect him every day, and
presume that the steamer will be needed by the end of this week
or the beginning of next. As I understood Eaton he would fur-
nish the boat, with an engineer and attendant, and coal, for $10 a
day, and that, possibly on carefully cousidering the matter, he
might be able to put it at a somewhat lower figure.
Very truly j'ours,

Spencer F. Baikd.

Eastport, Aug. 29, 1872.
My Dear Mr. Boardman :

I went over to Grand Manan last Friday, and spending the
night with Cheney, started Saturday morning for McLaughlin's,
where we remained till yesterday morning. The object of my
excursion was especially to talk with McLaughlin about herring,
and see for myself the spawning ground. I had a verj^ pleasant
visit, barring two days of fog and rain, and was accompanied by
quite a number of young scieutifics. We did considerable dredg-
ing and obtained numerous curious objects.

On my return I find your letter of the 26th with its enclosure
from Krider, and am much obliged to you for the opportunity of
knowing what he is about. I hope he will send you the egg of
the Solitary Sandpiper; as, if it is a genuine one, I will manage to

CORRESPONDENCE 169

steal it from you. He is rather shy now of giving anything to
the Smithgonian.

It is now so late in the season, and Verrill will leave so soon,
that it is hardly worth while to do anything more with Mr.
Eaton. I think that with the help of the tug we could have done
a good deal more work. Still it would have cost three or four
hundred dollars of my appropriation, which I can use to better
advantage. Mr. Gill has been here a week, and leaves today. He
was with me at Grand Manan, and saw a good deal that interested
him.

We are sorry to learn that Mrs. Boardman is being taxed so
much by the sickness of your relatives, and hope she may sooq be
relieved by their recovery. Is it not almost time for some of you
to come down to Eastport? It seems a great while since we were
together.

Very truly yours,

S. F. Baird.

Washington, D. C, Nov. 20, 1872.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

Your letter of the 15th and the accompanying Chick of the
Canada Grouse came safely to hand. The latter will be at once
figured for the forthcoming book.

I was glad to find from Dr. Brewer that he did not consider
his loss irreparable, and hope he may soon recover all the old
ground. I shall look to see you, according to your letter, towards
the end of December ; and hope to be able to make your visit to
us a pleasant one.

I would be very glad indeed to have the first pair of Caribou
skeletons, male and female, to be got and pay whatever they are
worth. I also would be glad to have a pair of skins, and would
like a first-rate head with them ; also, if it is possible to get a good
female moose skin, I would like it, so as to complete our series of
large animals. We have just received from Prof. Ward the
skeleton of the moose you sent, and it is perfectly magnificent in
its general appearance. As we have the Irish Elk and common
Elk, the three make a fine series. We have a man permanently
employed who can beat Wallace all to pieces. He is the same
person who mounted the head of the buffalo we have.

170 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Mrs. Baird has just gone off to naake a visit at my sister's and
would send love to Mrs. Boardmau if she were here.

Very trulj' 5'ours,

Spencer F. Baird.

Washington, D. C, Jan. 16, 1873.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

I was very sorry indeed that I did not have the pleasure of
seeing you on your waj' South, and if I had had any idea of the
train to look for I should liave been at the station and seized you.

Our smallpox scare is about over; as, although our neighbors
have been kept in strict quarantine, tliere has been no additional
development of the disease. "We have not had any apprehension
of it for some days past. Your letter was delayed, reaching me
too late for me to write or telegraph to Philadelphia ; otherwise I
should have sent you a despatch asking you to stop. I hope,
howevei', we shall not be cheated out of a visit from yourself and
Mrs. Boardman on your return.

I cannot imagine what Krider's hawks are unless they be the
Talifornia Rough-Leg. Did you notice how much featheiing
there was on the feet? These are bare about as much as the com-
mon partridge, the feathers not reaching down to the toes. I
would endeavor to see the birds if I thought Krider would show
them to me, but he has been so shy of showing anything to me
that I have not cared to bother about it.

We have received quite a number of nice things from Elliot
and Dall, among them eggs of two species of Phaleris, the Eed-
Legged Kittiwake, the Gray Auk and some others, eight or nine
in number. It is no small thing to get so many new water birds
at one lot. Among the series was the egg of Steller's Duck.

With love to Mrs. Boardman, believe me,

Sincerely j'ours,

Spencer F. Baird.

Washington, March 8, 1873.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

We were very glad to get your letter of the 3d and to know
something of your whereabouts. I was beginning to feel quite
uneasy about you, fearing that some snapping turtle or alligator
had gobbled you up.

CORRESPONDENCE 171

You give us a very tempting account of a Southern Spring.
This would iiave been iu greater contrast witli our own if we had
received it on the daj- of Inauguration. This was excessively
cold and bitter, and caused great disappointment to the thousands
of strangers who came in fi-om all parts of the countrj^ There
was a ball in the evening in a new buildhig erected for the pur-
pose, 350 feet by 150, and it was so cold that the guests wore all
the wrappings they could gather together, and they had to chop
up the chicken salad with hatchets to get a chance to eat it. It
was so cold that it is said the breath as it rose into the air gave
the appearance of a company engaged iu smoking.

If you will keep a sharp lookout for the time of blooming of
the Cereus plant, and let me know when this comes off, I will
come down and see the phenomenon.

When I went through Philadelphia a few weeks ago I stopped
and tried to see Krider's hawks, but Hooper had them iu West
Philadelphia, and I could not get a sight at them.

From the description I infer that they must be a variety of
Swainson's Buzzard. I cannot believe in the existence of a new
species of so limited distribution.

Very truly yours,

Spencer F. Baikd.

We are beginning to look forward to a visit from you on your
way home. We feel as if the smallpox had cheated us out of our
visit to which we had a right.

M. H. C. B.

Washington, Dec. 30, 1873.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

Your letter of the 23d was duly received, together with the
specimens therein advised, and we were especially pleased to get
the Whitefish, as enabling us to form some idea of its character.
It appears to be essentially the same as that common in the St.
John Elver and known there as the Gizzard fish, although it is
quite different from the Whitefish of the western lakes.

It is quite impossible to say whether the young fish are land-
locked salmon or sea salmon, especially as nobody has been able
to point out a character sufficiently marked to distinguish them.

172 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

The pigeon is one of the West Indian species, the name of
which 1 have not identified.

Any time tliat you have anything else to send please forward
the Florida fish.

With love to everybody, believe me.

Yours truly,

S. F. Baird.

Washington, April 17, 1874.
My Dear Mr. Boardman :

I have been wondering very much what had become of you,
and only learned incidentally from a gentleman who met you in
San Francisco, that you had actually gone to California. I am
glad to know that you are having so good a time, and I trust that
you will come back in first-rate health, with lots of nice speci-
mens and enough for your friends. I have nothing very novel to
communicate in regard to our doings. We are progressing in the
old humdrum manner, steadily adding to our collections, without
anything very startling. I hope, however, that the coming sea-
son will be equally prolific with the last in birds and their eggs,
of which, by the way, you ought to be able to pick up some nice
ones in California.

The government expeditions are getting ready to go out
although the appropriation bills have not yet passed. Dr. Coues
will doubtless get into the east section of the country and will
probably add largely to his lists.

Mrs. Brj^aut's youngest son, Willie, seems to inherit the
zoological tastes of his father, the doctor ; and in reply to her
inquiry as to a good locality for the spring, I have advised her
sending Willie up to Princeton with his attendant, there to hire a
couple of Indians and look up birds' nests. Mr. Frank Carryl
of New Jersey proposes to follow quite a similar route.

Mj' appropriation for the summer has not yet passed, but I
hope to be able to go to Noank towards the end of June, where I
trust I shall have the pleasure of a visit from j'ou.

Very truly youis,

S. F. Baird.

CORRESPONDENCK 173

NOANK, Conn., July 25, 1874.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

Thanks for your clever letter. As to the nest of the Pileated
Woodpecker, if you do not disturb it at all, nor the old birds,
they will in all probability nest in the same place next season,
and by a little judicious mauoeuveriug, by taking out one egg at
a time with a spoon, they may yield a dozen eggs as the Red-
headed Woodpeckers and the Golden-winged do under the same
circumstances. It would be a grand thing if you could get about a
dozen eggs from this one nest.

We are having a very good time here, and our party has met
with success quite equal to our expectations. The dredgers go out
every day or two, and bring back lots of nice things. The fishes
are also interesting. Dr. Palmer is still in Florida; but I have a
very good substitute for him. Lucy is still at North Conway
where she is having a good time.

Very truly yours,

S. F. Baird.

West Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 13, 1876.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

Yours of the 10th is to hand. I am happy to say that the
pleasant weather has greatly improved the comfort of the exhibi-
tion and that we are all doing pretty well in consequence. I hope
you will not fail to carry out your intention of coming on in
October.

If I were you I would not sell my pair of Labrador Ducks at
any price. Sometime you will probably want to give or sell your
collection to some institution and the including in it of a pair of
Labrador Ducks will add greatly to its value. Under any cir-
cumstances do not hint at a less price than .$200 or $250 in gold
for the pair. There seems to be a fancy for Labrador Ducks, and
you can get that as well as not. I would not sell them for a cent
less. You may be able to get another female, but it is doubtful
in regard to a male.

Mind what I say about the price. Tell him that you do not

want to part with them, but that they are worth the amount

mentioned by me.

Sincerely yours,

S. F. Baird.

174 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Washington, D. C, Nov. 27, 1878.
Dear Mr. Boardman:

Yours of the 24th is to hand. I was in hopes you would
begiu to say somethiug about coming south. Will it not be a good
idea for you to spend the next winter here as you did the last?

I have a great deal to tell you about adventures and experi-
ences at Gloucester during the summer, and of explorations,
arctic and otherwise. One of the best things obtained on the
Banks was the skin of the great Skua Gull. We obtained all the
Jaegers, as also the Dusky Puffin, etc. Send on the specimens
whenever you are ready, and eggs as niany as you please.

With love fi'om all of us to yourself and Mrs. Boardman,
believe me, Sincerely yours,

Spencer F. Baird.

Washington, D. C, Dec, 1884.
Dear Mr. Boardman :

Your letter of the 18th is to hand. Mr. Eidgway was quite
enthusiastic in regard to the Florida Pigeon IlaAvk, and is much
obliged to you for saying that he might place it in the Museum.
The next time you go, try and get some more.

I hope Albert will be able to get one or more skins and
skeletons of the Trumpeter Swan ; they are apparently getting
very scarce.

Several white Whooping Cranes would also be very nice.
They could easily be sent in the flesh in the cold weather; but
if necessary they might be skinned and poisoned, and sent with
the skins green to be mounted here.

What is the latest Fish Commission and Smithsonian Kepoi-t
you have received? Both volumes for 1882 have been published.

None of Nelson's reports have appeared.

Turner has got back from Labrador with some nice things,
but nothing startling.

We are just having a very severe cold snap. The thermometer
was nine above zero, which we considered pretty sharp. I do
not think we had such cold weather last year.

With warmest regards from everybody to yourself and Mrs.
Boardman, I remain. Sincerely yours,

S. F. Baird.

CORRESPONDENCE 175

During the first year of their correspondence, 1865,
fourteen letters were written by Mr. Boardman to Prof.
Baird. The period of greatest activity in the correspond-
ence between these friends was during the years 1868
to 1880. In 1868 Mr. Boardman wrote eighteen letters
to Prof. Baird ; in 1869, forty-two ; in 1870, twenty-six
and in 1875, sixteen. These letters are in the most familiar
language, all are interesting and nearly every one con-
tains more or less notes about the birds he had observed
and studied. There is not a letter within the range of
the entire correspondence that does not close with
remembrance to "our scientific friends" and "much
love to Mrs. Baird and I^ucy." Prof. Baird must have
been happy to have received these entertaining letters.
He made special request for them. As late as 1880 Mr.
Boardman began a letter November 3, by saying: "I
am afraid I have not come quite up to your order to write
every month as it must be more than that since I have
written;" while on December 29, 1882, writing from
Minneapolis, Minn., he commences a letter with : ' ' Some
years ago you told me I must write you every month. I
do not know how long that order was to last and think I
have not observed it very well. ' ' This was seventeen years
after their correspondence commenced and how dear and
rich had been the intercourse and correspondence between
these two friends ! It was but two years before Prof.
Baird's death and shows how intimate and constant had
been their friendship and work even though the period
of their activity was nearing its close. Its end only came
with the death of the great scientist.

While scores of entire letters are devoted to ornitho-
logical matters there are in all the others references to his

176 THE NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX

favorite study which make all Mr. Boardman's corre-
spondence of value. From Milltown, N. B., he writes
May 5, 1868 : "I got a nice nest of Goshawk's eggs yes-
terday, with the old female — the first I ever found with
the old parent. I am trying hard for the Saw- whet and
Richardson's Owl eggs. They ought to be found as they
are not uncommon all summer in the woods. I hope you
may soon get your arctic boxes and find some new and
good things. The warblers have got along and hundreds
of birds have perished by the cold." On June 10, 1868,
writing from Boston he says: "I brought up a Pine
Finch nest and eggs, also a Canada Jay's to Dr. Brewer,
as he wants to figure and describe them. ' ' "If you have
any northern skins that would help my collection," he
writes October 12, 1868, " please put them in when send-
ing the box — say a good summer plumaged Old Squaw,
Bonaparte Gull, and that I may compare it, one of those
Barred Three-toed Woodpeckers and Hawk Owl," etc.

Mr. Boardman became an expert taxidermist and his
mounted birds, skins and eggs always looked more
artistic and in better condition than those of any other
collector of his time. He always had better success in
obtaining rare specimens than most other field natural-
ists. Writing from Jacksonville, Fla., March 12, 1869,
he says : "I worked hard to get the Florida Jay on the
old Smyrna road where Dr. Bryant always found them.
I managed to get about a dozen but no other collector
got one except Allen, who had but one. I had to let a
few of them go for friendship's sake. I have also about
two dozen Mocking Birds and quite a good lot of Red-
cockade Woodpeckers."

Writing from Boston, May 28, 1869, he says: "I
notice what you say about the Towhees. We do not

CORRESPONDENCE 177

have them at Calais so I was not acquainted with them.
I shot several last winter and think their eyes were all
very light. One shot at Jacksonville had light eyes. I
am anxious to get home to look after birds' eggs as it
will soon be time for Warblers to nest." "I am glad,"
he writes from St. Stephen, June 12, 1869, "you have
the Great Auk in your collection. You must try and
get bones enough this season to set up a good skeleton.
There should be plenty of bones at Grand Manan." On
August 1 of the same year he writes : "I got a new bird
for my list last week, a Black Vulture, Abrata. I got C.
Aura about eight years ago, but Atratus I never knew so
far north as cold New Brunswick before although I have
known of several to be taken in Massachusetts." In
this same letter he says : "I also got a duck I did not
know this spring, but think it was the female Labrador
Duck and nothing new only I did not have one, which
helps out my collection. A week ago last evening after
tea, we took a canoe and went up stream a mile or two
and I shot six Black Ducks and one Wood Duck — pretty
well for after tea with ladies in the boat talking."

"Yesterday," he writes on September 21, 1869, "I
shot some Sparrows, one of which I think was Lincoln's
Finch but am not sure. It looked very much like a
Savannah Sparrow except the yellow across the breast."
On October 1, 1869, after Prof. Baird had written him
about this specimen he again writes : "I cannot well
send the Finch as it is mounted. It is a common Sparrow
that I have always taken for nice specimens of Savannah
Sparrow, with yellowish breast. If Savannah Sparrow
does not have the yellowish breast it is probably the
Lincoln Finch. I have one or two skins of the Savannah

178 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Sparrow that were marked by you which do not appear
to have the yellowish shade to the breast, but the
feathers of the tail are alike. There are lots of those
little Autumnal Warblers about the house. I suppose
they are the j'oung of Black Poll — they are very abun-
dant. I have shot half a dozen to see if they were alike. ' '
" The Goshawk's nest is in very good condition and I
wiU send it. I have no doubt Dr. Brewer wull have a
nice visit. Give him all the eggs he wants if he will
only finish up another part of his Oology — ten or twelve
3'ears for a part is slow business. He must hurry up or
we shall all be dead before we know anything about eggs.
I am sending some things to Wallace. I want to get a
few Deer or Caribou heads fixed to give away. I only
want a few but I want good ones ; I don't like so much
trash." Writing December 18, 1869, he says : "I add
three birds new to my list this j^ear — Florida Gallintde,
Purple GaUinule and Black Vulture. I also hope to add
Eincoln's Finch, but I cannot teU till I see your speci-
mens. These were taken at Grand Manan." Writing
from Milltown, July 26, 1870, he gives this description of
a new duck :

I told, or wrote you, some years ago, of shooting several small
ducks I could not understand ; I concluded they were in young
plumage and did not save them. Saturday I shot one female in
full plumage, as she had with her a flock of nine chicks. When I
shot her, I thought it a Wood Duck or Teal, and only shot one
chick, as I did not suppose it was anything new. I have mounted
the old duck and chick, and wish you could tell me its name; I
have not looked at any books for its name as I don't know where
to look. Its size is about the Euddy Duck, perhaps a little smaller ;
its back, sides and breast a very bright ruddy brown, its neck
mottled a light wliite and brown and looks gray, head darker,

CORRESPONDENCE 179

throat light and lighter from the eyes to the bill ; bill wide like
Ruddy, but not so wide, and no turn up to the end — feet not so
large as the Ruddy, spot on wing about the size of Teal, dove
color or lavender edged with white, the white very narrow, under
wings white, tail dark, the under feathers white and brown, belly
gray mottled with brown. I don't think it any cross as it had
a flock of young and I have shot half a dozen years before ; its
eyes light hazel. Now dear Professor 1 have not found a new
bird for my list this year and I want this bird to be a red breasted
Teal, or some rare stranger as I have no doubt you will call it,
you are so clever; you will laugh at the description, but I don't
know any little duck whose \vife it should be. It is not a Ruddy
Duck, or BufBed Head, Green Wing or Blue Wing, and not larger
than either, I must try to get the male, if 1 get time to go up
again, which I hope to do before long.

It is about this specimen of which he writes to Prof.
Baird from Boston, August 29 of the same year, when he
says: "I left the little stranger with Dr. Brewer. If
it should be the Tufted Duck it will be something new
to add to your book as breeding in Maine and I hope
you may describe it better than it has been done in the
ninth volume ( Pacific Railroad Reports) or by Audubon. ' '
On May 1, 1875, writing from New York to Prof. Baird
Mr. Boardman says : "I spent most of the day yesterday
at Central Park to see the boxes of New Zealand bird
skeletons opened. They were all mounted and we set
up two — they are monsters. The legs of the largest
were just at the top of Elliot's head. You must see
them. They have several duplicates, not quite entire,
which the Smithsonian should have. I asked for them
for you but got no answer, only that they should not sell
them to Ward or any other speculator. At Philadelphia,
where I spent two days, I called on Krider who left for
northern Minnesota for a couple of months' collecting,

180 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

the same day I left for here. He showed me his Soli-
tary Sandpiper's eggs. I think they are not the eggs
of the Spotted Sandpiper. They shotdd be larger to be
those, but instead were smaller and darker than those of
the spotted. He said he had some for me but I did not
get them."

" I have not much to report so far this year in natural
history," Mr. Boardman writes on June 14, 1875, "only
that I shot one Cedar bird with the waxen tips and
bright yellow instead of red. I have been on the look-
out for more eggs of the Ring-necked Duck. There are
four pairs breeding at Kendrick's lake but I cannot as
yet find the eggs. I was also told of some large Plovers
breeding at St. Andrews island and engaged a man to
try and find the eggs, also to be sure and get the birds.
He sent me a nice pair of Black-bellied Plovers which
looked as if killed with a club. The female had laid
but I have not heard whether the eggs were found. I
have never known this bird to breed with us although
Wilson and Audubon say some breed in the United
States." Writing from Jacksonville, Fla., December 30,
1875, he writes : "When in Boston I heard of a Black
Robin taken at Plymouth. I saw two persons who saw
the bird in a cage. I at once wrote to Mr. Joyce, a
bird shooter, who does considerable shooting winters and
enclose his letter. I tried to follow this Mr. Baldwin,
the owner of the bird, to see what became of it, but
could not find where he went from Plymouth. Dr,
Coues wanted me to make a record of any small birds I
could hear about in black plumage."

Notes found in letters of 1878 are : June 21 : "I got a
crow with a very long, slender beak, fully three-fourths of

CORRESPONDENCE 181

an inch longer than usual. The boys reported a crow hav-
ing quite a musical note — nothing like the old-fashioned
croak — but a neat trumpet sound. After getting it I
concluded the different note was caused by its beak in
some way being of such an odd length. I have him now,
mounted." July 27 : "I found a queer looking eel at
a fisherman's at Calais a short time ago, caught in the
river near the ledge. Not having any good reference
book on fish I do not know its name or if it is worth send-
ing to you. It may be what is called the American
Conger Eel, Auguilla oceanica, De Kay. It has a queer
head and in color is very prettily spotted ; colors very
bright and yellowish ; size about the same as the com-
mon eel. I put it in alcohol and will send it if you can-
not make it out from what I have said. It may be com-
mon but I have never happened to see one like it."
August 11 : " For the last two weeks the river and bay
have been full of little Gulls. I have had lots of them
killed but not one is Sabine ; perhaps they do not come
along so early in the season. I will have some of my
gunners looking after the Ross GuU this winter."

" I have been at work in bad weather this winter,"
Mr. Boardman writes on January 22, 1879, " in the bird
house — the first real clearing out for several years. I
sent your big box away and put up parts of it so long
ago I hardly know what is in the smaller boxes in it —
but they are bird skins, eggs, etc. Have Mr. Ridgway
examine the large white Goose that was shot flying with
Canada Geese at Mace's bay near Point Lepreaux.
I heard about it and sent to St. John for the bird, think-
ing it must be an albino, but conclude it must be a
tame white goose that went away with the wild birds.

182 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

Also look at the long-beaked Crow that made such a
singular note." With this letter is a note asking Mr.
Ridgway to ascertain the contents of the boxes that the
gift may be properly entered. Mr. Ridgway's report is:
Six mounted specimens ; nineteen skins ; eighteen eggs ;
one skin of fish from Florida and one Corvus americanus
with malformed bill. April 26, 1879: "I was out in
the pasture this week and found the snow quite deep.
Saw a common striped snake sunning himself on the
snow. It was very active and I ran it over the snow for
some distance, when it went into a brook and after a
moment or two went under the water and remained
there apparently disgusted with the looks of things this
time of year. Is it common for snakes to be out on
snowshoes ? ' ' September 8, 1879, Mr. Boardman writes :
' ' We have had a great flight of new birds migrating of
late — a large flock of Razor-billed Shearwaters, seven of
which were killed ; also a black Tern, new to me and a
very pretty White Heron. I also had a Black Vulture
sent me and heard of a Turkey Buzzard having been
killed at Grand Manan, but I do not know the species.
The laughing guUs have been very numerous about the
islands of late, most of them young ones." In a letter
written September 16, 1879, he says:

I noticed what you say about sending the sliius of the Black
Tern to Mr. Ridgway for identification. I don't think there is
any trouble in making them out as they were all three old birds,
one in full dark plumage, two in change, the white feathers all
coming through about the lower parts ; but I had another bird
sent me I could not make out, a new bird to me ; it may be a
Gull-billed Tern as its bill was more like a Gull's, tail forked and
long wings like a Tern. None of my books described it so I could
not be certain. I sent the skin to Mr. Eidgway to name about the

CORRESPONDENCE 183

time I wrote you, but have not heard from him. The bii'd was
about the size of Sabine's Gull.

I had the tail of a very large Thresher Shark sent me a few
days ago, and heard of a very large shark being stranded at Campo-
bello; sent down word to know about it and heard it was a Bask-
ing Shark, thirty feet long and as big around as a small schooner,
so knew it was too large to send you in a can of alcohol.

" I have heard from Mr. Ridgway," writes Mr. Board-
man on September 26, 1879, "and he says the skin I
sent was Gull-billed Tern as I expected. It makes a
bird new to my list. I had a White Heron sent me last
v/eek that was killed at Grand Manan and yesterday I
mounted a Black Guillemot in change of plumage —
white and black. I also mounted a Coot which is quite
rare with us."

During the year 1880 Mr. Boardman wrote most
interesting letters, extracts from some of which are repro-
duced. February 2 : "Since I wrote you I have had
some skins sent me from Indian Island, near Eastport,
among which was that of a Stonechat shot August 25. I
have heard of its being taken before but never got one,
this making four birds new to my list last fall, viz :
Ivittle Black Tern, Marsh or Gull-billed Tern, the Razor-
billed Shearwater and Stonechat." November 3: "I
secured a nice specimen of Golden Eagle on the meadows
at Milltown, week before last. I was out snipe shooting
when a big Blue Heron rose and flew a short distance,
then dropped as if it had been shot. In a moment the
eagle came like a meteor, struck the heron so as to upset
both birds and in the excitement I got the eagle with
number six shot. They are very rare with us. I never
got but one before this. I also got a couple of little
Yellow Rails and heard of one having been killed at the

184 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

Grand Manan lighthouse." November 22 : '* I had last
week a very large Raven — twenty-seven and one-half
inches long and four pounds in weight. I never had so
heavy a one. I have only heard of one Snowy Owl being
seen. I send you a little fish which Mr. Wilson got for
us as he thought it a strange fish. I do not care to say
what I think it is until I hear from you as G. A. B. is
not a very good authority on fish and I want to get Mr.
Wilson interested in saving anything strange so I can
send it to you for identification." December 3 : "I am
very glad I sent you a Down East bluefish. I did not
suppose they ever came so far east as this to breed.
That, with the Transparent Flounder, will make two new
eastern fish or fish not before recorded so far east. I
hope when your new building is completed j^ou may
have money enough left, or appropriated anew, to have
a good nice set of the best southern birds well put up.
Many of them are very showy, such as the White Egrets,
Ibis, Swallow-tailed Hawks, etc. You have all of them
now but they are not a credit to a National Museum."

July 9, 1882, Mr. Boardman writes : "I want you to
name a hawk for me as I hav^e had one sent in that I
cannot make out. I have it mounted. It is a small
hawk and not like any we find this wa}- . I have none
in my collection that I can make it agree with. It is
about the size of the South American Hawk which I got
in Florida winter before last — not quite as large and not
dark on the back. Its back looks like that of Cooper's
Hawk. Head very light streaked with dark ; throat and
whole under parts white ; sides streaked with dark ; feet
and bill look more like a broad- winged ; tail banded, but
bands much narrower than those of the broad-winged
or Cooper's."

THE NEW YOM
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TILDEN POllNRATIONS

B L

CORRESPONDENCE 185

On August 30, 1883, he says: " We are getting our
house at Calais in order to go housekeeping again next
season if all is well. We shall make our future home
here and visit west or go south as we like. Mrs. B.
would prefer to live in Minneapolis with the children,
but I prefer the east. We hope to go south in the winter
if Mrs. Boardman is strong enough for the trip."

In the winter of 1884 Mr. Boardman was in Florida
and wrote from Jacksonville under date of February 16 :
" I got a funny looking owl yesterday. The man says
it is a Ground Owl ; probably one of the Burrowing Owls,
but it does not look the color of those I have seen.
Have you the eggs of the Burrowing Owl from Florida ?
But there are so many cheats in such things you are
never sure of what you have unless you get them your-
self. I have seen three Everglade Kites shot near here
of late — something new for this neighborhood." Writ-
ing from Calais under date of May 2, 1885, he says :

I started a letter to you whea I saw the report in the papers
you was to leave Washiugtou but before I sent it I saw the
report corrected and I will tell you one of the items in it, was,
" You will now have more leisure so you can take Mrs. Baird
and Lucy and come down and see us." I want you to see our
new place in Calais, and the way I have fixed my new museum.
I put on another story ; have a gallery around the second story
and have all the light from above. It never looked half so well
and at Calais I have so many more visitors. The little plaster
cast of trout makes quite a show as our people have never seen
any such. I wish j^ou could give the museum another, some salt
water fish like a mackerel or any that you have duplicates of. I
have not much that is fish, and as my museum is all the one
down east, want it a good one, and while I am begging, should
like one of those little Ross Gull skins.

186 THE NATURAI^IST OF THE ST. CROIX

All through the letters of these two friends are not
only repeated expressions of the deepest friendship and
closest personal interest, but on Mr. Boardman's part
he is always looking out for ways to please his friend,
becoming interested in what he is interested in, planning
how he can get things for the Smithsonian and always
making inquiries about the scientific workers, what they
are doing and what they are getting for the Institution.
The personal allusions are always interesting. Writing
to Prof. Baird from Boston, May 28, 1869, Mr. Boardman
says : ' ' The box of plants came to hand all right before
I left and were in v^ery good order. Mrs. Boardman sent
for Dr. Todd to help unpack them and she divided them
with him. The ferns were first-rate and Mrs. Boardman
wishes me to thank j-ou for a box of the finest plants she
ever received from Washington." Writing August 26,
1869, he says : " Thanks for Mrs. Baird's letter of j^es-
terday ; glad to hear you are home again all right and
had a good time. I was thinking of 5"0U 5^esterday in
the blow and thought Mrs. Baird better have a little
extra insurance upon you if you were at Grand Manan.
I note what you saj' about future work and think you
had better all come up Monday. Then we wiU see what is
best to be done." Prof. Baird had written to Mr. Board-
man about a wash or preparation to apply to the hands
and face for preventing mosquito bites and Mr. Board-
man says it will no doubt be a great thing. ' ' Get the
Smithsonian, ' ' he writes, " to go into its manufacture. If
5'ou cannot get the large hall for the purpose get the
capital and fit up that. It is time those political chaps
were sent home. I can't see any good they do ; most of
them would be better employed at home making shoes.

CORRESPONDENCE 187

and can there be out of the way of the great mosquito
poison manufacturing company. I think I should like
one thousand shares of the stock." "I have been out
twice this week," he writes July 14, 1870, "but each
time was driven home by showers. I however got, each
time, some Ducks and Woodcock ; four Ducks one time.
I think you had better let Woods Holl slide and come
down bird shooting and shell-heap hunting." In one
letter he writes that he is glad Mrs. Baird was pleased
with the raspberries which are plenty and he would send
them oftener if he could only get the boys to pick them.
In another letter he writes : "I was expecting to go to
Kendrick lake this afternoon to get some of those young
Grebes, but Mrs. Boardman is to have President Harris
and a lot of company to tea and she is afraid I shall not
be back in time or may tear my pants and besides, she
says Saturday is no time to have dead birds about and
that I shall not go — so for the love of woman I shall
have no chick Grebes this week." He writes about
Prof. Baird having left Eastport when he was there in
the late summer of 1869, without having come up to
Milltown to say good by, adding : "I was ahnost sure
something awful would happen to you for it. You may
think yourself very fortunate you were not all down to
the bottom of the ocean ; I feel thankful that old Neptune
was so easy as to let you off with only a long swell. I
hope you have been forgiven for the way you left. You
must all be sure to come back to Georgie's wedding as
we are to have a gay old time. ' ' In July, 1870 he writes :
" I have hardly skinned a bird since I came from Florida
— instead of mounting them I have taken to eating them.
I think Woodcock and Snipe are best broiled, Duck

188 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

roasted," In one letter written in July, Mr. Boardman
says : "I see by the papers you have been having very
warm weather and last Sunday read of a severe thunder
shower at Gloucester. Georgie is like Eucy, very much
afraid of thunder and she was having lots of sympathy
for Lucy."

During the years of 1868 to 1872 Prof. Baird had been
greatly interested in examining the shell heaps along the
Eastern Maine coast for Indian relics. At first Mr.
Boardman used to write him they were "a humbug,"
while on one occasion when Prof. Baird was planning to
go up from Eastport and spend some time in digging, he
said : "I don't believe the few old bones you will get
are worth the trouble. I think we had better go shoot-
ing and get something good to eat." Eater, however, in
his desire to aid Prof. Baird's researches, he gave much
attention to these shell heaps, saying, in one letter, very
frankly, "Since last summer they have more interest to
me."

One day Dan, one of Mr. Boardman's workmen
came from up river bringing one gouge, one chisel, two
sinkers, a whetstone, a few other stones and some bones.
He was gone four days, " which comes to $10.00," writes
Mr. Boardman, "but I do not know the value of such
things in money." Then he writes that he has found
" some queer stone things in a mound over at St.
George." Again that he has " found out by one of our
pilots of a very big shell heap about three miles below
the one we dug into at Simpson's last year and five times
as large. I thought of going down but then concluded
you had better come up (Prof. Baird was at Eastport)
and make the new and great discoveries yourself. The

CORRESPONDENCE 189

pilot says he will have a look at Grand Manaii as he
knows of a heap on the point near Head Harbor light
about ten miles east of Eastport where you can easily go
from Eastport any pleasant day." Prof. Bailey of St.
John and Prof. T. Sterry Hunt of Montreal visited Mr.
Boardman in August, 1869 and as President Harris of
Bowdoin College was then at Mr. Boardman 's, Dr. Todd
took them out to see the Oak Bay shell heap, as they
had never seen one and Mr. Boardman could not go.
Prof. Baird was also going to Grand Manan lo visit the
heaps at L,epreaux, Mr. Boardman writing : "I am .so
far away I cannot always get down in season for good
weather so you had better not depend upon me as Cheney
will show you all the places." Again he writes : " The
day Dr. Todd was down to the heaps with President
Harris they found a large rib bone of some animal very
much larger than the largest ox or moose. I will bring
it down Monday and perhaps you can tell what creature
formerly used it. Dr. Todd thinks the bay shell heap
would pay to dig all up — we will see about that, how-
ever, when we cannot find any new ones to dig that are
more interesting." Finally, regarding these shell heaps
Mr. Boardman writes :

I went to St. Andrews last week by land. I called to see
Mrs. Simpson. Mr. Taylor was with me and we went down to
see the old shell heap as I had heard nothing from it since the
great October tide and gale. It was badly washed away. I tliink
nearly ten feet must have been carried away since the first time
we saw it. It is all away now up to a little above the fence.
There was so much drift stuff all about that Mr. Simpson could
find nothing of any account. He did, however, find one bone
with a hole in the middle, sharp at each end and about five inches
long, probably used for a needle, and also one or two stones not

190 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

amounting to much. I will try to go down when I have time and
give the beach a good overhauling. I am glad you came when
you did to see the heaps for it will not be very long before most
of them will be washed away. The gales last fall probably
destroyed dozens of them about the coast. But if you will go to
Florida with me next winter we will go shell heap digging all
Avinter as there are plenty of them there.

Mr. Boardman's letters are full of interesting personal
allusions showing his interest in people. Writing January
3, 1869, he sa3'S : " I have often thought of your sick
friend at Beverh', I think his name was Swan. Did you
ev^er hear from him after his arrival in Europe ?" October
25 of the same year : ' ' Write me if Ridgway is with
5'ou and if he found much that was new. Give him my
kind respects." November 29, writing of Dr. Brewer
he says: " I have no doubt Dr. Brewer and family will
find Washington much more pleasant when Congress is
in session and know the}^ will have a fine time. The
doctor will be in clover when he gets at the eggs. I
always like to look them over but I think I enjo}- that
chap's steamed 03'sters, down on the avenue, fullj^ as
much — better still 5^our splendid library. ' ' After return-
ing from Boston in November, 1872, where he went to
witness the ruins of the great fire he writes: "You
have heard by the papers all the particulars. Dr. Brewer
looks as smiling as though he had found some new Qgg-
Their stock was all burned, not a thing was got out.
Many of our friends lost all." Writing from Jackson-
ville, April 12, 1875, he says : "I have given Dr. Henry
Foster, owner of the great sanitorium at Clifton Springs,
a letter of introduction to you. He owns a splendid
establishment up at Eake Jessup, twenty-five miles above
Enterprise. He is one of the best men I ever met in

CORRESPONDENCE 191

Florida and I want you to know him. If you ever get
time to come to Florida he wants you to visit him ; he is
away in the woods where people cannot find him. He
built the little steam yacht Clifton, which I was in several
winters. He expects to be in Washington next Sunday.
Mrs. Foster is a sister to Mr. Edwards, the butterfly man
and a very fine lady." November 24, 1878 : "When
you wrote last you was about sending a man to Georges
to collect sea birds and other natural history specimens.
What did he get that was new or interesting ?" February
6, 1879: "When I left Washington last April Prof.
Glover was quite ill. I have never heard from him since.
Did he recover?"

" I have not written you," says Mr. Boardman in a
letter dated February 2, 1880, "since I heard of the
death of Prof. Milner. The last you wTote me about
him was in the spring, that it was thought his trouble
was not with his lungs. I asked about him in some letters
but as you did not mention him I supposed he had
recovered and was with j^ou at his work. I was very
sorry to read of his death. He w^as a very nice fellow.
And then so soon to read of the death of our dear old
friend Dr. Brewer. It was a great shock to me. I had
not heard of his being ill and having letters from him
every little while did not realize he might be sick. I
shall miss him very much. He was such a home body,
too. I hardly know how Mrs. Brewer and Lucy will get
along without him. But this must be the way very soon
with all of us old fellows — our time will soon be up."

Writing in reference to the Fisheries Exhibition in
London in 1880, he says under date of April 5 of that
year : "I expect you were very bus)^ getting your

192 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

exhibition specimens awaj^ and expect before this you
have heard of the safe arrival of Prof Goode. I feel quite
an interest in how the show will take on the other side.
If we do not get a good account on this side from the
newspapers you must write me about it, or, better still,
come down and tell us all about it. It is now our turn
to have the fish commission down this way. Province-
town, Gloucester and Woods Holl must be about worked
out and I know there must be some new fish in Eastport
waters that require looking after. * * * Do you ever
hear anj^thing from Henr>' E. Dresser? Did he ever
finish his birds of Europe ? He sent me thirty-six num-
bers and I have latel}- written him but as yet get no
answer. I should be pleased to hear of his prosperit}^
and that the book was finished and made to pay. You
wrote me last j-ear that there was a prospect of the
Water Birds (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway) being pub-
lished by the Cambridge people ; I hope they maj- do so.
Is there anything new ? I have added another bird to
tny list taken at Grand Manan — a Fulmar Petrel. I
expect they are often about the fishing grounds only not
looked after and hence not discovered."

" I called when in New York," Mr. Boardman says
in a letter written at Boston under date of May 29, 1882,
" to see Dr. Holden at the American Museum. He said
they wanted a good taxidermist. I told him about Mr.
Webster of Rochester ; that I had recommended him to
5'ou and that I thought he was partiall}- engaged to j-ou.
I hope you may have him in Washington and from what
I saw of his work at the meeting of taxidermists at Bos-
ton last winter, think he is just the artist for the National
Museum, who with Hornaday, Lucas and Marshall would

CORRESPONDENCE 193

make a team that would be hard to beat by any of the
European museums."

Writing at Milltown, July 23, 1882, he says: "I
received your letter and think I should not have answered
it so soon only to ask about Nelson who, you say, has
gone away to Colorado, sick. When you write tell me
what the matter is with him. I wish he had come this
way for I think our sunnner climate very hard to beat.
He wanted me to send him a few skins of our eastern
birds from my duplicates. I sent him many and wrote
him but did not receive an answer." Again on Decem-
ber 29, of the same year, writing from Minneapolis, he
says : "I have not been able to hear from Mr. Nelson.
How is he ? Have you heard anything from Turner?
Let me hear." In 1883, on March 6, he writes : "Have
you anything new from Mr. Nelson, if so let me know.
I hope to hear he is better."

" I received a letter a few days ago," Mr. Boardman
writes on September 8, 1885, "from a Mr. Wright
which I enclose. I have nearly forgotten about the ring
as it was fifteen years ago. It would be just like me to
get the ring (I learned that trick from you) for the
Smithsonian. If you have any book such as he describes,
please have it sent him or send some other book. The
ring, I think, is in the large room at the Smithsonian.
It was dug from an Indian mound." And so the happy
record goes on until the long and intimate friendship,
uninterrupted for a period of nearly a quarter of a cen-
tury, comes to an end.

194 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Letters from Mr. Boardman to Prof. Baird

MiLLTOWK, Maine, Jan. 4, 1865.
Dear Baird:

I received youi- last letter and should be glad if I could give
j'ou any iufornaation that would be new in the northern distribu-
tion of many common birds. I have long been a close observer of
the habits and for some time have been a collector of birds, and in
my journeyings from Massachusetts to Western Maine, to this
neighborhood. North Eastern Maine and New Brunswick there
appears to be a different fauna. We do accidentally find many
more southern birds but only as stragglers and in this neighbor-
hood have found two hundred and forty species, and I think this
is about the southern locality for the breeding in abundance of
many northern birds, and too far north and east for the breeding
grounds of many most common Massachusetts and Western Maine
birds. Among the birds that breed common with us and are best
known are the little blue Snow Bird, one of our most common
summer birds. The White Throat Sparrow very common, Yellow
Eump very common, Black Poll Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Canada
Jay, Pine Finch, both Eed and White Cross Bills, Spruce Par-
tridge, Winter Wren, Black Back Three-toed AVoodpecker, Yellow-
bellied Woodpecker, Yellow Eed Poll very common, as are the
most of the above all summer. The Duck Hawk, Pigeon Hawk
and Goshawk are not at all uncommon. I found the Phalarope
breeding in two places last season ; Blue Wing Teal find breeding
every year. The Golden Eye and Sheldrake (Mergus Ameri-
cauus) breed very common, both in trees and are common with
us winter and summer, as does the Hooded Merganser (?) breed in
trees but is rare in winter. The Eider Duck breeds common
about the Islands and once found the King Eider at the Islands
first of June, probably breeding. The Ganuet and Cormorant, a few
breed; Herring Gull are abundant all summer and also breed
about the fresh water lakes. The great Black Back Gull also
breed, but are getting rare. I also find through the forest in
summer very many Warblers and think many of them breed in
about this latitude but our forests are so extensive I seldom find
the nest. I forgot to say the Eazor Bill, Puffin and Sea Pigeon,

CORRESPONDENCE 195

Murr ( ?) were with us all summer, but not very abuudaut. We
also often find stragglers from the north in summer, but are so
uncommon are hardly worth mentioning, such as Hawk Owl,
Snowy Owl, Eichardsou's owl, etc. The most of the birds I have
mentioned you will rarely find about Massachusetts or Western
Maine in sununer and niiiny of their common birds we never see,
and others very rarely. The Towhee Bunting and Brown Thrush
we never see. The Meadow Lark only one specimen. Blue Bird
rare. Cooper Hawk and Mottled Owl very rare. Yellow Bill
Cuckoo very rare. House Wren also rare. Have never found the
Prairie Warbler, Worm Eating Warbler or Pine Warbler, but I
believe I wrote you I found a nice male specimen of Prothonotary
Warbler two falls ago. There has been considerable written
about the Cliff Swallow migrating south. I came from Massa-
chusetts to this part of the country in the year 1828 ; the Clill'
Swallow was then very abundant, building the whole length the
eaves of barns, as much we see them now, which was not the
case in Massachusetts.

I have written in considerable hurry without any method or
arrangement and if there is any idea new to you I shall be well
repaid. I have for a long time been surprised there should be in
so short a distance as about one hundred or two hundred miles so
great a change in the breeding places of many hardy and early
birds as the Blue Bird and others of Massachusetts and then that
we should have so many that do not breed with them. I also find
in Southern Nova Scotia, Massachusetts birds much more common.
Having been so busy of late, I have not had time to attend to our
favorite pursuit, but hope to be looking up something as soon as 1
go up to the logging camp.

Wishing you the compliments of the season, 1 am
Yours very truly,

Geo. a. Boaudman.

MiLLTOWN, 6 Sept., 1865.
Dear Baird :

I have but just received your letter of the 4th, could not get
it last night ; Charley waited for the Eastport mail to open but
somehow it did not get into the box.

196 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

I hope before this you have my letter written Monday. The
stage man I have not seen since Monday. I intended going to
Calais today but it is so rainy I may not go down. Let me know
which way you prefer going and I will make the best trade I can.
The air line man only asked $30, the Machias man f 35 but said he
would do it as low as any one. The air line would be one day
shortest, and a very nice, romantic ride through the woods, of 45
miles each day. The other way three days of 40 miles each day,
and the former air line way would see, I think, plenty of birds
to shoot, and I think the air line you would like best, but if you
prefer to go by way of Machias, I think I can get you taken
along at about the same price, $30, and might possibly get the air
line man to say $25; if the rain holds up will go down to see.
My cold is better but far from well.

My brother and nephew I told you about up the river got
down last night; shot fifteen ducks, one bear, some partridges
and other game. I wish we had gone that cruise; they took
an Indian and a canoe, went up Chepetuicook river and back, say
the river was full of Ducks, Mergansers and Divers of one kind
and another all the way.

Charles goes back to Brunswick tomorrow. I think he will
get this letter to you before the mail.

I have just left off writing. A man has brought me a Gos-
hawk ; it flew into his barn after the hens and he killed it with a
club. They are our most destructive Hawk, and will take hens
from the doors of any country farm house. It is in young
plumage, the eyes yellow ; the old birds have red eyes. This
makes quite a variety of Hawks for a few days — Red Shouldered,
Broad Winged, Cooper and Goshawk.

1 notice what you say about your Pacific letters, should be
much pleased to read some of them. Why not send up by Capt.
Spring all you care to have me read. I will have them kept safe
until you come up, or return them next day, and should like very
much to read some of the letters from your Hudson Bay Co.
correspondent you was telling me about. There is no reading I
like so well. I should like to have you look over Prof. Hinds'
bird list for birds you think were never found in the province, or
lend me the list as I want to write the man to know how he came

CORRESPONDENCE 197

to beat me in fiuding rare things, and f>erhaps I can get some of
his specimens. Charley has just come from Mr. Spaulding's who
says he will take you (his route is by way of Machias) for thirty
dollars. It is so damp I have not been out much to-day. I am
sorry you have to go so soon. I expected to have a good cruise
somewhere but it doesn't look much like it now. You must come
another year. Let me know the day you come up.

Yours truly,

BOARDMAN.

Jacksonville, Florida, February 1, 1868.
Dear Baird:

I have been thinking of writing you for a day or two, but
there are so many new things to look at I have not thought of
hardly writing home.

After I left your house we had a good passage to Richmond
where I spent one day, then went to Wilmington, made a short
visit. Next day went to Charleston, where I spent nearly a week,
arrived here day before yesterday. The weather when in Charles-
ton was very fine. I had a nice visit. I called to See Dr. Back-
man ; he was very glad to meet me, full of talk about old collecting
times. He is seventy-eight years old, but quite active mentally.
He has lost the use of one of his arms. His library and valuables
were taken for safe keeping to Columbia, to his son's house, but
when Sherman's men burned the place all his valuables were
burned, which if they had been left at Charleston would have
been safe ; all his specimens were destroyed. The soldiers nearly
killed him because he would not tell them Avhere the plate of the
oflicer with whom he boarded was buried. He admits he was a
little saucy to them. He was glad to hear from you and sends
his regards to you and Mr. Brewer. He had very many questions
to ask about ornithology as he had hardly looked at a book or
bird for eight years. Since I have arrived here we have had a
cold norther. I have not had my gun out; the place is so full I
can hardly get a room, and if I do not do better shall go to St.
Augustine to-morrow, and try to get a chance down the coast.
There are no vessels here and the collector, Mr. Moody, says he
does not think there are any vessels below Fernandina belonging to

198 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

the service, but St. Augustine is tlie better place to get doAvn the
coast.

I see many birds new to me such as Cardinals, small Crows,
Buzzards, difterent kinds of Gulls, Terns. Blue Jaj'S are quite
common, but have not seen one Florida Jay. I see many of our
summer birds, Eobins, Grackles, Eed Poll Warblers, Sparrows,
etc., etc. I saw in Carolina very large flocks of Doves, Meadow
Larks and Blackbirds. I have agreed for some Pouched Rats if
the boys can get them, also the Land Turtle. The negroes eat the
latter. I have seen ice two mornings since I have been here, the
first of tlie season. The orange trees are full, and some few in
blossom. I find the express of a small box of oranges to New
York will cost three dollars. Adams & Co. does not come here.

With many thanks for your kind attention when I was in
Washington, hoping you, Mrs. Baird and Lucy are all well, I am
Very truly yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

Jacksonville, 13 March, 1868.
Dear Baird :

Since I wrote you at G. C. Springs I have made up a box of
about fifty birds and sent by express. I could not get them
along with my baggage as I shall return by land. There are three
Salamander skins, by the boys, not done very nicely. I sent
another box in a trunk to Boston and can send back by
Adams & Co. They were collected at St. Augustine. My collection
made here I can't find, they were left vdth a friend until my
return ; he has gone up river, may get them before I leave. I
hope you may find some you may want. I had no arsenic to
prepare large birds, and all the larger birds I did not skin. I did
not shoot anything very rare; there were some good White
Herons and a few Hawks, nothing very rare. I shall probably
leave for Savannah Tuesday next, from there go to Augusta,
Aiken, and so along to Norfolk, and be in Baltimore the last of
the month. Very few birds have begun to breed except the larger,
as Fish Hawks, Eagles, etc., etc.

I like this climate very much ; think I shall try to spend my
winters here. I have the promise of some collectors down at
Indian river, to get and send you some eggs ; hope they may do so.

CORRESPONDENCE 199

Another winter I hope to come prepared to go to the head of the
river and camp out and have a regular hunt. I have been at most
every place on the St. Johns river — enjoyed myself very nicely.
Wish you could spend a month or two visiting this very interest-
ing part of Uncle Sam's farm. Hoping Mrs. Baird is all well
long before this and with kind regards to her and Lucy,

I am very truly yours,

Geo. a. Boakdman.
P. S. Please excuse the pencil letter as I have no ink. I could
give Prof. Henry the standing of the thermometer at Greencove
Springs every day since the 1st of January if wanted. Have not
had a rainy day for three weeks, most beautiful weather, ther-
mometer often up to 80° in the shade at noon. It was 84° at five
o'clock this afternoon.

MiLLTOVTN, 25 May, 1868.
My Dear Baird :

I received your letter of the 20th May. I have no one I care
about in the egg collection and anything I get you can have. Tlie
Goshawk's egg you can have and I will try to get the nest ; it was
built in a branch of a birch about thirty feet up, quite a large flat
nest, outside of sticks, inside fine stuff" and moss. I went near the
same place for another but found it only a Broad-wing. I got
three good eggs. It was a very rainy day and took me about all
day — got well soaked. I also went up to the lake but it was so
rainy it did not pay — glad to get home. It has rained all the time
for two weeks ; if fine I shall try to go up again this week. I know
where several Whistlers, Mergansers, Wood Ducks, etc., breed and
I want to get them for you. I went to the nests when up but it
rained so hard I could not get any one to go up ; they are very
high and the trees are old and rotten. The Pine Finch eggs and
nest you can have and, as I said before, any eggs and nests I get,
also the Canada Jay's nest and eggs you can have until you get
more and then you can return them. Brewer wants the nest and
eggs to figure or compare all three — Goshawk, Pine Finch and
Canada Jay — as he is at work for the egg book, suppose it will be
right to send to him for a time with instructions to send to you.
The Jay's nest is a very odd affair. I shall have to go to New

200 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

York the first of June or about that time ; will send them to you
or leave them with him as you say. I will also send what Newton
says is Pine Grosbeak ; they were sent to me for that by young
Dresser, brother to Henry E. of London. I wrote H. E. about the
Steller Duck egg, told him to send to you. I expected to do a
good thing egging this Spring but the weather has been so bad I
could not go in a canoe without getting wet through. Hope this
week will be better but it is now raining and I am writing very
fast for the mail. How about the Pied Duck? What has become
of the bird? it used to be common; can it be possible it will
become extinct? A clumsy bird like Great Auk or Dodo might
get run out but a good diver and flyer like this duck should take
care of itself. I did not know it was so rare; supposed your
northern folks would find it breeding ; I think they must have
gone to some other parts ; you must look them up by your col-
lectors ; they may be down to Xewfouudlaud.

I wish you were here to go up to the lakes fishing this week.
"We would have a good time. I am sorry to have to go west so
soon as I prefer to be here this season.

Kind regards to Mrs. Baird and Lucy.

As ever, yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

MiLLTOWN, August 22, 1868.
My Dear Professor :

I have just received your letter of August 20th, sorry you are
so long getting away. Was looking for j-ou to-day. Come as
80011 as you can^ Wednesday or Friday if possible. I think it would
do Mrs. Baird and Lucy good to take a steamboat trip with you.
Don't talk about must be back the ensuing Thursday or Saturday,
but say, must be back the ensuing Thursday or Saturday, if God
(and Geo. A. Boardman) are willing. I notice what you say
about digging old clams. There is a large lot of old heaps near
St. Andrews. I told Dr. Adams about digging into them, as he
has been for two weeks attending court there. 1 do not know
what has been found. There may be more of such shell heaps
about the islands. I think if you dig them all over you will have
to stay more than a week. There is also plenty of Waders about
and you can dig the old clams and I will shoot the birds. I think

CORRESPONDENCE 201

I should have a better time shooting than digging. I don't have
much of a fancy for digging, but can get some one to do the
rough. We will see about this vi'hen you get here. I will inquii-e
if there are any other heaps. My friend, Mr. Osborn, may know
of others. The St. Andrews people have hauled lots of this heap
away for manure ; they may have found some good things. If so
we possibly can get them.

I received a letter a day or two ago from Dr. Brewer saying
among other things, that another book (not by Samuels) was
possibly to come out, called Birds of New England, or a new
edition of Nuttall. 1 should be pleased to see it.

There is a Mr. Darling, a clergyman, spending the summer
here from Keunebunk, whom I told I expected, some, a Mr. Swan
from his place ; says he knows him very well, and that he is one
of the best men in New England.

Please excuse the haste with which I have written and
remember us to Mrs. Baird and Lucy. Hoping to see you very
soon 1 am

Very truly yours,

G. A. BOARDMAN.

p. S. Fred and Albert were very sorry you could not be
here before their return to college. Albert left yesterday ; Fred
leaves next Friday.

MiLLTOWN, 29 October, 1868.
Dear Baird:

I received your two letters and the money for Dan's bill.

Glad to hear you had returned to Washington and got settled
into your work again. I expect you must have found some new
things among Dall's collection. If anything very rare let me
know.

I have just returned from Boston where all the family have
been on a visit to see Charley married. He went away south for
a short cruise and I do not know but he went as far as Washing-
ton, if so he would go to the Smithsonian and you would be likely
to see him. We expect him home Tuesday night. Georgie returned
last night by way of Bangor, after a cold, Avindy ride. We are
having very cold weather for the season, have had two hard snow

202 THE NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX

storms ; this morning the thermometer stood 18° above. Ice strong
enough for boys to skate, something very rare for October.

I have not had time to go shooting this fall, but hope if we
have fine weather, to go away a few days. The winter birds have
got along, and everything looks like winter ; our lumbering opera-
tions will soon close.

I am keeping a lookout for anything I can hear about the
shell heaps. There have been several men here selling horses from
Prince Edward Island. They say oysters are more abundant
than clams and they think there are plenty of old heaps but don't
know how ancient anj- of them may be. I have heard more about
the stone pi-ofile found in the old mound at St. George, but am
afraid we cannot get it as it has been sent to St. John; but next
summer perhaps you may talk them out of it, at any rate you can
get the loan of it, or perhaps exchange. I had a very ancient
Indian anchor made of wood, hooked up out of the lake. I do
not know as it would hardly pay to send, but is quite an oddity
and looks very old.

When I was home, I tried hard to find some butter that would
answer you, and have it sent from up country but it is very poor
and costs forty cents ; I have put it iu the shop, and am expecting
more. I shall not send anything Mrs. B. does not approve. I
made a bargam with our butter maker for all he had or could
make in the spring at thirty cents on the English side, but some
butter speculators came along and ofl^ered him forty cents and I
lost it or the most of it. I ^ill keep a sharp lookout for a good
firkin or two. The duty, twelve cents iu gold, is very much against
the English side butter.

If you have a set to spare of antelope horns, also a bow and
arrows such as the ^\^esteru Indians use to shoot buffalo, I should
like them. I want to show the latter to our Indians, also a pair of
snow shoes that turn up at the front. I think if our Indians and
moose hunters would make them like the lot T i i.w at the Institu-
tion they would be much better than such used this way.

With kind regards to Mrs. Baird and elieve me

Yours as ever,

BOARDMAN.

CORRESPONDENCE 203

MiLLTOWN, 24 June, 1869.
My Dear Professor:

1 received your letter of the 20th to-day, glad to hear you are
all well. Mrs. Boardman is some better part of the time. Most of
the trouble is with her head. I keep her out ridiug all I can.
Have just been out to the cemetery ; shot a uew kind of Pewee. I
will let you tell me the name when you get here. If the short
legged Pewee ever came here should call it that bird, as it is not
large enough for Olive Sided. There were two but I could not
find the nest and had to be contented with the bird.

Your friend, Senator Edmunds from "Vermont, has been down
on his salmon fishing cruise, went home this morning perfectly
happy. I could not leave and Fred went up to the lakes with
him. They were gone one week; had a very nice time; caught
more of those little salmon than was necessary for sport. Caught
two hundred ; some weighed four pounds, averaged two pounds.
Fred told the Senator about the Indian things in the banks and he
dug out a nice arrow head and part of a spear. I think the latter,
i. e., Indian things, were on your permit, and the Senator had no
right to anything but the fish. I believe I told you I got one of
the lake salmon last fall that weighed over ten pounds. I have it
nicely mounted.

I am glad you are getting so many nice things from the other
side ; they are very good to compare, and I am of the opinion that
many of the European birds that we have given a different name
are not much different from American.

I notice what you say about making Eastport your head-
quarters. The new hotel is not yet opened, don't know when
it mil be, but probably pretty soon. They liave been so tardy,
not knowing who will keep the house, they have no boarders
engaged. The air is very fine in summer at Eastport, but the
company is ten times better at Milltown, and much better dig-
gings of India^ -Qmaius. I have been looking for a good boarding
place here, but .-, ;t find anything that will do. It is almost
impossible tO; i help, but thought we could take good care

of you, and I ;oardman been as well as usual would not let

you have go other place, and at any rate, must be with

us part of t id will have plenty of chance to look up a

204 THK NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX

place and I can go to St. Andrews or Eastport if I can do any-
thing. St. Andrews is a very quiet, pleasant place but don't like
the company. We must try to go to Grand Manan and other
places and hope Mrs. Boardman will be well enough and all the
ladies go over. With much love to all.

Yours truly,

Geo. a. Boardman.

MiLLTOWN, 4 Aug., 1870.
Dear Baird :

I have but just received your letter, very glad you are having
such a nice time boating and fishing. I see by the papers the
weather has been very warm west. I am glad you found a cool
place. We have had a few warm days, but to-day is almost cool
enough for a fire. Mrs. Boardman is very poorly, takes most of
my time to see to her. I keep her out riding all I can, the doctor
wants her to be kept free from care and excitement. She is very
nervous ; last week, hardly left her room, but this week is better.
I notice what you say about the duck. I don't know about the
female Red Head, the bird has always been very rare with us. I
don't know as I ever saw a female to know it, the male, I have got
one or two of the gunners but a long time ago ; the size was so
small I did not think of its being the female of the King Neck, as
the male is quite a good sized duck, and this not larger than a
Ruddy or Teal. I have just been looking at the description of the
female of the Ruddy, and it is so sl^ort I cannot make much out of
it. I have also looked at Audubon's description and plate, which
does not look anything like this bird, only the spot on the wing is
the same. Audubon says its breast is white. This bird has a very
dark ruddy, or chestnut brown breast, and belly about the same as
the Ruddy. Audubon's description does not come near it, but he
may not have seen it in breeding plumage if it changes, and he
says the male has large tufts in breeding time. Should it be the
Ring Neck, it would be something new to have it breeding in
Maine. Frank Todd was up at the same place shooting, and I told
him to keep a sharp lookout for this duck, and he found another
brood and old one. The old one he missed but shot one chick
which was the same, so thei-e were two broods.

CORRESPONDENCE 205

Is the Ring Neck a duck that bi-eeds very far north? Have

you the eggs ? I may go to Boston soon and will take the old

duck and chick, or if I do not go, will send to the care of Dr.

Brewer. I shall try to go up again and see if I cannot find the

old male or at any rate get some good ducks to eat. Love to all

the folks.

Geo. a. Boardman.

MiLLTOWN, Nov. 21, 1870.
Dear Professor :

I received your letter a few days since. I wrote you in my
last about finding another black-red Squirrel ; since I have had a
very pretty snow white one with pink eyes, so if you have a
black one, 1 don't believe you have so pretty a white one, and I
hear there are more at the same place and hope to get another for
you.

Since I wrote I received a letter from the moose man who says
he will get the skeletons this winter but says I must give him
more than I offered; says the horns sell for five to ten dollars. I
tell him if he gets good large ones I won't mind a few dollars ;
we may have to give him $40 to $45 for two, but I want you to see
them before I pay, as he might lose some of the small bones.

I suppose the little duck could be no other than Felix Collaus
but it was so small and so different from Audubon's figure I was
not certain ; there were some at the shooting party at Princeton
looking just like Audubon's figure, with white belly but all larger
than the one I took in the summer. I must try another spring to
look up the streams to see what ducks breed in New England that
we have never found ; the Barrow I think does, and before you
finish up your book I want to have some new things in it. You
must note the red Phalarope as breeding with us. Hope Maynard
may find some good things down on the Keys. I did not hear
before anything of Stimpson's expedition. He might find you a
skeleton of the Sea Cow along the coast. I think I shall try to go
down Indian river this winter after I get settled; think I shall
send my horse and carriage down for Mrs. Boardman to ride about
the woods — she and Willie I think will go down with me. We
shall try to go away about Christmas. Wish you could spend a
few weeks to go down and see the country, Alligators, etc., etc.
We are having nice warm weather for the season, mills all going

206 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

— lots winter birds about, such as Pine Grosbeaks, some pretty
Chatterers down in Mr. Todd's garden; he doesn't want me to
shoot the Wax Wings. Love to all your folks.

As ever yours,

Geo. a. Boaedman.

MiLLTOWN, 19 January, 1875.
My Deak Professor :

I received your letter a few days since ; sorry the postal car
got burned. Don't think of much news to write, very cold
weather is no news for us. We have had a very long cold snap,
thermometer sometimes 25 below zero and hardly get up to zero
all day, wind blowing a gale most all the time.

This would be splendid weather for some of you people writ-
ing up water birds for the other volumes. Such winters as this
should bring down lots of new Arctic birds, such as Gulls, Divers,
etc., etc., and a splendid place would be to go to the Wolves Island,
up in the Bay of Fundy, out on some of the rocks ; it would be a
very bad place for boats, but a fellow might swim after the birds,
if he shot any very rare ones, and he could skin them after he got
home as they would not spoil, this weather, in two days. Joking
aside, I believe for some good naturalist to go to such a place as
the Wolves, and stop with a Mr. Paul, who lives there, would
get more rare things than he would at most any other place.
Many winter birds come no further than this. jSTo one shoots this
time of year, or only to shoot a duck and many good birds are
overlooked ; no collectors go in winter. I was ten years trying
to teach Cheney, but had to give it up. Audubon, AVilson, Nuttall,
etc., etc., all went south in winter. A Mr. Stewart was over to the
Wolves and told me he saw more than five hundred Harlequin
ducks in one cove. A good chance for any young collector that
wishes to make a martyr of himself and freeze to death here is a
good chance. I think before long I shall go south again, probably
to Florida; if there are any particular birds Mr. Ridgway wants
me to look after, let me know. I sliall probably go south without
much delay and stop on my return along by the way, as after I
start want to get as soon as possible into warm weather.

With kind regards to all the folks, I am
Yours very truly,

Geo. A. BOARDMAN.

CORRESPONDENCE 207

MiLLTOWN, N. B., March 15, 1880.
My Dear Professor:

I have not written you for some time for the good reason I
had nothing very new to communicate. I have been on the look-
out for anything worth sending you in the way of birds. Some
good sea birds have been sent me but were not fit to send in the
flesh so far. I have just had sent in a pair, male and female
Barrows, just killed and thought 1 would send them to you and
only sorry I have not a good Labrador Hawk or some other good
birds. Have only heard of one Gyrfalcon being shot this winter
and that was in Massachusetts. I believe I wrote you I got a
Stone Chat shot at Indian Island.

So much for birds, now about fish. I suppose you are very busy
getting things ready for Europe. I was glad to see Prof. Goode
was to go away to represent you and have no doubt you will have
a very fine show ; almost wish I was going myself. I see Prof.
Bean is going up to Alaska. All your fish folks will be away
except Prof. Gill and he is quite a team by himself. Hope you
will have good success with the shad ; our river used to be a good
shad river until the dam was put across at the tide mills and none
have gone up since ; they were very abundant at St. John last year ;
they were retailed at ten cents. The Porgies have left us entirely,
been none for years.

My lame knee is much better, can now walk about on two
canes and hope by spring to go alone again. If I get so as to walk
hope to go out to see the boys at Minneapolis in May as we lost
our visit in the fall. We have had a nice winter, good sleighing
since November. I expect your new Museum is done ; must try
to go and see it as soon as you get it in order.

Mrs. B. joins me in much love to you and Mrs. B. and Lucy.
Sincerely yours,

G. A. BOABDMAN.

P. S. The birds will want to be looked after very soon by
Mr. Marshall.

MiLLTOWN, St. Stephen, N. B., Aug. 1, 1880.
My Dear Professor:

I have not, I believe, written you since ray return from out
west; one reason I had not much news to write about, another

208 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

was I knew you must be very busy getting ready to go to New-
port and the folks away with so many things to the great fair in
Europe. We arrived Iiome four weeks ago; found everything in
good order about our premises. Was sorry not to have been able
to remain west until fall and had some fall shooting. I was sur-
prised to see so many species of ducks breeding in the vicinity of
Minneapolis ; I saw flocks of male Ruddy Ducks, Blue-wing Shov-
elers, Gadwalls, Blue-wing Teal, as well as Wood ducks, Mallard,
Hooded Mergansers, etc. ; saw but few females as they were away
breeding ; saw some Franklin Eosy Gulls shot, real beauties. 1
believe I wrote you of seeing Blue Heron, Crested Cormorants
and Blackbirds breeding all on the same trees at Lake Minuetonka,
also Swallow-tail Hawk near the same place, but the eggs were
hatched. On the way home at Chicago we were told of the
marriage of Mr. Dall but did not hear who was the lady. I have
been away a week with Mr. Hersey up St. John river to the
Grand Falls. Had a nice trip. John Taylor and Georgie are
with us and we expect Charles' ^vife and children nest Thursday.

We are having nice cool weather and hope you and Mrs. Baird
will be able to come down to make us a visit. I know Newport
to be a nice place but for cool, nice weather Eastport and Bay of
Fundy are hard to beat this time of year.

All join in much love to you, Mrs. B., Lucy and all the
friends. Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

MiLLTOWN, N. B., 19 Sept., 1880.
My Dear Professor:

I received the paper Eepublic you sent me. A very good
picture of your house and a very good account of your dear self,
written by some fellow that knew you pretty well, but some
points he did not get in. He should speak of your love of nice
kid gloves, and how good you always feel when you get on that
swallow tail coat, etc.

1 also received your letter about a month ago ; hope you may
all have a pleasant time in Newport this season. I know Mrs. Baird
and Lucy must enjoy the place in summer and would be pleasant
to be with Capt. Churchiirs folks. We have had a fine cool sum-
mer, Charles" wife and children, Georgie and Mr. Taylor have

CORRESPONDENCE 209

been with us most of the summer, but have uow gone home. We
miss them very much.

My lame leg is getting stronger all the time but get tired
when out woodcock shootiug very easily.

Have not found anything very new in the way of birds or
fish ; was up to St. John last month and found a bird stuffed with
an Avoset, just mounted; said there had been three this season,
and shot at Inaco. I wrote to the shooter and he says he gets
them every year or two. I had one sent me some years ago from
Mace's Bay and have two in my collection. Dr. Brewer thought
very strange they should be found in this neighborhood and
never one recorded as being taken in New England.

Mr. Wilson thought he had a new flounder and wanted it sent
you. I knew it was a common flsh to you, but very rare here.
Called by some Spotted Turbot, a very thin, transparent, spotted
flounder, Lophopsetta maculata. How far north are they common ?

I have written several letters to the fishermen to be on the
lookout for a small size Basking Shark if one can be found, but
the fishermen say they never have seen a very small one.

I expect the new building in Washington is about finished
Hope I may not have any mishap to keep me from going south
this fall so as to see what you have got new added to the Smith-
sonian.

I hope the Fish Commissioner may get down east next year.
You would find Prince Edward Island quite interesting to look
after new fish. The water is very much warmer than the Bay of
Fundy. When there year before last the bathing was very com-
fortable, but never in or about Bay of Fundy waters.

Mrs. B. joins in much love to yourself, Mrs. Baird, Lucy and
all the friends. Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boardjian.

Palatka, Florida, 8 January, 1882.
My Dear Professor :

I received your letter some days since, glad to hear you are
all so nicely.

Charles has been very busy and I do not think he has taken
interest enough in looking after the diggings of his railroad.
There was one mound, he says, there were a good many long stone

210 THE NATURALIST OF THK ST. CROIX

spear heads and knives, some I have seen that are very pretty, that
I am in hopes to get. The young meu in the road emploj^ have
them and I am mounting up some pretty birds that I may exchange
for the stone things. They were found last spring near Palatka and
most of them have been taken north. I will now be on the look-
out for anything they may find. The diggers are now ten miles
south of Ocala; no track laid within fifteen miles of them, but
hope to go down before very long. Have seen no new or very rare
birds, only yesterday saw one of those white-tail, or black shoul-
dered Kites brought in.

There is one very good taxidermist here ; he j)uts up Waders
very life-like, the best I have seen anywhere. Sands is also at work
and is doing very well ; lias a nice place near town but cannot do
up the Waders so artistic as the man Hoyt, not the Hoyt you saw
when you was in Jacksonville, H. H. Hoyt from Stamford, Conn.
He can also draw or paint well and is a very good artist. He
would be a good man to put up some Waders to replace those poor
ones that have been in the Smithsonian so long. He would be a
good man to go to Hudson Bay to take charge of the meteorological
establishment as he is a man of brains, if he would go. Some of
the white birds are now just coming into good plumage. I saw
one yesterday with good plumes, but only one in a dozen. This
is a nice place to collect, to go out on the cars in the morning,
return in the evening. I am going out quail shooting tomorrow;
was out twice last week. Should be pleased to see Ridgway
down here ; it would be a much better place for his spring vacation
than out at Illinois where he has been the last few years. A
vacation for you would not hurt you as you have not been down
here to look after the fish for some years. This State is full of
little ponds and lakes, some large lakes, but the small ones could
be drained and fish killed out and carp could be raised by the
million. The cars ran over an alligator a few days ago, that was
trying to cross the track. One of my Florida friends, Wm. Foster
of Clifton Springs died last week. We may not go west to live ;
go out next season to visit and then go back to Calais wliere we
have a nice place. I think we would be more at home down east.
Mrs. B. joins in much love to you and Mrs. Baird, Lucy and all
the friends. Sincerely yours,

G. A. BOARDMAN.

CORRKSPONDKNCE 211

10 Oak Grove St., Minneapolis, 28 Juue, 188G.
Dear Professor:

A good mauy years ago you told me to be sure and write you
everj^ mouth and now three or four months do not appear longer
than a month used to.

I came out here with Mrs. B. the first of May and the children
are determined not to let us go away, but we hope to be home in
about three weeks. This is a great country and growing very
fast. The boys are all doing very well. Have nice places and
keep good teams and we enjoy ourselves very much.

Calais, Maine, July 23, 1886.
Dear Professor:

I thought I wrote you from Minneapolis, but upon my return
home find a piece of a letter started for you among my papers. I
was so busy doing nothing out west I did not attend to things
very well. We left for home 12th July and arrived home last
Tuesday. We spent a couple of days at Kennebunkport and
found Capt. Beudire there at the hotel. He appeared to be enjoy-
ing himself very much. He is on his way east and promises to
make a visit at Calais and shall be verj' glad to see him. He is to
spend a week or two at Mount Desert and then come east.

I did not see much that was new in the way of natural his-
tory. A taxidermist, F. L. Tappan of Minneapolis, had a black
Wild cat, Lynx Rufus, that he got in Florida. It was black all
over as much as any black fox, but you could see the spots a little
on the sides. If it had been in any kind of order for mounting I
would have got it for you, but the fool had cut ofF the feet to
make a rug, also the liead was gone. He has the skin, if of any
use I could get it for you.

Did you ever have one?

We find everything all right at home. My man and woman
took good care of everything. Frank Todd tells me salmon are
very scarce this season, only about a dozen taken with fly. They
cannot be expected plenty every year.

There is a large crew at work putting water works in Calais,
Milltown and St. Stephen. Have taken my farm upon the hill
for a reservoir and things look quite lively about town. We
expect Charles and family next week. He tells great stories

212 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

about his new city at Charlotte Harbor and says we must all go
down next winter.

AVith kind regards to you, Mrs. B., Lucy, in which Mrs. B.
joins.

Sincerely youi'S,

G. A. BOARDMAN.

Calais, Maine, Sept. 5, 1886.

Dkar Professor :

I leceived a letter from Capt. Bendire, written August 12, say-
ing he would be in Calais the next week and see rae. It was
written in Bar Harbor and I wrote him to be sure and come along.
Have not heard anything from him since. Hope nothing has
happened to him.

My friend in Minneapolis wrote me he would send you the
skin of the black Lynx. He has had it tanned and will be a rare
skin for your fur collection. I Avas very sorry he cut off the head
and feet to get it tanned but it was poorly skinned and he did not
know the rai'ity of it.

I hope Capt. Bendire may come along.

A man by the name of Prof. S. F. Baird said, or wrote that he
might be down east this season. If you see him please say to him
to hurry along as the season is fast going away.

We are having nice weather. Charles' family are with us but
he is now in Boston and is expected down in a few days.

With kind regards to all the folks, I am

Yours as ever,

G. A. BOARDMAN.

Letter from Mr. Boardman to Mrs. Baird.

MiLLTOWN, 19 Sept., 1869.

My Dear Mrs. Baird:

I commenced to write to the Professor hut I am so cross to
think he should return home in such a way as not to come to see
us again, I don't think I shall write him again, until I feel better
natured about it.

I remember those bad names he told you to call me, for not
going over to Grand Manau with him, I wish you would multiply
them by ten, and then put them all on him.

THE NEW YOM
PUBLIC LIBRARY

A8T0H, LENOX AND

WLDEN pnvmATmsn
» L

r^Z^-^i

CORRESPONDENCE 213

We certainly expected another visit, if only of a few days.

We expect Georgie will leave for home Monday ; she had a
very nice trip on by land, enjoyed it veiy much, expect she will
return by boat, if the weather should be good. Hope you may
have a pleasant passage.

With much love to Lucy and only a little to the Professor this
time, I am

Yours very truly,

Geo. a. BOARD3IAN.

One of Mr. Boardman's most intimate correspondents
was Dr. William Wood of East Windsor HiU, Connecti-
cut, one of the most eminent naturalists which that state
ever produced.

William Wood, the son of Rev. Euke Wood, was born
in Waterbury, Conn., July 7, 1822. He received his
early education at the academy at Old KiUingworth, now
Clinton in that state and under the private tutorship of
Prof. Marsh and Prof. Eoverin, in Vermont. He was
qualified for the senior class at Yale, which he had hoped
to enter and graduate at the age of seventeen, but failure
of his eyes, which had been overtaxed in study, prevented
the realization of this hope. He then engaged in teach-
ing, studied medicine, attended lectures at the Berkshire
Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass., and at the University
Medical College of New York, from which he graduated
in 1847. On November 9, 1848, Mr. Wood married
Mary Eyman Ellsworth. She was a da tighter of the late
Dea. Erastus Ellsworth, member of one of the famous
families of Connecticut and was himself one of the prin-
cipal founders of the Theological Institute at East
Windsor Hill. Immediately after his marriage Dr. Wood
settled at East Windsor Hill where he continued to reside

214 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

throughout his long and active professional and scientific
life.

Dr. Wood was very enthusiastic in the study of natural
history, giving special attention to the study of orni-
thology and oology in which he made large collections.
In taxidermy Dr. Wood had few superiors and his collec-
tion of mounted birds and their eggs was widely known
— being the largest and choicest in private hands in the
state of Connecticut and one of the largest in the country.
In a special building upon his home grounds he had his
office, while the larger part of it was used to house his
extensive collections of natural history specimens, Indian
relics and other curios. The collection was always freely
shown to all visitors by some member of the family,
without charge. Dr. Wood w^as an occasional contrib-
utor to the American Naturalist and wrote a series of
articles on the Rapacious Birds of New England,
published in the Hartford Times in 1861. Upon this sub-
ject he was the leading authority. He was an honorary
member of the Lyceum of Natural History of Williams
College and a corresponding member of the Nuttall Orni-
thological Club of Cambridge, Mass.

From a memoir of Dr. Wood contributed to the Report
of the Connecticut Medical Society by Dr. S. R. Burnap
of Windsor I^ocks, the following extract is taken :

Dr. AVood was a man of a very genial and friendly nature,
warm and hearty in his greetings, and especially enjoyed meeting
his professional brethren in the several medical societies with
which he was connected, and would be at much paius and incon-
venience rather than be absent on those occasions. He was one
of the two or three organizers of the Hartford County North
Medical Association some twenty-eight years ago, of which he
was secretary from the time of its organization till his death.

CORRESPONDENCE 215

Although he devoted much time to the study of the natural
scieuces, for which he had great taste, I think he did not do this
to the neglect of his medical reading. He was a man of great
industry and activity, and an early riser; and by a systematic use
of his time was able to gratify his tastes without neglecting his
duties as a physician. He took a lively interest in his patients,
was prompt and faithful in his attendance, kind and gentle in his
manner, warm in his sympathies, and evidently earnest in his
endeavor to do them good. In this way he merited and won the
confidence and esteem of the many families who, in times of
peril, were willing to trust their health and their lives in his
hands. As a citizen, he was interested in all that pertained to
the best interests of the community in which he lived; was a
member of the Congregational Church and for thirty years
leader of its choir in music, being rarely absent unless when
compelled by urgent professional duties. He was a most agree-
able person to meet at his home or elsewhere. He was a good
talker and had a large fund of anecdotes ; could tell a good story
and enjoy a hearty laugh. He was naturally domestic in his
tastes and was most happy in his domestic Ufe.

Dr. Wood died, after an illness of but three days' dura-
tion, August 9, 1885, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
An obituary notice in the Hartford Daily Times of
August 10, 1885, said : " He was a well-informed orni-
thologist and quite an artistic taxidermist. His collec-
tion of specimens of native and foreign birds is large.
Dr. Wood's opinion was taken as authority by ornitholo-
gists of distinction, and his writings on the birds of this
region will beheld as valuable in the future." In an
obituary notice in the editorial columns of the Ornitholo-
gist and Oologist, for September, 1885, Volume X., No.
9, occurs the following tribute : " Few names are better
known in the ornithological world than that of Dr.
Wood. A well-know^n physician in the state to which

216 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

he belonged, he was more widely kno\vn as an enthusi-
astic naturalist, and especially as an ornithologist whose
opinion was widely sought and universally respected.
He was also a taxidermist of large experience and talent.
His collection of birds and eggs both native and foreign
is one of the largest in private hands in the country. A
large proportion of thetn have been prepared by his own
hands. His writings have consisted principally of com-
munications to local and other papers mainly on the
birds and fishes of New England. He also contributed
to some of the earlier volumes of this Magazine, but of
late he confined himself to occasional notes on subjects
which were being discussed."

In 1896 Mrs. Mary EUsworth Wood, widow of Dr.
Wood, presented her husband's entire collection to the
Hartford Scientific Society and it was deposited in the
rooms of the Wadsworth Athenaeum. A full and most
interesting description of the collection, with illustra-
tions, was published in the columns of The Hartford
Courant, November 18, 1896. In 1902, when the collec-
tion w^as opened to the general public, an account of the
same also appeared in the columns of The Hartford
Times, July 7. The collection is under the care of
Albert C. Bates, librarian of the Connecticut Historical
Society.

Mr. John H. Sage of Portland, Conn., writing to Mr.
Boardman August 19, 1885, regarding Dr. Wood's
death, says : " Yes — it is sad to think our good friend
Dr. Wood has left us. I was thunder-struck when I
took up the paper and read the notice of his death, hav-
ing had a letter from him only a few days before. He
died at six o'clock Sunday morning, August 9, aged

CORRESPONDENCE 217

sixty-three. He was out fishing the previous Thursday
when he was attacked by sev^ere intestinal trouble that
had afflicted him for many years. His daughter told me
that he said he should not live. He appeared to know
what they were doing for him but spoke very little dur-
ing his sickness. We were the best of friends and I
shall miss his ever-welcome letters and the opportunity
of consulting him occasionally as has been my habit for
years. He had a large collection of birds and eggs,
many Indian relics and fish. I hope his collection will be
placed in Hartford. It was especially rich in local rapa-
cious birds. His series of rough-legs is very valuable."
The correspondence between Mr. Boardman and Dr.
Wood commenced September 20, 1864, and continued
until September 30, 1885. Dr. Wood wrote the first
letter at the suggestion of Mr. J. A. Allen, saying:
"My object is to open an exchange with you of skins
and eggs and I trust I need make no apology for address-
ing one engaged in the same pursuit as myself." Dr.
Wood particularly wants eggs and in this letter gives
the numbers (according to the Baird Smithsonian list)
of the eggs of one hundred and eleven species which he
has, fifty of which are of foreign birds. Mr. Boardman
answered this letter immediately upon its receipt, writing
one of the most interesting autobiographical letters he ever
penned, telling how he began the study of birds and
what he had, saying it was only within a few years that
he had cared for birds' eggs. "I have found quite a
number of good eggs this season," he writes, " but have
had so many visitors they have taken the most of them
away." Yet he writes that he has all but eight of the
list enclosed by Dr. Wood.

218 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

During the continuance of this correspondence fifty-
two letters were written b}' Dr. Wood and sixt)'-nine by
Mr. Boardman. The collection is rich in natural history
facts, for both were rare obser\'ers of the ways of birds
and most entertaining letter-writers. Interesting per-
sonal incidents also occur in nearly each one. Wher-
ever Mr. Boardman was he kept up his correspondence
with his friends. He wrote from his home in Milltown,
from places in Florida where he spent the winters, from
Boston, from New York, from Washington, from Minne-
sota and from California. The letters are all original.
There are no duplicates in Mr. Boardman's letters
though written to so many different persons and gen-
erally upon the same subjects.

Dr. Wood writes in 1864 that he has not been able to
get the eggs of the Duck Hawk " although I visited the
cliffs, some fifteen miles from here, four times last spring
for that purpose. The birds that were described in
chapter fifteen of my Rapacious Birds of New England,
I kept alive two years, and when Prof. Baird was here
I gave them to him. He took them to Washington to
note the change in plumage but thej^ soon died." Writ-
ing to Mr. Boardman May 17, 1865, he teUs of his collec-
tors who climb trees after the nests of the Red-tailed
Hawk, in this interesting extract.

1 expect to start on a trip of thirty-two miles next Monday
to collect the eggs of the Night Heron. One of my collectors
accompanies me to climb the trees. They nest here in great
numbers, 1,000 or more. I wish you were here to go with us. It
is a sight worth seeing to go into that heavy timbered swamp and
see it alive with them. Almost every tree has one or more nests
upon it. I went there some four years since but found the young
so far advanced that I did not get but a few poor eggs. Hope to

CORRESPONDENCE 219

do better this season. My collectors have done well this spring
and I expect to get a good many duplicates for exchanges. One
of my hunters who lives some twenty miles fi'om me sent me
word when I was sick that he had found two nests of the Ked-
tailed Hawk, but could find no one who dared climb the trees. If
I had been able I should have gone out with one of my climbers
who says "he can climb any tree made of wood," and I believe he
can. He makes no more eftbrt apparently than a squirrel. I have
seen him go up sixty or eighty feet and swing ofl" with nothing
but his feet to hold him — head down and then swing back.

" The Wood Pewee," writes Dr. Wood on March 11,
1867, " does not nest in the same spot when broken up,
but very near it. There is a grove of one and one-half
acres back of our garden and the pair would not leave
that grove no matter how many times I took their eggs."
May 7, 1868, Mr. Boardman writes him : "I told my
friend Mr. Krider of Philadelphia, who is a great col-
lector and a very nice man, to get acquainted with you.
He has a good collection and time to pay attention to
the egg business, and does not have two hundred work-
men to keep employed. In about ten days, or after the
lakes are open, I expect to go up country fishing and
look after some tree ducks. The little Bu£3e Head Duck
is with us all the season and breeds in holes in trees,
but I have never been able to get the eggs. Baird has
them but I prefer to get them here if possible."

On May 18, 1868, Dr. Wood writes : "I have obtained
one very singular set of eggs that I am unable to decipher
— one of my collectors told me that he had found some
very singular crows' eggs. He saw the crow building
the nest in the top of a tall pine and after a week or so
he obtained four eggs. They are the shape and size of
rather small crows' eggs, but are marked like the eggs

220 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

of the Chewink, with reddish-brown spots, no green or
bluish color about them. What are they? Does the
Fish Crow lay such an egg ? ' ' Mr. Boardman answers
by saying : " The crows' eggs were marked very oddly
but I have seen crows' eggs of most aU colors, nearly
white and also quite brown."

Dr. Wood was a delegate to the Vermont State Medical
Society at Brattleboro in July, 1868, and on his return in
the train he saw a good looking man reading the American
Naturalist. He writes Mr. Boardman : ' ' On the strength
of that I ventured to ask him if he was a naturalist.
He replied that he was fond of botany and that he had
now been up into Vermont to collect a very rare plant
which was only found on an island in the Connecticut
river in the northern part of the state. I found he had
travelled all over this continent as well as on the Atlantic
and Pacific Coasts. After considerable yankeeing I
found out that he was Prof. Alphonso Wood, author of
Wood's Botany. We had quite a lively time after we
found out each other's names and that we were distantly
related." In a subsequent letter, under date of October
9, 1868, Dr. Wood gives the conclusion of this interest-
ing incident :

I sent Prof. Wood, author of Wood's Botany, a box of
botanical specimens last week. We have a plant, Lygodiuin
palniatum, the climbing fern, which is very abundant here but is
not to be found anywhere else on the globe in any quantity.
There is one place in Massachusetts where a little can be found.
It is one of the rarest plants in the world. I was telling Prof.
Wood of the abundance of it here, last summer, and he was
anxious to have me send him not only some pressed specimens
but some roots. He intends to transplant it. I seat him over
fifty good roots and some twenty-five pressed specimens. Prof.

CORRKSPONDKNCK 221

Gray of Harvard sent for a 1)ox of specimens ; Prof. Chadbourne
also. Prof. Eaton of New Haven came up here to see it growing
and gather some. He had never seen it, although he was pi-ofessor
of botany. I took him into the woods where it was as thick as it
could stand. When he saw it, he took off his hat and swung it,
exclaiming, " T am ready to die now ! " A little enthusiastic.

" Have you seen the August Naturalist?" Dr. Wood
inquires in the same letter. "When Allen was writing
for the Institute proceedings, he visited me and wanted
a set of my articles on the Rapacious Birds of Connecti-
cut, which I gave him. This month's number contains
an article from him on the Screech Owl — the whole of
which, almost, is copied from my article with a little
change in phraseology but without giving me any credit
for it. I would not care were it not that Putnam wrote
me while the discussion was going on in the Naturalist
regarding the Screech Owl, requesting an article from
me. I forwarded him my article with slight alterations
which he has accepted and the proof is corrected. The
article will appear in the September or October number
and to those not knowing the facts it will appear as
though I had taken my facts from Allen without credit.
I am very sorry on this account." In a letter to Dr.
Wood on December 9, 1868, Mr. Boardman writes :

The Red Throat I wrote you about was brought into a taxi-
dermist shop in North William Street, New York, when I was there ;
Mr. Wallace mounted it. The man shot it in the sound, but did
not say at what part. The red was not very good but would liave
been in a very few days. I think in winter they do not have the
red-throat, but all I get as late as tlie last of April or first of May
have the throat red. I never saw a white throat bird late in spring
and never a red one in winter. 1 noticed what you say about
trusting to the gunners for names of the different kinds of birds.
They always see or shoot some wonderful birds, such as have never

222 THE NATURALIST OF THK ST. CROIX

been seen, but they most always turn out some common affair.
I wisli you could spend time to go south with me this winter. I
generally call to see all the naturalist folks in New York, Philadel-
phia, Washington, Cliarleston, etc. You would enjoy Florida —
there are so many new things to see at every place you go.

Among the interesting things in Mr. Boardman's letters
are the following : "I have never had much experience
with the Red-tailed Buzzard or Hen Hawk. They are
not plenty with us but I have seen them in all the
plumages you name and have thought it took several
years for them to mature. It is the same with most all
hawks. It is also the same with eagles but owls appear
always about the same. It takes three years for the
Eider Ducks and about the same for the Herring Gull to
get into full plumage. I do not know of any good
description of its change of plumage." Writing from
Jacksonville, January 17, 1881, he says : "After receiv-
ing your letter telling me your friend thought there were
but few birds in Florida, I took mj^ gun and dog and
was not gone from the hotel two hours but I brought in
nine Wilson Snipe, one Quail, one Killdeer Plover, Larks,
Ground Doves, Carolina Doves, one Clapper Rail,
Cardinal red bird; while I also saw Robins, Red-shouldered
and Sparrow Hawks, Pewee, four kinds of Warblers,
three of Woodpeckers, Tit-larks, Creepers, Buzzards and
black Vultures, Bitterns, dozens of Sparrows, Shrike
Mocking birds, several Terns and GuUs, lots of Ducks,
Chuck Wills Widow, and all within a mile and a half of
Jacksonville Centre. A few years ago I came down with
my dog from up country to the hotel here and found
half a dozen men with guns and dogs who said they had
been here all winter and found no quail. Three of us
went out the next day and brought home ninety-two

CORRESPONDENCE 223

quail and some other birds. I find birds and game
plenty in Florida but they do not come into hotel parlors
very often." On the habits of birds he writes : "I had
not long since a live Goshawk in my barn chamber.
When he was on the beams, if I threw a stick at him,
instead of stretching out his neck like a goose or duck,
he would draw down his head and throw up his shoulders
or wings." About the Golden Eagle which Dr. Wood
had reported having, he writes November 30, 1879 : ' ' You
got a prize in your Golden Eagle. They are now very
rare in any part of New England. I have not heard of
one being taken here for some years. The last two were
caught in steel traps."

" I cannot tell you much about the breeding of Rich-
ardson's Owl," Mr. Boardman writes September 5, 1879.
"They are not uncommon here late in fall and winter.
The Arcadian Owl breeds. I have never found the eggs,
but once I found the nest and young. The nest was in
a hole in a stub not more than five feet high. It was
the first of June and the birds were about half grown.
I did not count them, only took out two birds, but there
must have been five or six."

One of the points upon which Dr. Wood wished
information was the period of incubation of the Osprey.
He was writing upon the subject and was searching
everything of value in ornithological literature to find
out, "in order to make my article perfectly reliable.
But there is not a work extant, so far as I can learn,
that gives the desired information. I have written to
oological collectors without avail." In answer to a let-
ter written to Dr. Brewer asking for the period of incu-
bation of our rapacia, he replied : "I am very sorry to

224 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX

have to confess to entire ignorance in regard to the time
of incubation of all the species." Dr. Wood quotes Mr.
Gentry in his work on the Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania
as making all the birds in the famih' occupy a different
period, spending only one or two nights in building a
nest, and \\Tites : "I watched one this season which
took five days. Perhaps Connecticut birds are not as
smart as Pennsylvania birds. Gentry is very particular
to have each of the six owls occupy a different period of
incubation, from fifteen to twenty-four days. ' ' In answer
to a request for Mr. Boardman's views he writes :

lu answer to your question about the time, or period of incuba-
tion of our hawlis and owls, I must say that I know but little
about it, but most every set of eggs I take I find them in diflereut
stages. The truth is, we have so many crows, black birds, jays,
cuckoos, etc., etc., that as soon as the birds begin to lay one bii-d
has to remain on the nest for protection of the eggs and the first
laid eggs are much more advanced than the last. I find this in tlie
eggs of small birds as well as of the large. I took last night a
nest of Eed-bellied Nuthatch made in a hole so small that nothing
larger than a mouse could get in. Out of six eggs three were
nearlj' fresh ; of the others one was quite hard set. I have found
in a grebe's nest, fresh eggs and young birds. So to get at the
period of inculcation we should have to count from the first eggs
in case of most of our birds. That may be the reason Mr. Gentry
has so much dift'erence.

Another matter about which these naturalists had con-
siderable correspondence was whether the Black and
Rough-legged Hawk were one and the same species. As
early in their correspondence as 1868, Dr. Wood had
asked Mr. Boardman's views upon this subject and in a
letter dated October 12 of that year he writes :

About the Black and the Eough-legged Hawk being the same
bird, I would say I have some doubts and some of the reasons are

CORRESPONDENCE 225

these : The Rough-legged of Europe is thought to be the same
as the Aiuerican bird in size, color, habits, eggs, uesting, etc., etc.
Its history is well knowu from the time they breed in Lapland to
their winter quarters in Central Europe. Never a blackbird has
been found. At the Smithsonian at Washington they have had at
least a bushel of Kough-legged llawks' eggs, all sent with the
parent birds. There was never one black hawk in the lot. Now
if, as you think, the black is the adult, how does it happen that a
black bird has never been seen in Europe? Or more strange, that
all breeding birds sent to the Smithsonian should be young, not
one adult V The Black Ilawk is not at all uncommon in Labrador
in summer. The Itough-legged I cannot hear much about. The
fishermen never bring me any, but up at Slave Lake and on the
west coast the Rough-legged is abundant, more so than any other
hawk, but the black is very rare. They are neither very common
with us. I have good specimens, however, of each, and they
appear to be of most all colors. Most of the black ones I have
collected I have sent to a friend in London for purposes of com-
parison with their Rough-legged. They conclude it cannot be
the same bird. As they have better ornithologists than I ever
expect to be I must agree with them. I would be glad to see the
list of species of birds much reduced, but the man who should
undertake to do the thing must be prepared for the work or he
would certainly have to back down.

On December 14, 1874, Dr. Wood writes :

Have you seen Baird's, Bi-ewer's and Ridgway's new work? I
see they consider the Rough-legged and Black Hawk the same
bird, but Baird makes no allusion to my being the first to positively
settle that disputed point. Baird for years contended that they
were distinct species as confidently as my friend down in Maine
and letter after letter passed between us on that subject. Some
years since when he was at my oflice I showed him the various
changes in plumage from the young to the adult — still he would
not own up. Allen came on at the request of Agassiz to see my
series and was convinced I was right. I sent to the Cambridge
Museum three specimens, young, immature and black Hawk.
Allen wrote an article in the Naturalist giving me the credit of

226 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

settling tlie identity. Baird came up here to see the Great-footed
hawks which I was raising, settling the point of their nesting in
Connecticut. 1 gave him two which were kept alive in Washing-
ton another year. My bu-ds were kept in Hartford by Mi-. Moses
as food could be more easily procured for them there. I took
Prof. Baird down there where there were three alive and told him
all about capturing them, etc. In his work he gives Moses the
credit of being the donor. I hope others have got the credit due
them, but perhaps he may be like Agassiz who claimed every new
discovery by his pupils as his, because they were pursuing inves-
tigations under his directions. His students made bitter complaints
and had reason to. Every man ought to be credited with his own
discoveries.

In 1879, writing of this subject again Dr. Wood says :
" I regret that I have not a duplicate of the May number
of Familiar Science to send you, containing that chapter
of my work on the Rapacia where I take up the Rough-
legged Falcon — a point on which my views were at
variance with those of all the leading ornithologists of
this country and now my views are endorsed by all with-
out giving me credit. I do not claim to be the first
ornithologist who considered the Rough -legged and the
Black Falcon identical. I give Audubon and Wilson due
credit, but I do claim to have settled beyond dispute that
our later ornithologists were mistaken in making two
species of them. It is a pity that some persons who
know a little about birds — like j'our Portland man and
other writers for the press whom I might name — should
attempt to do what they know nothing about. It fills
our ornithological literature with blunders which are
credited as facts and copied all over the world and it
takes ages to rectify their mistakes."

The correspondence of these two friends is most
intimate and confiding. Not only are their letters full of

CORRESPONDENCE 227

interest to bird-lovers, they are taken up to considerable
extent with matters of friendship. They are always
planning exchanges of birds and eggs which neither
does not have and are ever on the lookout for rare things
for each other. Dr. Wood is complaining of the Natur-
alist because it does not contain more about real natural
history and less of the hobbies of the editors ; while
Mr. Boardman praises Forest and Stream, the Nuttall
Bulletin, " no horse, dog or fish in it," and the English
bird journal, The Ibis, saying ' ' it pays well and we should
be able to support a bird paper on this side." His friend
has many complaints of the Smithsonian people because
they do not pay better in exchanges for good things sent
them and for their tardiness in sending promised speci-
mens, while Mr. Boardman is true in his friendship for
them, always has good excuses and apologies, tells how
much they have to do, what a hurry they are always in
and that they will finally make exchanges satisfactorily,
' * but of course the large museums and the big collectors
must be attended to first." Boxes of exchanges are con-
stantly being sent between them. They tell each other
of their losses, their unfortunate investments and their
plans for the future. " If I ever get enough ahead to
bid good-by to pills and physic and devote my time to
natural history you will see one happy man who will
some day turn up somewhere near Milltown, N. B.,"
writes Dr. Wood ; while in a letter of July 31, 1882, he
says : "I wish I had the time and means to travel about
and enjoy life as you do. I intended to give up practice
at sixty and devote the remainder of my days to following
my favorite pursuits and seeing my ornithological friends
— a desire I have looked forward to with a great deal of

228 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

pleasure — but sixty has found me this month tied up
closer than ever, cheated out of $40,000 by those I
supposed honest men. It is ' no use to cry over spilled
milk' but it does not make one feel particularly amiable
to have his plans frustrated at my period of life by the
acts of another."

Notw^ithstanding their close friendship and long corre-
spondence these friends never saw each other. Mr. Board-
man was always writing Dr. Wood to visit him at Mill-
town, to go to Florida with him, while the latter was
constantly entreating the former to stop over on some of
his trips from Boston to New York or from Maine to
Florida and see him and his museum. He is telling him
how to take a stage from Hartford for East Windsor Hill,
and then of a railroad to be built which will have a
station within half a mile of his house. In April, 1873,
they had been in New York on the same day and had
visited Wallace's within half an hour of each other and
great was the disappointment of both when they found
it out later. "Dr. Holder, superintendent of Central Park,
spent an afternoon with me last week. He asked if I
was acquainted with Geo. A. Boardman of Maine; I
replied, ' yes, intimately for about sixteen or eighteen
years, but never had the pleasure of seeing the gentle-
man.' I explained when he said : ' You remind me of
him every minute.' So I think it must be about time to
see each other face to face. I did not understand him
that there was any personal resemblance between us,
but that our enthusiasm and manner of speaking were
alike."

In 1882 Dr. Wood writes: "I hope you will not go
out west to live until you have been here. If you get

CORRESPONDENCE 229

so far away I shall give up all hope of ever seeing you
this side of Jordan ; ' ' while in 1885 he says : ' ' Now
you are back from the south at your old home I hope to
hear from you oftener, if I can't see you. But why in
the world can't we see each other before we die ?" The
main reason why Mr. Boardman did not visit Dr. Wood,
was because his trips between Boston and New York
were nearly always made by boat. He was an owner in
the lines, a director in one of them and was always at
home upon the boats, enjoying their freedom and pre-
ferring them to the train. Moreover, in going by rail,
as he occasionally did, Mrs. Boardman was generally
with him, often some of the boys and, as he says in his
letters, he had so much baggage, traps of one kind and
another, and generally dogs on his journeys to and from
Florida, that it was not convenient to stop over. The
two friends ever lived with the hope of seeing each other
sometime, a pleasure that was, however, never realized.

Extracts of Letters from Dr. Wood to Mr. Boardman

East Windsor Hill, March 4, 1868.

I have been hoping all winter to see you here and give you
some eggs. I don't know what you wish, but if you will refer to
my list that I sent j^ou I will let you have anything of which I
have duplicates or which I can replace if I have not duplicates. I
keep the Barred Owl's egg sacred for you although urged strongly
to part with it. One oologist told me that if I should live seveuty-
five years I should not probably find another about here. I hope
you will visit me the coming season and we will look over things
and have a good time generally.

I have done but little in the way of taxidermy this winter,
everything in the way of birds has been scarce except Goshawks,
the first time in twenty years that I liave been able to get one.
Tliis winter I have received six and have known as many more

230 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

killed about here. They are the boldest and most daring of any
of our rapacious birds. One of my patrons told me that he cut
off the head of a fowl and threw it down and while fluttering
within a few feet of him a hawk dove and picked it up, flying a
few rods and then went to eating it. He shot it and it proved to
be the GoshaAvk. Another told me that a hawk pursued one of
his hens into the back part of his house, through the door that
was open. His wife placed iierself in the doorway and he ran to
the rescue of his fowl with a stick. The hawk evading the blow
attempted to fly out of the door and was seized by the good dame
and dispatched without court or jury — regular lynch law. Have
you duplicate eggs of them?

I have obtained one Snowy Owl — the first in three seasons.
This was killed some sixteen miles to the west of here and sent to
me. I caught the young of the Crested Grebe (the adult never
comes here) and hoped to keep him alive until in full plumage.
There is a small stream some two miles above my office over
which is built a blacksmith shop and at this part of the brook are
si^rings which never freeze. I made arrangements with the black-
smith to take care of him. He fastened a cord some two rods
long to his leg so that he could swim under the shop or outside at
his pleasure. He became quite tame, but unfortunately one night
he got hung by his cord and was found dead in the morning. I
kept him about two weeks in this brook and if he had lived I
should have made a fence along its bank for a few rods with a
sieve at the outlet so that he could not get out. One very cold
night the l)lacksmith carried him into his cellar and gave him
bread crumbs to eat. He said they were all gone in the morning.
Did the grebe eat them? He used to throw corn in the brook and
that would all be eaten up. He said the grebe ate it! Can that
be so or did something else eat it up? I asked him if he was sure
that the bird ate it? He said, " Yes, for there is nothing else to
eat. I throw into the brook a handful of corn every morning and
when I come out after a while it is all gone." K the bkd had
lived I should have satisfied myself upon that point. Perhaps
you can give me positive information on the subject as no doubt
the grebe is common with you but is seldom seen here.

CORRKSPONDKNCE 231

November 6, 1868.

Winter has begun in good earnest. We have had two snow-
storms but not much of depth. The winter birds have begun to
make their appearance and some varieties that have not been
seen for many years are here. The Goshawk is about again this
year. I have just received a very fine specimen — this is the third
taken within a short time near here. I have received two speci-
mens of the White-winged Crossbill within a few days — a very
rare bird here. I have not known one here before for fifteen
years. That season they were very abundant. Two specimens of
the Pine Grosbealv were shot on Talcott mountain this week, but
fell into the hands of a naturalist in Hartford so I did not get hold
of them.

I notice what you say about the Rough-legged Falcon and
Black Hawk. I have corresponded with several ornithologists
upon the subject who have had tlie best opportunities to know.
Wm. Cooper of Quebec, who is a thorough naturalist, says that he
has been investigating the subject for years and is very positive
that they are identical. He says if they ai-e distinct why has not
some oologist been able to identify tlie eggs of the Black Hawk?
I may be wrong in considei-ing the black the adult — it may be
the young. I think they are the same bird. The size, form,
habits and everything pertaining to them are the same. The
markings from light to dark or dark to light run into each otlier
and are as noticeable as the changes of tlie Goshawlc. Tlie fact
that the Itougli-legged is abundant in some sections and no Black
hawk and vice versa, is no proof against their being identical. We
see the same thing in many varieties of birds. The young of the
Red-throated Diver is very abundant in Long Island Sound, yet
the adult bird is never seen there. The young of the Crested
Grebe is found here ; the adult never.

February 4, 1869.
I shot a splendid male Golden-eyed Duck last Friday but lost
him under the ice. The Scantio river empties into Connecticut
river a short way above here and being a quick stream and dirty,
cuts quite a strip open in the Connecticut long before the ice
breaks up. Friday being a beautiful warm day I took my gun
and went to this " ope." 1 found it open some three miles on the

232 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Connecticut and six rods wide. I saw a Golden-eye some way
above and attempted to get up to it by running when it was under
the water. At my second run the snow gave way, throAving nie
headlong and running my gun barrel nearly its whole length into
the snow. After getting my shooting iron in order my game was
gone. Proceeding farther down I saw two more and after several
hours I succeeded in shooting one. I took out my line (which I
always carry to throw over game in the river) and attaching a
club, threw it over the duck but it was not heavy enough to hold
the specimen. Pulling in my cord I found it twisted and knotted
into every conceivable "tie up"' imaginable and before I could
get my lino in working order the bird was some one-half mile
below. Overtaking it bj'^ a high clay bank and seeing it near the
shore I attempted to descend — slip, slip, and down I went into the
mud and soft clay and did not stop until I fetched up in aqua
fortis. Fortunately it was not deep enough to seriously wet me.
Before I could extricate myself from the clay my bird was again
below me and out of reach.

Determined to have it as it was a splendid male specimen, I
followed to the end of the "ope" (three miles), thinking 1
should certainly get it then, but what was my disappointment to
see it disappear under the ice! The first male specimen I ever
got I swam into the Connecticut river after in December when
there was ice on the shore.

July 15, 1869.
Last week I heard of a man in Massachusetts who had found
the nest of the Great Horned Owl with two eggs. I thought I
would see if I could not be as smart as some folks in Maine who
go wading through swamps in a drenching rain to get the egg of
the Broad-winged Hawk! I immediately dispatched a man for
them so as to be sure of getting No. 48 for G. A. B. But Judge of
my disappointment after sending a man fifty miles, twenty in a
wagon and thirty in the cars, to find that Amherst College had
got the start of me and procured the eggs ! It is the most diflicult
egg to get that is to be found in this section. I think I mentioned
in one of my letters that one of my collectors found a nest with
young in it this season. I told him not to disturb it, hoping to get
the eggs nest year. The first egg I get you shall have. I never

CORRESPONDENCE 233

have been able to get but one egg. The man who found the nest
saw the old bird on and supposing it was a hawk which had made
himself quite at home among his chickens, fired into the nest and
out came the owl, winged. He then climbed the tree and found
live eggs, four of which were broken to pieces ; the good egg he
gave me. The nest I think must have been in quite an unusual
place. It was in a cluster of small yellow pines not more than
thii-ty or forty feet from the ground. The Duck-hawk's eggs
which Allen told you about I have. They are all marked very
much like the egg of the Fish-hawk and are considerably larger
than the egg you let me have.

I hope your son will secure a good lot of eggs in Vermont.
The Hawk Owl nests there, I am told, abundantly, in some sections
and the Bald Eagle nests about Lake Champlain. A gentleman
who visited there told me that several pairs have nested there for
many years. I want very much to get the Eagle's eggs. One of
my hunters who went to Michigan some four years since found
the nest of the Bald Eagle and climbed to it, and found three
eggs in it. He said he thought he would let it be three or four
days longer and get four or five eggs. He waited and went to it
again and found the nest robbed and torn down. I think I should
not have felt very badly if he had taken the three without waiting
for more. So it is one disappointment after another.

November 29, 1872.
You ask why it is that most all naturalists are doctors. I
have often asked myself the same question when looking over the
Naturalist's directory and seeing who are the contributors to the
Naturalist. I suppose it may be accounted for in two or three
ways. In the first place our preliminary studies have a tendency
to develop a taste for the sciences. Second, our rides through
woods and by sti'cams every day of our lives lead us to observe
everything in the vegetable and animal world to relieve us from
care and we soon become interested in some department of science ;
and again, we can collect ourselves and being acquainted over a
large circuit we can interest very many persons and get them to
collect for us. Every Indian relic and every rare bird or animal
or egg that is found within ten miles of me is surely brought to
my office. I have just mounted a splendid otter that was killed

234 THE NATURALIST OF THK ST. CROIX

within oue mile of my office. It is the only one that has been
taken in this town within the memory of the oldest inhabitants.
Are they common with you? We have been trying for the past
three weeks to shoot a white crow which has been in our meadows
but without success.

I made quite an exchange of eggs with Herrick after his
return from his northern trip. I have lately made an exchange
with Beudire and liope to get his entire collection of about 3,000
eggs. I have made him a liberal offer and am now expecting an
answer. It takes over six weeks for a letter to go and return
from his camp and that time will be up next week.

November 18, 1879.
The bird which I wrote you about at Bolton Reservoir which
I guessed was the Black Vulture is no such bird. I went in com-
pany with five of my hunters and succeeded in capturing him. It
is a salt water bird, probably abundant in your section but entirely
new to this locality. It was the Double-crested Cormorant. We
had an exciting time in getting him. It had been shot at so often
that it was very wild. We could not get within eighty rods of
him. When he started, would fly the length of the reservoir —
three miles. Four of us lay concealed while one in the boat kept
the bird going to and fro, very high up. He was at last winged
and I assure you he was equal to a Loon to dive. Last Monday a
beautiful adult Golden Eagle was brought nie, the first adult bird
that ever I have known in this locality. I have seen only two
immature birds killed in this vicinity in thirty years. This bird
captured himself. A gentleman was driving in the highway
through a piece of woods within four miles of my office and
discovered this bird sitting in the road. On approaching him he
discovered that the bird could not fly ; that his wing was broken
near its body. I have mounted the bird. There was no shot, no
blood about the bird. How came it so? I think the wing must
have hit a limb. It had just been done.

CORRESPONDENCE 235

Letters from Mr. Boardman to Dr. Wood

MiLLTOWN, 27 March, 1866.
Deak Doctor:

I have just received your letter of March 20 and am glad to
hear from you.

I have just returned with my wife from quite a long trip down
your way. We went as far as Washington, visited the bird men
in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.
Were absent about five weeks. I saw many fine collections of
birds and eggs but since I have got home I believe I like my own
little local collection better than any I saw. I came very near
making you a call, and had Mrs. Boardman not been with me,
think I should have done so. But Mrs. Boardman said I had
seen enough for one visit and I thought she was about right. It
would not do to see everything in one visit. I hope, however,
before very long to be New York way again.

I saw quite a lot of new things at the Smithsonian which they
had received from Keunicott's expedition since my last visit there
a few years ago. Some of their eggs I think very good. The
skins were poorly done up, about the whole value of them was
the labels ; as for specimens they were not worth fifty cents a
bushel.

I took tea with Dr. Bi-ewer of Boston and looked over his
collection. It is very large and nice. He is getting out a new
work, the second part of his American Oology, to be published by
the Smithsonian. The drawings are very good, mostly of the
smaller birds. I hope they will soon publish the work. It has
been so long since they published the first part I should be afraid
the first eggs would spoil, and the doctor told me they have found
out that some plates in the first part were not correctly colored.

I have just had a call to go up to Fredericton for about a
week. Some of the English officers are quite good collectors.
The governor of the Province is a good naturalist and is a pleas-
ant correspondent. He goes in for live things and has quite a
menagerie of bears, beavers, foxes, squirrels, hedgehogs, etc. He
sends live things to the public gardens in London. I have found
nothing new in the way of birds or eggs this winter. I have had

236 THK NATURAI^IST OF THE ST. CROIX

some dispute with the bird men about the Black Guillemot chang-
ing its plumage in winter. All the books say it does. Not long
since Dr. Coues wrote a paper to the Academy of Natural Sciences
in Philadelphia about the subject, which would be all very nice if
true. I get the birds any time in winter in full black plumage.
Hoping to hear from you always at your convenience, I am

Yours truly,

Geo. a. Boardman.

MiLLTOWN, 28 January, 1867.
Dear Dr. Wood:

1 last night received your letter of January 19 — one week
on the passage. I am very glad you are all right again. I have
been thinking about you for some time and was afraid you might
have had more trouble with your head, but know it is all right
when you can be interested in birds and eggs.

I notice what you say about your collection of mounted birds.
I have no doubt it is very fine, but until I see it, I shall hardly
believe it as good as mine. I think I can beat you upon water
birds, rare ducks, grebes, geese, waders, etc. I have them in dif-
ferent plumage, and of many of them the chicks. We have a good
chance for water birds. My eagles, hawks and owls are hard
to beat. I have fifteen different kinds of hawks and ten of owls,
of our locality, all nicely mounted. Amongst them are three Gyr-
falcons and five Duck Hawks, done up in dlffierent attitudes and
plumage; seven very fine eagles, Golden and Wliite-head, done the
same way; my small birds are very good. I have also some very
fine horns, heads, etc. ; heads of deer, caribou, moose and some
African horns, heads, etc. T only mention those to see if I can-
not induce you some time to take a trip down East. Besides, I
have some very good eggs, but I do not care so much for eggs as
for birds. 1 think a good collection of horns very interesting. I
have moose horns that weigh about fifty pounds, five feet wide
with thirty-eight points upon them ; caribou horns with thirty-
five points, etc. I think you must come 1 How about the snow
storm? We can beat you at that. The first mail we have had
since the 17th of January, a week ago Thursday, ten days, was
j'esterday. We get telegraph news every day, as the snow is not
quite over the telegraph poles, but it is very deep. I want very

CORRESPONDENCE 237

much to go to the logging woods to spend a week or so, but am
afraid to sleep in the camps, as I might take cold. Prof. Baird is
a great fellow for sets of eggs. These big society folks will take
all they can get, the most of them by sets or any other way and
if we want any sets of them they come very slow. However,
I suppose we private folks are not of so much consequence as big
European and other societies. I get letters every few weeks from
Prof. Baird. He has a big lot of things from the Arctic regions,
he says over 100,000 specimens. I am getting some winter birds'
skins for them, also a lot of steruums (breast bones of birds) and
hope we shall get a good lot of things from him when he has
time to wait upon us. I got a good box, however, last spring and
expect, if I get time, to go again, say the last of March and see
what he has that is new.

I notice what you say about the Wood Pewee. They are very
hard to find with us. They build in the deep woods. I never got
but one or two. Do you keep nests as well as birds iji any quan-
tities? 1 think they are very interesting and some of them are
very pretty, the Wood Pewee and Thistle-bird and many of the
warblers. I had a nest and eggs sent me called the Golden-
crowned Wren, with a very pretty nest, nearly one inch thick,
made of pi-etty green moss. I used to throw away the nests, not
having a good place in which to keep them and besides, they
made a great deal of dirt ; moths would eat the feathers and lining,
but my glass top boxes keep them very close. I have only saved
a very few and am very sorry I have no more. I must collect
nests next year. I am sorry your Miss Pewee got killed. I did
not know they would build again in the same place when they
were disturbed. Many birds, by taking all their eggs but one,
will continue to lay a large number. The little Eed Owl and
Sparrow Hawk will do so, as well as many of the Woodpeckers.

I did not go after the big Heron's eggs, I was very busy, and
they build on so high trees I did not feel like undertaking the job.
I had quite a task getting a Duck Hawk's eggs. I went about
sixty miles, half the way in boats. There were two nests and I
must try to get one more this spring. Were it not for the fun of
such an excursion they would cost more than they come to. I was
gone over a week with quite an expensive crew. They breed very

238 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

early and most other birds of their class, raven and eagles, breed
at the same time. I did not get any small birds' eggs on that
trip. Last year I did not try so hard as usual to get eggs. I think
I am losing my interest for birds and eggs. I have the birds very
well up, but somehow the eggs come slowly. Hawks' eggs I have
got very well, but of owls I have only five species, and one of
them does not belong here — Barn Owl.

I notice what you say about exchanging. I think perhaps
I might have some rare sea birds' eggs which you have not, as I
have received some good ones from Labrador most every year,
but 1 have forgotten what you had on your list. If you will send
the numbers you want, and the numbers of your duplicates you
have to spare, when you have time to look through them, I would
like to have you do so. There are a number of the officers at
Frederictou who make collections and do not get many eggs of
some of your breeders. They always want hawks and owls such
as do not breed this way often. But I have been writing much
longer than I intended and remain,

Very truly yours,

Geo. a. Boakdman.

MiLLTOWN, Nov. 17, 18G8.
My Dear Doctor :

I received your welcome letter of November 6 and am always
glad to hear from you. The eggs came along all right, but 1 have
been away most of the time since I wrote you and have only
opened the box. I hope to get time to send the Yellow lled-polFs,
as 1 have a full nest. I can send them by mail.

I did not go to New York on my last trip, so did not go by
you. If I go south this whiter I shall go the last of next month,
shall probably take my family, in which case I should not care to
stop. Besides, I should probably go by the Sound boats.

We are having winter very early. The ponds are frozen so
hard the boys have had good skating. We have now pretty fair
sleighing with three to four inches of snow on the ground. White-
winged Crossbills are quite common about my trees and I have
seen a few Pine Grosbeaks. Those with Goshawks are our com-
mon winter birds.

CORRESPONDENCE 239

I do not tbiuk we know all about the Black and Rough-legged
Hawk yet. I do not say they are not the same but I am a great
way fi'om being convinced and [ have taken some pains to corre-
spond with some good ornithologists, long ago, Avho I will not say
have had the best opportunities for knowing, perhaps not so good
as those of your friends. One of them lived north where they are
common, where they were the most abundant hawk, and where it
^was not an uncommon thing to see a dozen Hying about at the
same time, for ten years. He said that in his locality in 1862-63,
sixty nests were taken. I have a very minute descriptiou of eggs,
nests, birds young and old. They breed very late. He says tliis
hawk varies more in the shading of its coloring than any other
hawk. The female is generally lightest, and a very old bird nearly
gray. The young with backs light brown, dark band across the
belly, under parts white with a few spots, but he says he never
saw a black hawk, young or old, in all his residence among them.

Now I would like to ask your friends who have had the best
of opportunities to know, this question : That in taking this hawk
from the nest in dozens of instances if they ever took a black
one, young or old? If tliey ever saw an old black hawk feeding a
brood of young Rough Legs, or vice versa? You say the fact of
the Rough-leg being abundant in some places, and no black hawks,
is no proof of their being identical. I do not say it is positive, but
it is good prima facie evidence. When a good collector has lived
among them a long time, taken dozens of nests of old birds, of eggs
and of young, and there was not one black in all the male, female,
or young, what do you say? But this is no proof because, as Mr.
Cooper asks: " Why has not some oologist found the eggs?" I
suppose he would say Leach's and Wilson's petrels are the same
because no oologist has ever found the eggs of the Wilson.

You also instance the Red-throated Loon in adult plumage ;
also the Grebe as never being found in your latitude. The old
birds are with you just as much as the young. They go south as
regular as wild geese but not in breeding plumage except in
spring. 1 saw one Red-throat killed in Long Island Sound last
April, with the throat most changed to red. All ornithologists,
European and Ameilcan, say the American and European rough-leg
are one and the same bird. I have sent black hawk skins to the
best ornithologist in London, who says they have nothing like it

240 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

aud the Kough-leg never has any such changes. I have quite an
exchange of diiFerent kinds of birds for examination with my
English friends. I can see no difference in the Rough-legged,
Duck Hawk, or Fish Hawk; the Goshawk has different markings,
but its form, size, etc., are the same ; Mr. Audubon called them the
same. He also called the Rough-legged and Black Hawk the same
with the remark, that " the old bird grew vei'y dark."

Now my informant says the older the bird is the lighter is its
color. They have the eggs of the Black Hawk at the Smithsonian,
said to be authenticated and taken by good collectors aud natural-
ists and figured in the Smithsonian Oology by Brewer. But that
would not prove them different as many birds breed in immature
plumage; many of the hawks, eagles, ducks, etc. So if it was the
young it might do that. I am very sure from what information I
can get it is not the old, as many of the ornithologists have
thought. Dr. Richardson found it breeding (the Black Hawk)
on the Saskatchewan, but they arc quite rare, while the common
Rough-legged is quite plenty. The Labrador folks report the
Black Hawk quite common, but one sent me was a young, very
dark Gyrfalcon aud might not be the bird we are talking about at
all.

Do not think I am writing all this to make you believe they
are two, only to give you some information why they have been
considered distinct. I asked Prof. Baird a year or two ago aud he
would not commit himself. He was in doubt about their being
two, as I thought at the time. Cassiu thinks they are two. The
young of all hawks are very much the most numerous. With the
Marsh Hawk 1 get twenty young to one old, while the same is
true of most Hawks. Now if the Black bird is the immature one
how does it happen there are ten Rough-legged to one black,
which I think is the case all through the eastern states.

I have written in such a hurry I do not know as you will
understand me. If you have any new ideas about this interesting
subject I should like to have them. There have been Bohemian
Chatterers or Winter Waxwings in my garden today. They are a
very i^retty bird. My son saw them but did not shoot them. I
think I had better close up as I know you will be tired of this long
scrawl. So good night. Yours as ever,

Geo. a. Boardman.

CORRESPONDENCE 241

MiLLTOWN, 16 May, 1869.
Friend Wood :

I have only been home a few days and have been so busy I
have had but little time to look after birds or eggs. I find after
my long absence everything right at my house. The mills are
now sawing lumber so fast I find I shall be obliged to go west
again this week to be gone a couple of weeks. I wrote my folks
to be on the lookout for eggs, as I wanted a Broad-wing's nest for
you. On one of the hottest days, almost, you ever sajv, an Indian
came and said he had found the Broad-wing's nest, that he was
going up river next day and I must go that day, or lose it. I was
busy, the rain was a heavy one in which to ride five miles, then go
into a swamp I did not know how far — it was almost too much
for me. I would have sent the Indian back, but we have so many
hawks I wanted to see the bird so we started. We were in a good
covered carriage, had good rubbers and umbrellas. We rode as
far as we could go ^vith the horse and then started on foot. Found
the ti-ee in a thick swamp, after a long walk and were as wet as
drowned rats. The Indian started up the tree and away flew the
hawk. It was a Broad-winged. The gun, however, would not
go, so we lost the bird, and after all our trouble there was only
one egg. I concluded to take it as I do not think I could ever
find the place again, and an egg in the hand is as good as three in
the woods. So I hope you may get it in good order and every
tiQie you see it, remember what a wetting we got for one hawk's
egg. At any rate I shall not go egging again when it rains hard,
if I can help it.

I don't think of any other eggs I have that you want and I
may take this one along with me and send it by express from Bos-
ton or New York. Baird told me he had sent you a lot of eggs.
Did he send you some good ones? He is coming down this way
again to spend his vacation with me with his wife and daughter.
He has, you know, a soft place in his heart that runs to birds and
eggs, but a softer one still that runs to old Indian shell heaps
and mounds and I suppose he will be into them all the time he is
here. I think I wrote you I did not see your friend Dr. Wilson.
He is doing well and is mayor of Darien. I saw Allen quite a
number of times in Florida, also young Maynard and several
other collectors. Yours very truly,

Geo. a. Boardman.

242 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Calais, Me., Aug. 25, 1869.
Dear Doctor:

I received your Indian historical epistle about a week ago
for which I am much obliged. I have read the history of those
old Indian chaps long ago but the dates are very interesting, as I
had forgotten them. I hope that Prof. Baird may find all the
places you mention with the relics all labeled and dated.

Prof. Baird and mysell have been around having a pretty good
time. He is now over to Grand Manan. I expect him back in a
day or two. I started twice to go over with him but the fog and
head winds detained us. I left him at Eastport. He got a chance
over in the revenue boat and went over without me. I gave him
good letters to my friends and hope he may find some good
things. He will probably find the bones of the Great Auk, also
bones of the Walrus, as they were said to inhabit this coast a
few hundred years ago. If he finds anything new or rare I will
report when I write you again.

I believe I wrote you I had added two new birds to my list
since he has been here, a Black Vulture and a Purple Gallinule.
I think they must have followed the Professor up, although he
says he never knew either of them taken about Washington. We
have a little muddy lake about two miles from where I live where
several kinds of grebes breed. They breed very late — some of
the small ones. I was out vdth the Professor to try to get some
chicks. I got two that I don't think were over two days old. They
are very cunningly marked little things when so young and look
very prettily mounted. I also got a young loon about the size of a
teal. I think those chicks look very pretty in collections and I
have quite a number of them. I must try to get more of the young
grebes, but the larger ones are hard to shoot. The Horned and
Dab Chick are most common, while a few Red-necked breed. We
found some deserted nests, but no eggs. They build a floating
nest among the rushes. To get to the nest we have to carry a
canoe some distance over a bad road to the lake.

I go out shooting almost every night after tea and most
always get some ducks, pigeons or partridges. We had a nice
dinner to-day of black ducks and pigeons. Snipe and woodcock
are quite plenty, but I have no dog to find them that is good for

CORRESPONDENCE 243

anything. When the Professor returns we are to go to St. John,
Prince Edward Island, Halifax, etc., so he says. Our mills are
doing but little now and I can get away very easily. Prince
Edward Island would be a good place to collect eggs in the
spring as many northern birds breed there that do not go across
the gulf. My paper is about out and I must close.

Yours very truly,

Geo. a. Boardman.

MiLLTOWN, Me., 17 May, 1872.
Friend Wood :

I received your letter today and am always glad to hear from
you.

I have only been home from Florida a few days. The weather
has been so backward I did not hurry much. Made quite a tarry
all the way north and saw most all the naturalist folks excepting
Dr. W. Wood, who should have been seen, but it is a little out of
the way, when you have a lot of women and extra baggage.

I had a very nice pleasant winter at the south. I spent seven
weeks on board a little steam yacht shooting, fishing, etc., all the
time. We went to the very head waters of the St. Johns river to
lake Washington. We went above most of the settlements and a
long way above where any hunters go. We found lots of bird-
breeding places. One breeding place was nearly three miles long,
composed of egrets, cranes, blue and white water turkeys, etc.
I wish you had been with us, you would have had a nice time. We
had a hard time to keep our birds away from the alligators and
they took a good many. Sometimes we would shoot a bird with
one barrel and the alligator with the other so as to get to the
bird before it was lost. I shot over fifty of the lai-ge White-
Plumed Crane. We found ducks, turkey, deer, quail and snipe,
quite abundant. I found on the Upper St. Johns many birds quite
new to me, but got nothing very rai-e. I did not collect but a few
eggs as they most all got broken. The party consisted of five.
We made up quite a number of skins ; some of the gents are hav-
ing them mounted in New York and they are going into a mounted
collection. I shot in two hours, one afternoon, nineteen White
Cranes, two big Blue Cranes, one Wood Ibis, two White Ibis, one
Swallow-tailed Hawk, one Gray Squirrel and sevei-al small birds ;

244 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

so you can see we had some good shooting. But the great shoot-
ing was at alligators ; they were not spared.

I have not collected any eggs for a year or two as I have
about all that are found here. I have nothing new of the bird
kind except a White Red-tail, a very nice pure white albino
without a dirty spot on him.

The season is very backward, no leaves on the trees yet but
warblers have all got along, and I shall go to collect a few if it is
warm to-day. I made Baird a visit on the way up as usual. He is
hard at work, will spend the summer down with us, or about
Eastport. There are to be quite a lot of scientifics this way this
summer and we hope to go among the Islands and have a good time.

Yours as ever,

G. A. BOARDMAN.

MiLLTOWN, 20 Aug., 1872.
Dear Doctor :

I am glad to hear from you. I have to answer mj-^ letters as
soon as I get them. I have so many if they are left over and filed
away I might never see them again.

I have just returned from quite a cruise down east with Prof.
Baird. We started with the ladies for St. John. Went from there
to Digby, N. S., up the Annapolis valley to Windsor, then to
Halifax, then to Pictou, and over to Prince Edward Island ; back
by way of Shediac to St. John, then up St. John river to Frederic-
ton and thence back by rail home. We called to see all the bird
and scientific folks. Had a nice company, very fine weather, and
all enjoyed ourselves very much. I see by the papers the weather
has been very hot west, when we were wearing overcoats
down in the St. Lawrence and wei-e comfortable. We found some
very nice folks in Halifax and would like to ask you, doctor, how
it is that most all the naturalists we found were doctors? We
found Dr. Gilpin of Halifax very much interested in collections
and paid us every attention. I had been over the route before
and knew who to look after, so went to show the professor
what a nice looking country there was down east in summer. You
would be pleased to make the trip in hot weather. You would
see many birds quite new to you for summer birds, and you
would miss many of your old summer acquaintances. I hope you
may soon have the railroad finished on your side of the river.

CORRESPONDENCE 245

I have never found the Pigeon Hawk's nest. I have no doubt
it breeds, as I shoot it all summer and winter. It no doubt breeds
in some thick trees not easily seen and besides, it is not a very
common hawk with us. I was pleased with Allen's papers. I
never knew of a sturgeon taking a hook ; they are not common
with us, on our i-iver. I have not been doing much fishing since
May when I went up salmon fishing and two of us caught about
sixty. I have been shooting considerably, before I went east —
woodcock, ducks, etc., but nothing very new for my collection.
Did I write you I shot a Vireo Philadelphius in the spring? As
soon as I get over my hurry shall try to go up river on a little
fishing and shooting excursion with the professor. Several of the
egg collectors have been this way and over to Grand Manan. Do
not think they found many new things. Young Herrick got some
eagles' eggs ; Maynard and his friend only found some common
things. I have no duplicate eagles' eggs, only one nest of White-
head, and one nest of Golden Eagle ; the egg of Horned Owl, and
also Humming bird eggs I have had for a long time. I have
collected very few this season. As my collection is about full I
have not looked much after them. Hoping to hear from you

often, BOARDMAN.

Washington, D. C, 12T1 1 St., Feby. 6, 1878.
Dear Doctor:

I believe I have not written you for some time to let you
know of our doings.

We left home for the South about Christmas but heard upon
our arrival here that there was considerable sickness at Jackson-
ville, so we took rooms here and have found the weather so very
mild and everything so very pleasant we have about concluded to
remain here for the winter, but if the weather gets too rough we
may go along further south. We have spent so many winters in
Florida the change for a winter north we think will be very
agreeable.

I would write you how T spend most of my time but you will
know that where there are so many nice libraries and so very
many naturalist folks here we can have our time well occupied
and there is something all the time to interest me. We go to the
Capitol very often when any of the great guns are to make

246 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

speeches. We heard your Mr. Eaton yesterday. He is quite a good
speaker and took the right side of the question. This forenoon
we go to visit the Treasury. There is a house full of down east
people who board with us. Last evening they were at the Presi-
dent's reception and had a nice time. I do some work at the
Smithsonian for Prof. Baird and spend considerable of my time
over there. Don't you ever get down to Washington? Should
be glad to see you here this winter.

I saw a paper from you in a new Springfield little work and
am always glad to see your papers. It is very singular you never
get the Black Vulture as well as the Turkey Buzzard in your
state or at your place. Since I have been collecting I have known
of six being taken with us, besides several about the Nova Scotia
shore — very manj' more than of the common Turkey Buzzard. I
have the Black Kobiu I wrote you about at the Smithsonian, body
black, wings and tail white.

Before I left home there were some of the Bohemian Chat-
terers about our gardens but I did not get any. Did not collect
anything very new before I left although I got one little sparrow
or Richardson's Owl. I am writing in a hurrj' as the ladies are
hurrying me to go out with them. Let me hear how you prosper.
Hope you did not lose the money you wrote about as being
endorser for a scamp. I have lost the same way, to a very large
amount and have a law suit for more, that I may have to pay, but
hope I may beat the rascals that swear to anything.

Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boaedman.

Minneapolis, Minn., 23 South 13th St.. February 2, 1883.
My Dear Doctor :

I have not written you for a long time, and think it about
time I gave you some account of my doings.

I came out west in September to visit my children, expecting
to go to California in the winter, but my wife has not been well
enough to try the passage. She is now much better but we are
so comfortably settled with my daughter that we may not get
away. One of my sons is -nith us, and two others live very near,
so we have all our children but one son here in Minneapolis and
the children are trying all ways to make us live out here with

CORRESPONDENCE 247

them. I think we are too old to change. All our associations are
east and to live here we should have to learn the people over
again which would be hard to do.

I have had some interest in looking up the new birds of this
locality. Many are common here that we seldom or never see,
such as Evening Grosbeaks and Bohemian Chatterers. We see
them about the streets feeding on the mountain ash berries and
high bush cranberries. Last fall I went up to Dakota for a time.
One of my sons has a large wheat farm there and had a very
nice time. The whole country seemed full of wild geese and
ducks. We did not get many Prairie Chickens as we had no good
dog. I saw great numbers of hawks ; they were about in great
numbers and varieties, Eough-legged very common. Some very
dark ones — Eed-tailed, Swainson's, Rough-legged and Broad-
winged were most numerous. Black Vultures and Swallow-tailed
hawks were common in northern Dakota. If I do not go to
California I hope to go up again in April and see what comes
along in the spring. I did considerable shooting last fall but
mostly ducks and snipe. I did not get any very rare birds for
specimens.

The winter has been fine but cold. I have been south so
many winters 1 much prefer the orange groves to the snow banks
of Maine or Minnesota.

This is a very nice place for business. Everything goes with
a rush — just the place for young folks. My sons like very much
and they think they would hardly want to live east. The place
has added forty thousand to its population since I was here three
years ago and property has doubled in value. I think it a good
place to invest. Twenty-five hundred buildings were put up last
year at a cost of $8,500,000 and about the same in St. Paul. Every
one is speculating in real estate and getting rich twice a week. I
don't find much new in the way of natural history and very few
that take any interest in such things. It is nothing but business.
I hope you have something new to write me about that you have
found in your section. There were three Evening Grosbeaks
just on the trees near the house and they always keep where you
are not allowed to shoot them.

Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

248 THE NATURAI^IST OF THE ST. CROIX

Calais, Maine, February 17, 1885.
Friend Wood:

I was glad to hear from you after so long a time and was
quite interested in your paper about Mr. Fitch being the first
steamboat builder. I remember of reading in some of my old
books something of the kind. It was in the reports of the Com-
missioner of Patents for the year 1859, with a picture of Fitch's
steamboat. The account is from page 526 to 544, but I suppose
in your researches you have seen ail this. If you have not I
should be glad to send you the book as it would be interesting to
you. Poor Fitch had a hard time. He should have a good monu-
ment to be remembered by, as he was a wonderful man and
Eobert Fulton has always had the credit for steamboat invention
which belonged to Mr. Fitch. About the same thing was done by
Morse in telegraphy. Prof. Henry was the inrentor much more
than Prof. Morse but Morse got all the credit and the money.

I am glad you have not lost your interest in Natural History
and hope some time we may meet and talk over matters. I often
go to see the folks at Central Park Museum. They are very nice
people and I think they have about the nicest collection I see
any where. I like it as well as the National Museum at Washing-
ton. There is also a very fine collection at Cambridge. I am so
often west and south I see them all most every year. I have not
seen so much of the Academy folks at Philadelphia since Cassin's
death and many of the j'ouug folks I do not know. I called to see
Mr. Krider. He is a nice old fellow and used to have a good col-
lection of skins and eggs but now is too old to go to his otfice to
do much. He has a son who does part of his bird work. I always
find a nice set of fellows at the Smithsonian, those who have been
in government employ in most all parts of the country and are
good collectors. They usually all get in in -ninter except the
Alaskan or Hudson Bay folks who usually remain up for several
years.

Since I wrote you we have been having quite cold weather,
snow now quite deep, but February has only about ten days more
and in March we expect to have warm days once in a while. I
like the orange groves much better than the snow banks and am
beginning to wish I was in Florida or California where I could be
out in the woods.

THE NEW YOH-K
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TILDEN FOllNnATlONS

B 1^

CORRESPONDENCE 249

I have collected nothing of late but a few common gulls. All
our Pine Grosbeaks have left to go south and I hardly see a
woodpecker or chickadee about the trees.
Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

Among the foreign ornithologists with whom Mr.
Boardman corresponded for many years is Henry E.
Dresser of London, England. Among the papers of Mr.
Boardman have been preserved seventy-one letters from
Mr. Dresser, the first bearing date of 1862 and the latest
of 1874. The period of greatest activity in this corre-
spondence was during the years 1865 to 1867. There have
been examined fourteen letters written by Mr. Dresser
to Mr. Boardman in 1865 ; fifteen in 1866, and fourteen
in 1867. In answer to a request for letters of Mr. Board-
man Mr. Dresser writes from London, October 24, 1902 :
" I have hunted high and low for letters from Mr. Board-
man that might be of use to you in your memoir but can
find none or I would send them with pleasure." It is
matter for regret that no letters from Mr. Boardman to
Mr. Dresser have been obtained but from the few from
Mr. Dresser which are given in this memoir it is easy
to infer the nature of their correspondence and the sub-
jects upon which they were writing,

Henry Ecles Dresser was brought up for the lumber
business and after having been at school in Germany
and then to the Swedish university at Upsala, where he
learned that language, he went to Finland to learn the
lumber business. After acquiring every detail of the
business he was sent out to the Lancaster mills at Mus-
quash, near St. John, N. B. It was while at Musquash
that he formed the acquaintance of Mr. Boardman. " As

250 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Mr. Boardman found," saj^s Mr. Dresser in a letter of
November 7, 1902, " that I was working at ornithology
we became great friends and he helped me a great deal ;
for though I knew European birds weU, it was then my
first experience with American birds. ' ' After havang had
the management of the Lancaster mills for a year, during
which time Mr. Dresser installed the new local manager
as a change in their operation was necessary, he returned
to London. While at Musquash he made two visits to
Mr. Boardman. In 1864 and 1865 Mr. Dresser visited
Texas and Mexico, studying the birds of southwestern
America, since which time he has not been in this
country. He has, however, traveled extensively in
Russia, Sweden, Lapland, Greenland and in southern
Europe. Mr. Dresser has a beautiful country house,
Topclyffe Grange, at Farnborough, R. S. O., Kent,
where he formerly resided and where Mr. A.J. Board-
man, one of Mr. Boardman's sons, visited him a few years
since. He now lives in London, however, where he is
engaged in the steel trade, having changed from lumber
to steel when he last moved to London — a fact which
shows the change in the building trades during the last
twenty-five years. In a recent letter Mr. Dresser writes :
" In answer to your question I would say that I have
no connection with our universities beyond that Prof.
Newton of Cambridge is one of my oldest and best
friends and we often work together. I am only an
amateur ornithologist and, like the smith of Scott's Fair
Maid of Perth, " I always fight for my own hand only
and love my independence." Mr. Dresser's writings on
ornithology have been very important and embrace the
following :

CORRESPONDENCE 251

A History of the Birds of Europe (including all the species
inhabiting the Western Palsearctic region). 8 vols. 4to. Lon-
don, 1871-81. Containing nearly 5,000 pages of letterpress and
633 hand-colored plates by Joseph Wolf, J, G. Keulemans, and
E. Neale.

A List of European Birds, including all species found in the
Western Paljcarctic region. 8vo. London, 1881.

A Monograph of the Meropida), or Family of the Bee-eaters.
1 vol. Small folio, cloth. London, 1884-86. Containing 34
hand-colored plates by J. G. Keulemans.

A Monograph of the Coraciida3, or Family of the Boilers. 1
vol. Small folio, cloth. Farnborough, Kent, 1893. Containing
27 hand-colored plates by J. G. Keulemans.

Eversmann's Addenda ad Celeberrimi Pallasii Zoographlam
Rosso-Asiaticam. Aves, Fasc. I.-III. 8vo. Kasani, 1835-42.
Facsimile reprint, edited by H. E. Dresser. London, 1876,

A supplement to the Birds of Europe. 1 vol. 1895.

In addition to the above works Mr. Dresser's lesser
writings and papers on ornithology are scattered through
several scientific periodicals and, as Secretary Langley
of the Smithsonian Institution writes : " Are too numer-
ous to designate by titles. Copies of all of them are in
the library of the Institution. One of the most important
of these is his monograph on The Birds of Texas published
in The Ibis in 1865." Notwithstanding the fact that
Mr. Dresser has written so much upon his favorite pur-
suit— which he has made a study since he was fourteen
years of age — and is closely devoted to business, he is
now writing a Manual of Palaearctic Birds, half of which
is printed and the remainder going through the press.
It will make a work of about one thousand pages and
will include nearly 1300 species. It gives full particulars
of range, habits, nest and eggs of the species. "After
this work is completed," Mr. Dresser writes, "I hope

252 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

to bring out a work on the Eggs of the Birds of Europe,
as a companion work to the Birds of Europe." In
the letter from Mr, Dresser from which extracts have
already been made he says : "I have moved to London
as my wife disliked the country ; but I have kept the
old place in Kent and hope some day to return there.
Here I see all my naturalist friends and have just had
Styan and Rechett, the explorers in China, and Selores
the ' mighty hunter ' in Africa spending the afternoon
with me, and to-morrow Eesse, the Abyssinian explorer
and naturalist, is coming to stay for a few days with
me."

The more than seventy letters addressed to Mr. Board-
man by Mr. Dresser during the ten years of their cor-
respondence are most entertaining and important. They
cover a wide range of subjects in bird life and all are
worthy of publication. They are sufl&cient to make an
entire volume which would be one of deep interest and of
scientific value. The few printed show Mr. Dresser's
charming style and his entertaining way of writing.

Letters from Henry E. Dresser^ London, Eng., to Mr.

Boardman

London, the 10th June, 1865.
Dear Boardman :

I received your kind note of the 19th May and am delighted
to see from it that the eggs of M. cucullatus have again been
found by you. They are indeed a treasure for any collector as I
don't know of any one who has thoroughly authentic specimens
over here. I am still unable to find any vessel going to St. John
or anywhere near you and don't want, if avoidable, to send to New
York as the smashes might not be few sending that way. I look
every week at our Lloyds list of ships leaving and don't see one

CORRESPONDENCE 253

advertised for before late in July. I am however in the mean-
while picking up good things here and there and have secured a
magnificent egg of the Golden Eagle, not as generally seen,
nearly white, but richly clouded with reddish. It arrived with
some African eggs from Paris last week and I am promised
another before long which I will also keep for you. I have some
more Reeves, Gallinules, Coot and other eggs asked for by you,
all in your drawer waiting a chance to pack them up and also
another bird or two but these latter I get slower as I only want to
get good mounted specimens if possible, as I know your collection
is all mounted. I will send the quails you ask for out of my Texas
duplicates. I have not many duplicates of anything, but whatever
I have you may be sure you shall have willingly. I should have had
more but the difficulty in bringing back skins is so great. Could
you ever get me any skins of the Plumed or Mountain Quail
(O. pictus) and Gambel's Quail, as I have all but these two in
my collection and would like the lot complete. I think they would
make a good case well mounted vnth rock work and under a big
shade. As for the glass topped boxes, I don't see any reason why
I should not pack eggs in them, for even if there is duty on them
it would be a trifle and if sent to St. John my brother could easily
settle that. Anyhow, if I send via St. John I will try it on for 1
feel sure no fuss could be made if one stated how many boxes
there were and left one on the top as a sample.

I think if you once began with this dodge you would never
arrange your eggs otherwise. I have my cabinet arranged now
and am pleased beyond my expectations.

I would keep your Hooded Merganser's nest very close or you
will have every person after you for the eggs. I will gladly give
you anything you wish for in exchange for the eggs you can
spare, Golden Eagle, Iceland Falcon or indeed anything I can
procure here and have in anticipation written everywhere I can
think of, asking for Golden Eagle's eggs — so must get some more.

I was elected a member of the British Ornithologists' Union
(the same that give out The Ibis) last week and am busy preparing
notes on the Ornithology of Texas for the press and will send you
a copy of it as it comes out if I can get the editor to have some
loose copies struck off, which I don't doubt of doing. I give it

254 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

rather lengthily, as I have lots of notes taken during my stay
there and I don't think much is Imown of the birds of those parts.

I have had a lot of things sent me lately from different parts,
but nothing that you would care for. How would it do if, when
sending a box to you, I included some things for Krider, for I have
not enough in large things to make it worth while to send direct?
I am saving some rare Texas skins for him that he asked me for,
Milvulus forficatus, Melanospeza Lincolnii, etc., etc. I must now
close up as my time is gro^ving short. I remain, Dear Boardman,

Yours sincerely,

H. E. Dresser.

P. S. I had another long letter from Heermann last week.

London, 29 August, 1867.
My Dear Boardman:

I received your kind letter of the 8th August all right by last
mail and am much obliged by the information respecting the
expresses from Galveston. Unfortunately (as I see from a letter
just received) my man in Texas did not get up to the place where
the Swallow-tailed Hawk breeds, owing to continued rains and
consequent floods and he has therefore not done much for me.
He promises faithfully to be there earlier next season so I must
live in hope of getting these eggs then. I have heard nothing of
the Glentill yet but have written to the owners to hear where she
is and arrange about getting the box sent on to me.

I know well who Dr. Leitli Adams is that you write about
and have seen some of his writings but don't know him person-
ally. He is a great friend of Dr. Bree, through whom I have
heard of him. I don't know what sort of a collector he is but do
not think he has ever done mucli and don't think he knows much
about American birds. I am glad I can oblige Dr. Brewer in tlie
way of stamps and will pick up all I can for him and can often pick
up rare ones. Some of the English ones he asks for will be hard
to get but others I vnll send. Whenever I write you I will enclose
what I can and he can send you eggs in return for tlaem if he likes.
To me stamps have no value whatever for the soft place in my
head runs only on birds and eggs and I have often hard work to
prevent my spending too much time over them. I should be very
glad indeed to see his work on American Oology for such works

CORRESPONDENCE 255

always interest me very much. I have at last got your and Krider's
boxes off and will let you know what arrangements I have made
respecting freight before closing this up. I forgot to say that I sent
a mounted bird of our Fish-hawk to compare with yours. Both
this and the Cormorant were amongst those that got slightly
touched by moth during my journey to Mexico, but I found it so
slight that I retained them and cured them with benzole and as I
did not see any further sign I think you may trust them. 1 am
vexed the King Eider skin was bad, I had just received it from
Greenland and thought it was all right. Some of those skins one
gets one cannot trust very much.

The boxes have gone to the care of Wm. Thompson of St.
John in the " Choice," which vessel will sail to-morrow. Instead
of having them with the cargo the captain said he himself would
take charge of them and put them in his own cabin so that they
should not be knocked about and that when they were safely
delivered the receiver could pay him a trifle. I don't like doing
things in so loose a manner but perhaps they will be better taken
charge of thus. They are both addressed to you so will you
kindly write to Mr. Thompson about them and get him to see to
them, and as the freight would ordinarily be 7s. 6d. sterling each,
if he gives the captain 15s. it would be fair. I don't want you to
pay the expenses, so if you will write and tell me what the whole
sum is (and you arrange with Mr. Thompson) I will gladly refund
it to you. I addressed them to Mr. Thompson and gave the cap-
tain a letter to him to receive them as 1 see that the last things
sent were sent to Mr. T. for you. Krider's box is marked J. K.
and yours G. A. B. I have just received a nice long letter from
Krider, from which I see that he is collecting pretty largely. I
am rather anxious to see the latest American and particularly
Mexican news. Did you see the particulars of the execution of
General Vidauni? Poor fellow, I knew him well and have shared
blankets with him on a journey through Texas, He was a very
nice fellow although a regular Mexican and we got to be great
friends. 1 must write but a short letter this time as I have sev-
eral letters to write for to-day's mail. Joe joins in kind regards.
Believe me. Yours sincerely,

H. E. Dresser,

256 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

London, 12 May, 1869.
Dear Boardman:

I WTote you on the 8th iust. aud as I am writing a few lines
to Dr. Brewer I enclose a note to you also, though on the whole
there is but little to say.

By the way, I forgot to ask you when I wrote the other day
if you would care for a couple of handsome eggs of the Pine
Grosbeak from Lapland. They are still rare and very dear with
us, but in purchasing a small collection from Lapland I got four
of these eggs cheaper than I expected and shall be very glad to
give you two if j^ou will take them. They are in first rate condi-
tion. Did I tell you the other day that I had received (long ago)
the eggs of Leache's Petrel all right and safe. They were left at
the office without the bearer leaving word who had brought them.
I -nish Mr. Cullmen had called for I should have been very glad
to have seen him at om* house for your sake.

Our bird preservation bill has passed through Committee of
the House of Lords and will soon be law. As soon as printed in
regular form I will send you a copy of it as you ^\i^ doubtless be
interested in the matter.

By the way, what do you think of the rumors of war between
us and your country? 1 myself don't think there is any fear of a
rupture, as there are on both sides plenty of people who liave
good sense enough to work against it. There is no doubt we
sympathized with the South (I rather more I think) but at the
same time the United States in taunting us with it rather reminds
me of the Pot calling the Kettle black, for what did the very
people who now sing out so loud do as regards the Fenians ? I
expect, however, the whole aflair is a mere outcry of demagogues
on your side and sensible people will not mind what they say.

Do you know of any one over here returning to your place,
as I want to send you a water-colored painting by the new painter,
Keulemans, who now is making himself such a name, and I dare
not send it over in the regular way for fear of damage. 1 don't at
the present moment know of any one. With kind regards in which
Joe joins, believe me,

Yours truly,

H. E. Dresser.

CORRESPONDENCE 257

London, 2 October, 1869.
Dear Boardman:

Thanks for your nice long letter of the 14th September
received this week. I am afraid I have not half as much to tell
you in return as there is not much going on here just now.

I have had a first rate artist staying with me, a new man from
Lej'den called Keulemans. He can paint many birds I think quite
equal to Wolf and is a first rate ornithologist at the same time. I
am trying to get him some of Elliot's work to do and am the
more anxious to bring it about because 1 am fully convinced
Elliot will be fully satisfied with his work, and he is a man who
wants to push his way as a bird painter. 1 never saw any one but
Wolf who could turn out such really artistic and true paintings of
birds. He has done one painting of several of the rarest of my
Texan birds, amongst others of Dendroica chrysopareia, and he is
not dear in his prices. If you see Elliot please put in a word for
him as he is a most deserving man.

I should like to see the book they publish at the Smithsonian
on the clam beds. Can it be bought, and at what price? I should
like to buy many of the scientific publications in America if they
are to be had and particularly those of the Smithsonian. I have
tried to do so here but without success. How can I get them?

You will have a nice trip in Florida this winter and I wish I
could make it with you for if we were together I expect we should
do some big collecting. I will look after a mounted Greenland
Falcon for you and can probably soon get one. I am glad you
have some Petrel eggs for me as I am about out of them again
and they are a good stock for exchanging. Thanks for the
information you give me about your game laws ; we much need
such a law here and it should be strictly enforced for in an over-
peopled country the birds should be protected. I see you have
your birds all arranged now — what a lot you have ! I have been
getting my American eggs all in order and catalogued and will
make you out a list of what I have when I have a spare evening
to do so. I intend now to keep them apart from my European
eggs and in fact to make quite a separate collection of them and
shall have a large cabinet made on purpose.

258 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

I have Kiider's box at last and opened it but find the ej;gs
very badly blown and many broken. What a pity that he does
not get decently prepared specimens for most of those he sends
are quite useless for exchanging and moreover he gives no par-
ticulars whatever with them.

I wish you could put me in correspondence with some one
from whom I could get good blown specimens of eggs v/ith par-
ticulars of locality, etc. I Avould do a big exchanging trade and
we should mutually benefit each other. There are so many eggs
I want that are by no means rare in the United States and I can
send lots of Greenland eggs in exchange. I get a few good eggs
every now and again from Hepburn of San Francisco, but of
course only of western birds. What a mess they are in in Spain at
present I I was expecting a lot of birds' eggs from there but I
suppose under existing circumstances they will not turn up.
People over there have something else to do just now besides
attending to birds' eggs.

I see what you say about your son's wedding, and though I
don't know him i^lease ofier him my congratulations. There have
been lots of weddings over here also lately, quite an epidemic
amongst my own friends and I have seen three "bird" men,
friends of mine, turned off into matrimony during the last two
months and two more intend to follow suit before the end of the
year. I only hope their wives won't keep them from attending to
ornithology.

Speaking about horns, I am trying to get some from Bombay
where my second brother is fixed for some j-ears to come at least.
He has a capital place, being now assistant engineer ou the gov-
ernment harbor works there, and as the climate agrees with liim
and he has prospect of quick promotion he has fixed to make his
home out there. It is a pity he cannot skin birds for as he has
quite a large body of men under him he might often get good
things, the more so as he is taking soundings off the river and has
the entire use of a government yacht.

Joe joins in kind regards and believe me,

Yours truly,

H. E. Dkesser.

CORRESPONDENCE 259

London, 28 August, 1868.
Dear Boardman :

I have just returned from Xoi'wich where I have beeu to
attend the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement
of Science and have had a regular treat, as fully three thousand
people, English and foreigners, were there. I went down with
Professor Huxley on the 18th and the next day the proceedings
opened by a grand speech by the President, D. Hooker, which
touched cliiefly on Darwin's theory and the relations now existing
between science and religion. The daily lectures and discussions
were carried on in some seven diftereut section rooms, each devoted
to one blanch of science and ruled by a sectional committee under
the general one. I was of course in section D, Zoology, and was
on the committee. Our president was Berkeley, a botanist, but Ave
had a good many bird papers. We generally met ia the recep-
tion room, a large sort of club with all sorts of conveniences and
at ten A. M. the various committees met, and at eleven the rooms
were open for papers to be read, etc., which lasted till three, after
which we dined at some of the residents (as every one threw
their houses open to friends) and in the evening were soirees and
that sort of thing for members of the association. The pleasantest
evening was the Lion dinner day when all the celebrities of
section D and all foreign naturalists at all well known and
present meet together for a big spree and I can assure you that
old men (and young) whose names are well known in the scientific
world, such as Huxley, Lyndall, Xewton, Lubbock, Pengelly,
Wallace, Gunther, etc., etc., were anything but the least noisy and
least inclined to join in the fun, I spent eight days there
altogether and was very sorry to leave as it was a very pleasant
way of getting knowledge.

There were a lot of foreign professors there and amongst
them old Nilsson, the veteran Swedish naturalist and Lorell, the
Spiztbergen explorer with lots of Germans.

Most of our bird men were there, but both Salvin and God-
man were unable to attend. However the " Ibis" brotherhood
mustered pretty strong and made headquarters at the house of a
brother "Ibis" resident there and the bird talk was, as you can
imagine, rather strong in that quarter.

260 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

I spent a good deal of time in the Geographical section
where some excellent papers were read by celebrated travellers
and the men sent out by Government to Abyssinia gave reports of
the nature of the country, etc. Mr. Whymper, who has just
returned from Greenland, read some very interesting papers he
had written on that country, chiefly relating to natural history.
I wish you had been there as it would have been the very thing to
suit you.

I don't know of much new to tell you in the way of natural
history excepting that I have a box of eggs over from north-
west Greenland and if you want any eggs from there I shall be
glad to supply you. I heard from Liverpool to-day that a box was
there for me which I suppose to be the one from Krider ; but tliey
refuse to give it up unless I can produce endorsed bill of lading and
it is now in a place where it will soon incur about its own vahie
in expenses, so I am afraid it will turn out an expensive affair for
me. Krider never told me how it was sent nor did he send bill
of lading or anything by which I can prove ownership so I am
afraid I shall be bothered to get it. I shall write and grumble at
him for not being more business like. By the waj', I should like
very much to know if with you there is a close time for game or
birds, viz., a time when it is quite illegal to kill them, such being
the breeding season, and if such a law exists how it acts.

They are now killing sucli quantities of sea birds for plumes
that people are thinking of having a close time appointed by law
and the British Association has ai;)pointed a committee (of which
I am a member) to report on it. I should be glad to see some-
thing done as there are such lots of gunners who destroy so many
birds in the breeding season, and one plume dealer on the coast
brags that he averages five hundred gulls per day through his
hands, and this in the middle of the breeding season, so you can
imagine the wholesale destruction of life amongst the deserted
young birds, and it is high time that in a closely inhabited country
like ours the birds should be somewhat protected, at least during
tlie breeding season.

Hoping to hear from you again ere long, I remain

Yours truly.

H. E. Dresser.

CORRESPONDENCE 261

London, 15 June, 1871.
Dear Boardman:

I am indeed an awful correspondent, but the fact is that I am
so saddled with work that I am about as badly off as Baird, and I
generally manage to pile a bit more on. I am glad to hear that
you have had so nice a time down south, and wish I could have
been there with you. You will have found plenty in the way of
birds. Some day when I grow rich and able to rest on my oars
(I don't see when it will be, by the way) I will take a trip and
see Florida. I quite long for it now for, would you believe it, we
have had fires until last week, June, and have not seen the sun
for about a fortnight, and then it winked at us and evidently did
not like the look of us and consequently looked elsewhere. I have
seen the work on the Birds of California and don't like it as well
as I expected. They seem not to have kept with the times, and
speak of the eggs, etc., as unknown of lots of birds, the eggs of
which are in the Smithsonian. Besides they give such a little
scrap of information as to habits, etc., and it makes such a dry
book. I hope more particulars will be given with the Birds of the
United States. Elliot has been here for the past week or two and
I have seen him about half a dozen times. He is well and work-
ing hard at his book on pheasants. He left for Geneva yesterday
and returns again in a month. Our book is getting along well,
but does not pay its way yet, which we could, however, scarcely
expect as we do it Avith scarcely any margin — fifty pages of
letterpress, quarto, and eight or nine large plates hand colored
and executed by a good artist, for 10s. 6d. requires a whole lot
sold before it will pay. However, as matters go I hope we shall
have enough subscribers to make it pay by the end of the year.
It keeps all my spare time fully employed. Elliot Coues has been
writing to me lately and helping us but I can't get Baird to do
anything though I would gladly pay well for any skins we
require for the work.

By the way, if I send you a slight sketch of a Surf Scoter's
head could you get any one to color it accurately from a fresh
killed bird at a reasonable rate? There are many of these little
details which one must look to.

2G2 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

I shall be glad to offer you a contributor's "opj' of our book,
but the expense in having plates colored will not allow me to
offer you one with plates. These contributors" copies are twenty
which we had struck off" on thinner paper without plates and
loose in the covers, for people who assist us on the continent in
sending notes from time to time and a couple of copies are still
unappropriated. Three parts are ready and the rest ob : 67 will
be sent from time to time as they appear. The whole work will
be of rather alarming size, say about 600 plates and about 3,500
pages of letterpress.

How can I send the copy to you? Shall I send it to the
Smithsonian bookseller here, as the cost of book post would be
awful. Do you know if I could get any one to pick out for me all
information as to the breeding of the arctic birds common to
America and Europe? They have heaps of information at Wash-
ington but Baird has not time to communicate it.

I myself am (I am glad to say) in splendid health, and since
the loss of my hair have never known what a touch of illness is.
I can't make it out at all for though I was not really ill it seems
to have carried off' all traces of the feeling of illness I used to
have if I did not get out of town every week or two ; but I have
not a single trace of hair from ray head to my heels. It would
puzzle a Comanche to " raise my hair"' now, but I kinder calculate
that he might catch a Tartar if he tried, for all my bodily strength
has returned to its fullest extent.

I must, however, now close as I am hard up for time (a very
general complaint with me) and with very kind regards believe me

Yours truly,

H. E. Dresser.

The correspondence between Mr. Boardman and Robert
Ridgway of the Smithsonian Institution extended over
a period of twenty-two years, beginning in 1871 and
ending in 1893, six years after the death of Prof. Baird
and eight before Mr. Boardman's own death.

Robert Ridgway was born at Mt. Carmel, 111., July
2, 1850. From studies in the common school he early

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CORRESPONDENCE 2G3

turned his attention to natural history and in 1867-G9
was zoologist to the United States exploring expedi-
tion of the Fortieth Parallel of which the late Clarence
King was chief. For the past twenty-three years or
since his first appointment to the position in 1880, Mr.
Ridgway has been curator of the department of orni-
thology in the United States National Museum of the
Smithsonian Institution. He was one of the founders
of the American Ornithologists Union and is an hon-
orary member of several foreign scientific societies,
among them of the Zoological Society of London. His
writings upon ornithological subjects have been numer-
ous and important. With Prof. Baird and Dr. T. M.
Brewer he was the author of that monumental work,
A History of North American Birds, in five volumes.
He is also sole author of A Manual of North American
Birds ; A Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists ; The
Ornithology of Illinois, in two volumes, together with
more than three hundred and fifty scientific papers pub-
lished either separately or in transactions and proceed-
ings of learned societies, most of them upon subjects
connected with bird life. A great work upon which
he is now engaged is : The Birds of North and Middle
America, the publication of which is being carried
forward by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D. C. Two volumes, only, have appeared, 1901-1902,
of 748 and 854 pages, respectively ; while it is expected
that eight volumes wiU be required to complete the
work.

Mr. Ridgway writes Mr. Boardman, April 20, 1871,
sending him a cop3^ of his treatise on the Falconidse and
asking for the entire heads of each species of owl that he

264 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

can secure and send him. He writes : " Any that you
can procure would be a very valuable addition to my
material for studying this family. The external structure
of the ear appears to afford one of the most important
characters among those available as a basis of classifica-
tion and, of course, it is impossible to make any use of
dried skins for the e:'amination of this organ. Not
recollecting just how complete was the list of desiderata
that I gave you, I take the liberty to mention here, since
you were so kind as to offer to obtain some of them for
me — those which I desire." Then follows a list of
fourteen New England and eight Florida species. To
this request Mr. Boardman made immediate response.
May 13, 1874, he tells Mr. Ridgway of a man who found
a bird that was new to him, exhausted on the ground.
He described the Sooty Tern exactly, and says: "It
is a new place for this bird. I have never seen it north
of Florida." In this letter Mr. Boardman wants to be
remembered to Henshaw and to know where he is going ;
to hear from Turner and what he got in Alaska ; from
Prof. Goode, Bean, Elliot, Milner and "all the folks."

August 10, 1874, Mr. Boardman writes, sending him a
lark, "Very small and marked differently from any I have
before seen;" also a queerly marked warbler, "which
we call a yellow or red poll but in queer plumage,"
about which he wants information. He adds : " I wish
you could come down here and see where lots of the
warblers breed. We have several considered rare, as Bay-
breasted, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Golden-
crested, etc." To this Mr. Ridgway replies :

CORRKSPONDENCE 265

Washington, D. C, August 19, 1874.
My Dear Mr. Boardman:

Your letter of the 10th inst received several days ago, was a
pleasant surprise to me since it has not often been my good for-
tune to hear from you; I hope that you won't stop with this one.

The birds came in the same mail and afforded me a great
deal of pleasure — especially the young red-poll warbler (Den-
droica palmannnj, which is the first of the plumage that I have
seen; the stage has not yet been described. Very likely you
have the young of other warblers which are in the same " fix."
The young of D. ccerulesceiis, D. virens, D. blackhnrnia', D. castarea,
D. maculosa and D. discolor, are also undescribed. In view of the
fact that you may be able to supply them, I make a list of the
other warblers of your section whose young are desiderata —
" non est come-at-able ;'' they are the following : Helminthophaga
cJinjsoptera, H. ruficapilla, II. peregruia, 3Iyiodioctes ca7iadeiisis,
and the two species of Seiurus. Any of these which you can
furnish will be gratefully received by the authors of the History
of North American Birds.

The lark which you sent is an adult (probably female) of the
desert race recognized as E. alpestris var. chrysoUvma ( Wagl.) ; it
is the small, dark southern form which is found in Central
America (as far south as Bogota, N. G.) and breeds from southern
Mexico to California and Utah.

All of our wood-warblers are first clad in a plumage which
they retain only a few weeks after being fully feathered ! This
plumage difters totally from that usually called "young" and
which is in reality the first assumption of the adult dress in fall :
the young plumage proper is never resumed and lasts only while
they are being fed by their parents. Apparently, all the species
but D. pinus are streaked, above and below, in this plumage ; at
least D. striata, D. palmarum, and D. coronata (the only ones yet
collected to my knowledge) are. Thus you see the importance of
preserving specimens which you shoot just at this season for
some of those which you mention as in " bad plumage " may be
the very ones so much desired.

Many thanks for your kind invitation to visit your home ; I
assure you that I would gladly avail myself of it were it possible

26G THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

for me to get away. I kiiow that I would find the woods of
Maine a new field for me, and I have long looked forward to the
time when I shall have a chance to shoot birds there.
Hoping to hear from you soon, I i-emain
Yours truly,

PiOBERT RiDGWAY.

Acknowledging the receipt of this letter September
16, of the same year, Mr. Boardman says : " I go out a
few hours most everj- daj' woodcock or snipe shooting
but do not find anything rare. Among the 5'oung
warblers I do not find any in nursing plumage — the}-
are most all in good full plumage and aU look like
females. I hardly see a full plumaged male. I have had
a nice visit from Dr. Brewer and wife since I wrote you.
They were with us several days." Answering a letter
from Mr. Boardman in which he says : "I suppose you
and Mr. Brewster have returned from Illinois laden with
spoils," Mr. Ridgway writes under date of June 13,
1878:

My trip was very successful in every respect. I think Mr.
Brewster is also quite well satisfied. I got two hundred and
sixty-five fine skins and about one hundred and fifty nests and
eggs besides live snakes and turtles and a tank full of alcoholic
specimens. Found the Duck Hawk breeding at Mount Carmel,
and got at one nest by cutting down the tree — a huge sycamore,
115 feet high (with nearly Avhole top broken off") and twent3'-six
feet in circumference, but, fortunately, a mere shell at the base,
while the tree itself leaned a great deal, so that it required com-
paratively little chopping to fell it. By measurement the nest
was found to have been eighty-nine feet from the ground. Sev-
eral other nests were found in similar situations, but none were
accessible, while the trees were too large and solid to pay for
cutting. In this case got four full-fledged young and the female
parent.

CORRESPONDENCE 267

Mr. Boardmau says in a letter to Mr. Ridgway of July
1, 1878 : "I was not surprised at what you say about
the Duck Hawk breeding so far south for I have for
some years been of the opinion that the Duck Hawk
and Pigeon Hawk breed far south and perhaps in Florida ;
for in my collecting I have found two forms of both those
hawks, the size being very much smaller and the color
darker. I have seen the northern as well as the southern
birds in Florida. I have nev^er seen but three Duck
Hawks shot in Florida — two were much smaller than any
I have collected north. But the difference in the Pigeon
Hawk is greater. They are much darker than any I
ever see this way and I have no doubt they are the
southern breeding birds. Probably your Illinois Duck
Hawks would be intermediate between the northern and
the Florida specimens. I should like to see them. I
have seven Duck Hawks in my collection, and all
different from Florida birds. You were fortunate in
getting such a haul from one nest. I have never heard,
certainly, of their nesting so far south before."

Under date of December 25, 1878, Mr. Ridgway writes
that Henshaw has returned but had a verj^ poor field for
work, while a letter from Mr. Turner dated Unalaska,
November 10, complains of being in rather a poor field
affording no novelties and few desirable species. He also
wants Mr. Boardman's assistance in obtaining the downy
young (chicks) of any of the swimming birds as " accept-
able material" for the work on Water Birds in which he
was then engaged. Mr. Boardman's reply tells of his
wish to assist him but says: "We do not have one-
fourth the swimming birds breed with us now that we
did before the pickerel were put in our river, as they

2G8 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

catch most of the young birds as they swim about with
the old ones. A few years ago most every flock of ducks
or grebes would have from seven to twelve young ; novv^
we hardly ever see more than from one to four : while
many species of waders have left us entirely. ' ' Mr. Board-
man adds ; "I am sorry Henshaw was sent to so poor
a field ; he is such a good collector I should like to have
him in a good place. As for Turner — I think a person
going to Alaska should have something good in the
waj' of specimens to interest him."

On September 9, 1879, Mr. Boardman writes of a
strange migration of southern birds at Milltown that he
has never known to visit there before. Among them were
Black Skimmers — a large flock ; Rhjmchops Nigra and
Laughing Gulls. Mr. Ridgway writes September 17,
1879: "The remarkable influx of southern birds to
your New England shores is easy to understand. In
the latter part of July and earlj^ part of August Henshaw
and I visited Cobb's Island on the eastern shore of
Virginia, where all these birds were breeding, and the
cannonade we kept up there for ov^er a week no doubt
sent 3'ou the birds you rejoice over. So j-ou should
thank us for them. Brewster is down there now, and he
reports birds of the kind j^ou have with j'ou as extremely
scarce."

Writing to Mr. Ridgway June 12, 1881, Mr. Board-
man says : "I have had nothing verj' rare collected for
me here the past winter except an Ivory Gull, which
was not in very good plumage ; and a Black-necked
Stilt, this spring. The}- very seldom come so far north ;
I never got but one before. I hope 5'ou had a good time
out in Illinois and collected a lot of good things. Last

CORRESPONDENCE 269

fall I bought six hundred and forty acres of land near
Mt. Carmel. I shall have to go out and see it. There
may be some birds on it."

In 1882, when Mr. Boardman was in Minneapolis, he
wrote Mr. Ridgway on September 15: "The little
hawk, if a Broad-winged, is in very queer plumage. I
have a good series of Broad-wings, yet nothing like it.
If it had been taken in the fall I should have been less
surprised ; but taken in the spring when those small
hawks are in full plumage, appeared strange. You can
keep it as my collection is so much shut up and seen by
so few people it would never be seen by many naturalists
and I want it to be in the Smithsonian." That same
month, writing from Fargo, he says: "The hawk I
sent you was a male from Calais, about June 15. The
men on my son's farm told me of an eagle's nest on a
little hillock. The entire foundation was Buffalo ribs put
in with sods so as to make a very pretty shaped nest.
There were no other bones but ribs. Black Vultures are
quite plenty here. I shot one to make sure." In a letter
dated Minneapolis, February 26, 1883, Mr. Boardman
writes : "I notice your surprise at my seeing Buzzard —
Black Vulture up in northern Dakota. It was a surprise
to me, but I did not know but it was a place where they
had been found and not hearing from you did not write
to Forest and Stream but will do so now. I notice in
one of the late numbers Mr. Byrne of Crockett's Bluff
doubts about Buzzards being found in Maine, or so far
north, as he has never, after living in Illinois half a
century, ever seen one there. I have found them in
Nova Scotia, at Grand Manan, in New Brunswick and
in Maine."

270 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

In 1884, writing from Calais on December 1, Mr. Board-
man sends a skin of Florida Pigeon Hawk and wants
him to compare it with the pigeon hawks in the Smith-
sonian as " there is a very great difference in the bands
of the tail from those of our northern birds." Again,
January 8, 1885, he says : "One of my collecting friends
in Minneapolis wrote me of going last spring up to Devil's
Lake in Dakota and finding the large grebe — occidentalis
— breeding there quite common. I have never heard of
western grebe this side of the mountains and thought it
must be a new thing. Write me if this large grebe has
been found breeding so far east before." April 20, 1885,
Mr, Boardman writes to Mr. Ridgway that " one of our
Surf Ducks is a little different from those described in
the books, but it may be common. Most of them have
two white patches on the top of the head and back of
the neck. We have them here with only one white
patch, none on the top of the head. Do you have the
Surf Duck with only one white patch?" On December
26, 1887, Mr. Boardman sends Mr. Ridgway from Calais,
' ' the little hawk for you to see if there is any difference
between it and the common Pigeon Hawk. The bands
on the tail look to me different. I was sorry I could not
make oiit the sex ; but it was so shot through the back
I could not. It appeared, however, more like a female,
although the dark color would indicate a male." Writ-
ing from Calais, November 10, 1870, Mr. Boardman says :
" In looking over some of my old papers I see in Prof.
Reinhardt's paper on the Birds of Greenland (1860),
he speaks of a duck called Fuligula cristata, taken there
by Mr. Walker at Godhaven during the stay of the ship
Fox at that place in 1857. I write to ask if this is the

I

CORRESPONDENCE 271

same as P\iligula rufina, I have no names of European
birds but thought it might be the same duck as the one
I sent the young of, got at the market in New York,
which you thought the first one ever taken in North
America. If it is the same the Greenland bird is ahead
of it."

These several extracts are a good indication of Mr.
Boardman's accurate habits of observation in the slight
differences of the markings of birds, and his desire for
exact statement of facts regarding species.

Letters from Mr. Ridgway to Mr. Boardman

Washington, D. C, June 23, 1881.
Deak Mr. Boardman:

The box arrived to-day and I derived much pleasure from an
inspection of its contents, Avhich were in good condition — the
tail of the liawk a little mussed, liowever. The hawk proves to
be what I suspected— the Short-tailed Buzzard— Butes hrachyxmis ;
and unless it should prove true (as has been held by some authors)
that it is identical with the small black hawk called B. fuliguiosus.,
or B. cabanisi, a specimen of which was obtained last winter at
Oyster Bay, Fla., is an addition to the fauna. Perhaps the other
hawk you saw may be the same bii-d in another state of plumage.
Will you kindly send me particulars as to time and place of cap-
ture? I will have the owl put in good shape for Mrs. Baird. It
is a fine specimen and will no doubt please her very much.

As soon as I can spare the time I will investigate the hawk
question and let you know the result. With many thanks for
sending the specimens, I am

Yours very sincerely,

Robert Ridgway.

Washington, March 5, 1883.
Dear Mr. Boardman:

Your kind favor of the 26th ult. reached me a day or two ago.
It certainly is true that the Black Vulture is not common in

272 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Illinois. I have seen a few, but very fevp, near Mt. Carmel, where
C. aura is not only extremely abundant, but also a regular winter
resident! Can't you send us a few Evening Grosbeaks? Our
series is very meagre — about half a dozeu altogether, including
good, bad, and indift'erent. Of Bohemian Wax Wings we have
Ijlenty — that is, for our reserve series.

Nelson, at last accounts, had gone to southern New Mexico,
but his regular post otRce address is Santa Fe, N. M. His health
is somewhat improved, but his physician has ordered him to
remain west for another year. We have not heard from Turner
lately. Stejueger (I believe you met him at the Smithsonian) has
sent us some excellent things from the Commander Islands, sev-
eral new species, including a fine large new Sea Eagle (Ilaliaetus
hypoleucus). We have now a number of good collectors in the
field: Nutting in Nicaragua; Belding in Lower California, etc.;
and Professor Baird is going to send a man to McCloud River,
California, and also another to Madagascar, as well as one to
northern Mexico. Well, I hope this letter will not be as long
reaching you as my last was, and hoping also to hear from you
again soon, I am

Yours very truly,

Robert Ri^gway.

Washington, December 4, 1884.
Dear Mr. Boardman:

The Pigeon Hawk was received this morning and I have just
concluded a careful examination and comparison of it with our
collection. The specimens with which it was compared are from
West Indies (including Bahamas), Long Island, District of
Columbia, Hudson's Bay Terr., Alaska, California, Oregon,
Mexico, and Nicaragua — a pretty good series altogether. I am
sorry that Ave have no Florida examples with which to compare
it, for your bird is certainly diflereut from all of ours in the very
dark coloration of the lower parts, restricted white markings on
the inner webs of the primaries, and very broad subterminal black
band on the tail. In the second feature a specimen from Santa
Clara, California, is similar; but in the other characters men-
tioned your specimen is unique. Still, while it may be that
resident Florida birds of this species may be like yours, I should

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CORRESPONDENCE 273

hesitate to describe a new race on the strength of the one speci-
men. I would say, however, that should the differences men-
tioned prove constant they would be sufficient to warrant the
separation of the Florida bird.

Very truly yours,

Robert Ridgway,
Curator, Dept. Birds.
P. S. — I will keep the specimen for a few days, or until I can
find time to prepare some notes on it. R. R.

Washington, Jan. 23, 1885.
Dear Mr. Boardman:

I have been so busy since my return from New York that
this is my first opportunity of answering your letter of the 8th
inst. The Western Grebe (Podiceps occidentalis) breeds very
abundant at Shoal Lake, Manitoba, from whence we have numer-
ous eggs. In fact, it breeds throughout the western country in
suitable localities, quite to the Pacific coast and east to the east-
ern border of the Great Plains. Captain Bendire is stationed at
Fort Custer, Montana, and is thoroughly disgusted with the place
as a locality for collecting. Zeledon is here, and sends you his
best regards. Henshaw has returned, bringing with him about
eight hundred birds, among them two fine adult California Con-
dors, the largest weighing twenty-three pounds and spreading over
nine feet. Turner is busy writing up his notes. He got nothing
new except the nest and eggs of Pine Grosbeak. One curiosity
which he got in the way of nest and eggs was au old Robin's nest
in which a Red-poll had built its nest and in which a White-
crowned Sparrow laid its eggs ! He found the nest himself, so
there can be no " trick " about it.

Very truly yours,

Robert Ridgway.

Letters from Mr. Boardman to Mr. Ridgway

Jacksonville, Fla., Dec. 24, 1880.
Dear Ridgway:

I have just arrived here and find your letter of December 16.
I left home nearly five weeks ago and have been all the time on

274 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

the way down. I am sorry I did not get your letter before I left,
and am now afraid I cannot tell you any thing that will be very
satisfactory about the duck.

I was in at Wallace's bird shop and he had just mounted the
duck. He asked me if t knew what it was and I could not tell
him, but got the bird to compare with my specimens, yet could
not make it out, and sent it to you, and I believe it was thought
to be some cross. I think Wallace said he got it from the market.

If we had known it to have been a strange bird at the time
we could have followed it, but Mr. Wallace only cares to sell
birds, and the time has been so long he might not remember
about it, for about the same time I sent him a female Labrador
Duck to mount for your collection. When I went for the bird
some one had got it awaj' from him or he had sold it and did not
appear to know what had become of the bird. So if this is a new
bird to the United States I should not care to say too much about
it upon the memory of Mr. Wallace. The bird appeared to have
been just mounted and set with a lot of whistlers and mergansers
and common market birds. Had I thought it to have been such a
stranger would certainly, at the time, have got all its history. I
have almost forgotten what the duck looked like, and the full
plumaged bird I think I never saw. I think the bird had some
kind of a ring about its neck, something as a young plumaged
Labrador Duck might have, but its bill was nothing like that of
the Labrador Duck.

I intended to have made you a call when in Washington but
was only there a short time, and did not go to the Smithsonian,
I am expecting to make you a good call in the spring when we
return, and hope you may have the new building partly in order.
I see by the paper Mr. IngersoU of the Fish Commission arrived
here to-day. If you think of anything I can do for you here let
me know and I will be on the lookout. With kind regards to all
the folks and wishing you the compliments of the season.

Yours very truly,

Geo. a. Boardman.

CORRESPONDENCE 275

Minneapolis, Minn., June 4, 1886.
Friend Ridgway:

I have not written you foi- a long time and now liave not
much tliat is new to write about. We are having a very nice time
here and see so many birds that are rare with us and many we
never see, I quite enjoy a spring in the west ; but in my shooting I
get nothing new. I hope to get some chicks shortly and am try-
ing to get you a Krider's Hawk if possible. I write at this time
to say that a friend of mine in Connecticut says he has just had
sent to him a very odd looking warbler, and writes me to ask
about it. He says it is just like the Blue-winged yellow warbler
except the black line that runs through the eye is larger and runs
further back on the head. Then there is a clear black triangular
patch on the throat reaching well down on the breast. As I am
not very much acquainted with this warbler (it does not come
with us) please write me if it is anything more than some abnor-
mal plumage of the bird which it so closely resembles. If so I
will wi'ite him to send it to you. I am going up to Winnipeg
and shall be back in a few days.

Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

Daniel G. Elliot, who was formerly superintendent of
the Central Park, New York, was a personal friend
and correspondent of Mr. Boardman, their correspond-
ence extending over sev^eral years. Several of Mr. Elliot's
letters appear among Mr. Boardman's papers, although
none of Mr. Boardman's have been preserved, Mr.
Elliot writing August 15, 1902, that his mass of letters
from correspondents had become so cumbersome that
with few exceptions they were destroyed. On Mr. Board-
man's visits to New York he rarely missed an oppor-
tunity of going to Central Park, examining their collec-
tions and enjoying calls upon their scientific workers,

Daniel Giraud Elliot was born in New York, March
7, 1835, and is now curator of zoology. Field Columbian

276 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Museum, Chicago, 111. Mr. Elliot has trav^eled exten-
sively in this country and in Europe, Africa, Palestine,
Asia Minor, Canada and South America. He has pub-
lished much relating to zoology, his scientific papers
and memoirs embracing more than one hundred separate
works, the more important having been : North Ameri-
can Shore Birds ; Gallinaceous Game Birds of North
America ; Birds of North America ; Wild Fowl of the
United States and British Possessions, together with
several monographs in imperial folio, with hand-colored
plates, on various families of birds as Grouse, Pheasants,
Thrushes, Hornbills and Birds of Passage. Mr. Elliot
is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and has
receiv^ed many decorations from foreign governments for
his work in ornithology.

On October 23, 1862, Mr. FUliot writes: "I have
procured for you lately a male Ruddy Duck in fine
summer plumage. It is a skin, which I believe you
prefer to having it mounted. I am just now putting the
finishing touches to my work on The Pittas and shall be
glad to get it out of the way that I may have more time
for the Grouse." Mr. Boardman sent Mr. Elliot a copy
of his list of birds of the St. Croix and in acknowledg-
ing it under date of December 4, 1862, he says :

I am obliged for the list of birds of your section which you
sent me. Such contributions to our science are always very
important, as I consider that at some future time the geographical
distribution and migrations of birds will be subjects of most
serious consideration by ornithologists, and therefore any light
that one may be able to throw upon them will always be valuable
for future reference.

I am glad to see you have obtained the banded Three-toed
Woodpecker. I was satisfied myself that it visited you, and

CORRESPONDENCE 277

recollect once asking j'ou whether you had ever obtained it. I
am satisfied you will get more. It is a difficult bird to get here,
and I do not know of any one obtaining it in this state, although
the other common species is sometimes met with in the northern
woods.

Writing under date of March 6, 1863, Mr. Elliot says :
"Mr. Krider is here and went over my collection last
evening. He found a good many desirable birds, but
also some of the commonest wanting. That is always
the way, we try so hard to get the rare ones that we over-
look those that fly before our ej^es every day. Can j'ou
tell me if the Spruce Grouse become blacker upon the
breast (I speak of the males) as they increase in age?
It appears to me that such is the case, but I would like
to have the opinion of one who has observed them in
their accustomed haunts."

On August 13, 1863, Mr. Elliot received from Mr.
Boardman a young Spruce Grouse with other skins,
and sending his thanks says : "I was, as you may sup-
pose, delighted to see the chick and I would congratulate
3'ou tipon your success in making up the skins for I
think they are admirably done. I shall proceed immedi-
ately to make a drawing of the Spruce Grouse and hope
when 3'ou come to New York in the fall to be able to
show you the plate." In this same letter Mr. Elliot
continues: "I notice your list of European Grouse,
etc. I should like to see your Eagopus Alpina in full
summer plumage. Can you be sure of the locality from
w^hence they come ? It appears to me from my researches
so far, that there is no good species of that name, but it
is only our E- Albus. Perhaps your specimens might
throw some light on the subject, particularly if they are
European. All the other species you mentioned I have."

278 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

In describing Eagopiis albus (Gni.), Aud., Cones
edition of Stearnes' New England Bird Life, II., 145,
says: "Mr. G. A. Boardman, Calais, Maine, to whom
we wrote for information, assures us that he has been
unable to satisf}- himself that the Ptarmigan has ever
been known to occur in New England. With this
explanation, which we trust will not leave us liable to the
charge of improperly augmenting our list of New Eng-
lang birds and calling special attention to the insufficiency
of the accredited records, we introduce the species
hypothetically."

When writing upon the Duck Hawk in 1866, Mr.
Elliot writes Mr. Boardman May 2-4 of that j^ear: "I
wish to obtain some reliable facts in regard to its mode
of nesting. Have you ever observ^ed its nest placed in
trees or does it always have them on some cliff ? I
believe you have taken the eggs and can give me the
information I require."

In September, 1866, Mr. Elliot, w4th a party of friends
including Mr, Newbold, a brother-in-law of Mr. Geo. N.
Lawrence and Mr. W. J. Hays, came down to Nova
Scotia on a shooting expedition for moose at which time
he had hoped to visit Mr. Boardman at Calais. But the
party went direct to Halifax from Boston by steamer,
returning the same way, so that Mr. Elliot never saw
Mr. Boardman's collection. Mr. Boardman made all the
arrangements for his friend on this trip, and in a letter of
October 8 Mr. Elliot writes : ' ' We have been most kindly
received by both Mr. Whitney and Mr. McFarlane and
everything was done to make us comfortable. I feel
that we are much indebted to you for your assistance in
making our trip pleasant and successful. We had very

CORRESPONDENCE 279

good sport, having killed seven moose, a caribou and a
bear — a fair variety for a couple of weeks."

Letters from D. O. Elliot to Mr. Boardman

Oyster Bay, 4th Aug., 1866.
My Dear Sir:

Your favor of 3l9t July is received aud I am much obliged for
the trouble that you are takiug for me. Will j^ou tell me whether
at either of the places you mentioned we are likely to have any fish-
ing, and if we had better bring rods. I shall probably be accom-
panied by two friends, Mr. Newbold, a brother-in-law of Mr.
Lawrence whom you know, and W. J. Hays, the artist. We
would like to know the best time to start and the route, and also
any hints about the requisite amount of greenbacks to bring.
Do they pass in Nova Scotia? Can you give me any account of
the habits, nesting, etc., of the Goshawk and Broad-Avinged
Hawk? I should like very much to meet you and have a talk
about birds, when neither of us would be in a hurry, which unfor-
tunately has generally been the case in the city. I am somewhat
surprised about what you say of the change in plumage of the
Black Guillemot. I have obtained them in the Orkney Islands in
the black plumage, also in change and pure white, aud they all
seemed to be old birds, and I have never heard of the adults hav-
ing been obtained jet black during the winter. K it is always
the case in your vicinity it is certainly well worthy of being
recorded. Hoping to hear from j^ou again shortly and seeing
j'ou at no distant time, believe me

Yours very truly,

D. G. Elliot.

P. S. Will it be advisable to bring any kind of provisions for
the woods? I always take a box of knick-knacks along when I go
after deer in the north of this state.

Oyster Bay, L. I., 17th Aug., 1866.
My Dear Boardman:

Yours of the 9th inat. is at hand. I should like to have gone
with you on your excursion after the ducks, etc., and hope you
were successful. Can you not manage to get a specimen for me

280 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

of Bonaparte's Gull with the black head ; it does not often get down
as far as our latitude, in summer plumage. When you write me
when to go after moose, please to give me the route which I
must take, and the time for me to start. I am going on ^louday
to shoot snipe on Squaw Beach, New Jersey, to be absent about a
week. Do you have any flight of these Bay Snipe near you? I
should think they would come that way. I do not think anything
I should carry on my woods trip would be subject to duty. They
will consist principally of eatables and drinkables, for mj' expe-
rience tells me it is always advisable to have some creature
comforts along on such expeditions. I am now writing besides
my large work on the Birds of North America, a smaller popular
one, to be included probably in about three volumes, and I am
going to try and get Wolf to illustrate it with wood-cuts. I include
all the species known to inhabit North America with an account
of their habits, nesting, etc., and hope to make it useful and
entertaining to all my countrymen. The volumes will not be anj'
larger than Audubon's small work, easy to carry and handle.
So any account which you can give of our birds, anecdotes, etc.,
will be verj'^ useful to me. Hoping to hear from you soon, believe
me

Yours very truly,

D. G. Elliot.

New York, 1st Nov., 1866.
My Dear Sir;

Your favor of the 13th was duly received but as I have been
away from town I have been prevented from replying. I reached
home safely after a rapid and pleasant run. Baird has been in
the city, called upon me, but unfortunately I was not at home so
missed him. I also did not have time to stop in Boston so lost
the Cinereous Owl. I hope you may get it some time when you
come through and will conclude to dispose of it to me. My
recollections of the moose hunt are very pleasant and I feel much
inclined to tiy it again another fall. Your moose horns are very
fine and must make a good show. I should like to know what
the other set you mention measures. A black red squirrel is cer-
tainly a curiosity to say the least of it. I would like to see one.
The White-headed Eagle doubtless nests on cliffs at times, but I

THE NRW YOM
PlIBLIC. LIBRARY

Affl'OK, LliiNOX AND

ULDBN POnNDATJONS

B L

CHARLES HALLOCK

Founder and First Editor of Forest and Stream

CORRESPONDENCE 281

should judge it would only be when there were no suitable trees
for the purpose anywhere in the vicinity. Birds, like man, will
adapt themselves to circumstances, although at times they may
be obliged to act contrary to their nature. I have been thinking
a good deal about the Guillemot. It would be a fact well worth
ascertaining, if indeed it is a fact, that only the young change to
white, or rather that the white plumage is an indication of imma-
turity, and the black the livery of only the adult bird. I know no
person in a better position to determine the question than your-
self who have them about you so much of the time. Your
remarks about naturalists copying from each other are perfectlj'^
correct, and it is from this bad habit that so many errors have
been pi'omulgated. I shall endeavor in my work to be as inde-
pendent as possible. I am going to-morrow into the country to
shoot quail, and shall try to have a shot at the ducks before long.
They are getting to be plenty now on the coast ; the cold weather
at the north is driving them down here.
Let me hear from j'ou at your leisure.
Yours very truly,

D. G. Elliot.

Charles Hallock is a native of New York city where
he was born March 13, 1834. Previous to his establish-
ment of Forest and Stream, the leading sportsmen's and
naturalists' newspaper in this country, in 1873, Mr.
Hallock had been at times editor of several leading
journals in this country, Bermuda and New Brunswick.
Since 18G0 he has done much collecting and field work
in zoology for the Smithsonian Institution. He is an
authority upon ornithology, is the author of many
treatises on sporting and natural history subjects, has
traveled extensively and had charge of special exhibits
at some of the great expositions.

282 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

Letters From Mr. Boardman to Charles Hallock

Calais, Maine, March 5, 1899.
Dear ITallock :

I received j'our card, also a copy of The Ospiey some daj'S
ago. I had engaged the photograph man to tal^e mj'^ pretty
picture for you, but upon the day it stormed, and I did not go,
and my daughter said she must go with me, I suppose to fix me,
so I might look young as you used to see me. My daughter has
been sick with grippe ever since, but I hope to be able to send
along the photograph soon.

The Osprey paper is quite a good thing ; I have taken it ever
since it was started in California under another name. Cones used
to write some good things for it and now is head manager. Please
accept my thanks for your compliments in the last Forest and
Stream.

There was a paper of a week or two before by IMr. A. E.
Brown of New York asking for correspondence about young bears
and I wrote my experience with them to Forest and Stream.
They are a queer lot.

At Lake Jessup, in Florida, I made the acquaintance of Capt.
Brock, a great hunter, who told me of bears in Florida as large as
any north, but the skins I used to see were all of a small breed of
bears. I wrote Prof. Baird about the large bears, as I was told
by Mr. Brock, and he wanted a skin. Brock also told me of
wolves in Florida as black as any bear and also but rarely a black
Ljmx rufus. I got good skins of the black wolf, and a poor skin
of a black Lynx rufus. but of good color, only the feet were cut oft'.
I sent tliem to the Smithsonian for their skin collection. From
my southern friends I learn that the cold snap destroyed many
birds even in Middle Florida, besides every flower and most
every green leaf. Here we have had quite a fine winter, not as
much snow as usual. The great blizzard did not get up to us. We
had quite a gale and about six inches of snow, but the weather
was not as cold as in AVashingtou, D. C. There have been only
nine days this winter when the steamboats could not get up to
the upper part of the citj^ to deliver Boston freight. The sleigh-
ing now is about gone. Sincerelj- yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

CORRESPONDKNCE 283

Calais, Aug. 11, 1899.
My Dear IIallock:

I received your note a few days since and notice what you
say about remaining over at Dennysville for the remainder of the
season. I laiow Mr. Allen keeps a better place than j'ou could
find here, and Dennysville is a good place, only it is too far from
Calais, as we " birds of a feather " like to be together.

In regard to the black hawk which you see in North Caro-
lina, I would say I only know of one large black hawk (not steel
blue) that we call the liougb-legged Archibuteo (lagopus sanct-
johannis) — if I liave spelled it right. We have it here rarely, a
kind of brownish black, and I have seen a few very black and
think this must be the hawk you see. It is a sluggish flyer about
like a Red-tail or Marsh Hawk. I don't know how far south they
go but they used to be common down about the Delaware, and
about the best specimen I ever saw was at the Academy of Sci-
ence at Philadelphia. I have several in my collection, two
mounted ones. I never saw one in Florida, but they maj' go
south, and some of them may be blue and be a Rough-legged.
Last fall one of my sons was out duck shooting and said a Black
Marsh Hawk flew very near them. It was probably what Ave
call a Dark Rough-leg. I once saw out at Dakota a Black
Broad-wing. It was sent to the Smithsonian I think.

Not much of anj'thing new over this way except picnicking
up and down the river. All join in kind regards to you and Mrs.
Hallock.

Yours as ever,

Geo. a. Boardman.

Calais, Sept. 8, 1899.
My Dear Hallock:

I am glad to hear you have been having so pleasant a time at
Mount Desert. I have not been there for twenty years and used
to think it was about the nicest place on the coast of Maine. I
am also verj- glad to hear that Mrs. Hallock is feeling so much
better.

I was sorry to hear yesterday of the death of one of your old
Dennysville neighbors, Deacon Vose, who died very suddenlj'. I
have known him since my boyhood — a very nice man. I was

284 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

sorry to hear of the death of old Mr. McLellan, which 1 read an
account of in the paper. And that old horse jocke}- of a fellow
that you sent me the cutting about was a wonder. Those horse
jockeys are a set who most always die young, like the good chil-
dren we read about in the Sunday school books ; but this old fel-
low is a wonder.

I w^as much pleased with what you said about Mr. Downs.
He was a nice man. I have been at his place a number of times
and he has visited me. I was in Halifax soon after the Prince of
Wales was there in 18G0 to have his great reception and this is
the story some of the people told me.

The Prince had a long passage over and got to the back bay
near Downs" place on Sunday. Their commander in charge
allowed the Prince and a couple of his young friends and officers
to go on sliore to have a run. They landed near Downs' place
and went direct to his house. Mr. Downs was told by one of the
young officers w'ho they were and was introduced to tlie Prince.
Then of course Downs entertained him like a prince — showed
him all he had and gave him his best set of moose horns to be
put over his mother's best door in the Royal Palace.

The next morning Halifax was dressed up for the greatest
reception it ever had. All the notables of Canada and other
places were on the platform, also the Prince, waiting for the
great i)erformance to begin, when among the ciowd upon the
floor was an old I'ough customer by the name of Downs. The
Prince saw him, knew him, ran down boy-like, and shook Mr.
Downs with both hands, then led him up on the platform and
introducetl him to all his shipmates, officers and members of the
party. The crowd was amazed to know how it could be that
the Prince should shake hands with Downs before he did with
any of the governors or the big officers of Canada and was
also amazed to know how Mr. Downs and the Prince should
appear such old cronies and when he got down from the platform
everybody who could get a chance w^as shaking hands with Mr.
Downs, while after the Prince Mr. Downs was the greatest man
in Halifax for the day. Mr. Downs was paid floO in gold for
the horns.

My brother Gorham was in bed most of the four weeks he
was here. He left me two weeks ago and I hear is much better

CORRESPONDENCE 285

now. He is at Chatham, Cape Cod. I will try to see what I can
do with Mr. Downs' collection. The Cambridge collection is very
full. Your legs must be good to allow you to climb the Mt.
Desert mountains; my legs now are better for going down than
up hill. We are all very well here and the weather is fine and
cool. All join in kind regards to you and Mrs. Hallock.

Sincerely yours,

Geo. a. Boardman.

Dr. Thomas Mayo Brewer who, with Prof. Baird and
Mr. Robert Ridgway, spent several years in bringing
out the History of North American Birds in five vokimes,
was one of Mr. Boardman's correspondents and visited
him several times at his home in St. Stephen. He was
a native of Boston where he was born November 21,
1824, a graduate of Harvard university in the class of
1835 and of the Harvard Medical School in 1857. He
organized the publishing firm of Brewer & Tileston,
which was in business for many years. He edited an
edition of Wilson's American Ornithology and in 1859
the Smithsonian Institution published his Oology of
North America. His work on the History of North
American Birds was in the biographies of the species,
while the technical descriptions were written by Prof.
Baird and Mr. Ridgway. During the years 1875 and
1876 Dr. Brewer visited Great Britain and the European
continent, spending much time in a personal examination
and study of the great ornithological collections in those
countries.

Writing to Mr. Boardman under date of May 20, 1868,
Dr. Brewer says : "I am glad you have the nest and
eggs of the Canada Jay. It is a great prize. Let me
have the nest to describe before you let it go out of your
hands. The same in regard to those of the Pine Finch

286 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

and the Goshawk. I want very much to see the finches
in order to determine whether either of the three
pretenders I now have are genuine. If you ever part
with any egg of either of these three please give me the
first chance unless I find I have already one of the finch's
eggs."

In 1871 Mr. Boardman sent Dr. Brewer a ne.st and eggs
of some unknown bird and the latter writes him November
23 of that year that "it is a regular puzzler." Then
he says that he has gone completely through the entire
list of North American land birds " and there are but
few of our known birds to which it can possibly be
attributed. ' ' Giving the possibilities of the birds to which
they may belong he says there are objections to all of
them, concluding by saying : " When I go to Washing-
ton this winter I will take it up and talk it over with
Baird and let you know. But I doubt if he can see his
way out of the fog. What an awful pity you could not
have secured the bird." So far as the correspondence
discloses, the identity of the nest was never established.

In 1874 Dr. Brewer wants Mr. Boardman to come to
Boston. " I want very much," he says, " to talk with
you about some of our water birds" and he sees no
opportunity to visit St. Stephen. In this same letter,
date of June 23, he writes : "I am glad you have taken
the nest and eggs of the collaris. It is a great prize —
almost unknown. Where was the nest ? On the ground
I presume. Please give me all the particulars. Shall
you have an egg to spare for your humble servant?"
Writing June 29, 1877, to Mr. Boardman, accompanying
a package of about fifty rare eggs. Dr. Brewer closes a
most interesting letter by saying : " How would you

CORRESPONDENCE 287

like to have me next May drop down to the region of
black flies and make an excursion with you ' up the
creek ? ' Or shall we then be too old ? " It was the last
letter from Dr. Brewer found among the papers of Mr.
Boardman. He died at Boston, January 24, 1880.

Mr. Joel Asaph Allen, now the curator of vertebrate
zoology at the American Museum of Natural History,
Central Park, New York city, was one of Mr. Board-
man's correspondents. He was born in Springfield,
Mass., July 19, 1838. He was a student under Agassiz
at the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard University ;
a member of several scientific expeditions, and assistant
in ornithology in the Harvard Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Mr. Allen was the first president of the
American Ornithologists' Union, serving from 1883 to
1890. He edited the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornitholog-
ical Club, and has for some years been editor of The
Auk, the leading ornithological review in this country.
He has occupied his present position since 1885.

The correspondence between these friends began in
1864, and was continued at intervals until 1886. Writ-
ing to Mr. Boardman December 3, 1886, Mr. Allen says:
"In regard to the Messina Quail I can only say that
none have ever returned to breed where they were
turned out. It is the opinion of those who have watched
most carefully the experiment of their introduction that
it has been a complete failure. In several instances they
reared young the first j-ear after being turned out, but
disappeared the following wdnter never to return. It is
the general belief that in migrating they struck out to
sea and were lost." On October 26, 1869, in writing
Mr. AUen, Mr. Boardman tells of obtaining two birds

288 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

new to his list, the Black Vulture and Purple Gallinule,
" both in very fine plumage and both taken while Prof.
Baird was with me. The}- were a long ways north for
such southern birds." Under date of November 12,
1864, Mr. Boardman writes Mr. Allen :

lu answer to your question of how the White-headed Eagle
breeds, I would say I have known but one instance of its breed-
ing upon cliifs, that was at the Wolves Island. 1 was told by the
fishermen of an eagle breeding upon the cliffs and supposed it
Avas the Golden, so I sent a crew to get the eggs but they finding
it the White-head did not go over the cliffs, but amused themselves
by rolling rocks down over the nest but did not drive the birds
away. I do not, however, know whether they returned next
year or not. I got a nest of raven's eggs, seven in number, on a
cliff near the same place last spring on April 11, the snow then
being nearly a foot deep. The Duck Hawks breed very early —
they are flj'ing about in June. I got one which I mounted but
could see no pin feathers. It was shot this year in July, a this sea-
son's bird. They are very quiet about breeding time and are sel-
dom seen. I know of one place wheie they had been breeding for
years and the fishermen living within half a mile never saw or
heard of the bird. I have many times wondered how they could
feed themselves and their young and never be seen, but when the
young are half fledged they are at times very noisy, and when
they first begin to fly more so than most hawks, but they leave
the breeding places as soon as they can fly. I never knew them
to breed upon trees. 1 once knew of a Eaven"s nest within a hun-
dred yards of the hawk, and do not think they troubled each
other. 1 also found, last year, a Sparrow Hawk and Yellow
Woodpecker breeding in the same tree, but they were not very
peaceable. The HaAvk would dive after the AVoodpecker Avhen it
left its nest. 3Ir. Jaimsou, a tine old man of Deer Island, told
me a story of seeiug an eagle flying along the cliff and a Duck
Hawk flew at the eagle in a very spiteful way, probably to drive
it away from the nest, when the eagle caught the hawk, gave it a
squeeze, and it di'upped perfectly dead. It was seen by the whole
boat's crew who were fishing.

CORRESPONDENCE 289

Elliott Coues was born in Portsmouth, N. H., Sep-
tember 9, 1842, and became a very'- prominent naturalist
and writer on ornithological subjects. Soon after gradu-
ating from Columbian University, Washington, D. C,
he entered the army as a medical cadet, became assistant
surgeon in 1864, but resigned in 1881 to devote his life
to science. He was naturalist to several exploring sur-
veys of the government, as the Northern Boundary
survey and the Survey of the Territories and was also a
collaborator at the Smithsonian Institution. At different
times he was editor of various scientific journals and
magazines and the author of no less than fourteen elab-
orate works on ornithology, together with several hun-
dred monographs and scientific papers in reviews and
other periodicals. Among the most important of his
works are Key to North American Birds ; Field Orni-
thology ; New England Bird Life ; North American
Rodentia, Birds of the Colorado Valley, and Ornitholo-
gical Bibliography. Dr. Coues was a member of the
National Academy of Sciences, of many American and
foreign scientific societies and was one of the scientific
editors of the Century Cyclopaedia and Dictionary. He
died at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md., Decem-
ber 25, 1899. A Memorial, from the pen of D. G. Elliot,
with portrait, appeared in the number of The Auk for
January, 1901, Vol. XVIII., page 1.

Many letters passed between Mr. Boardman and Dr.
Elliott Coues relating to the Black Robin of which a
history is given on pages 121-122 of this work. In one
of those written by Dr. Coues on August 30, 1877, he'
says: "The case is one that should properly go on
record and I hope you will make a note of this for the

290 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Nuttall Bulletin. I hope the j^oungster may stay black
and that, as live birds are ' mighty uncertain ' you have
him sacrificed to science in due time and sent to the
Smithsonian where all good birds go — or ought to go —
when they die." This letter was written at Oakland,
Ind., and he adds: "I am taking a little 'vacation,'
so called, by euphemism, though I don't see much
difference. I seem condemned to the galley for life."

Mr. Ruthven Deane, writing from Cambridge, Mass.,
to Mr. Boardman, July 16, 1872, says : "I was pleased
to hear of your taking a specimen of Vireo Philadel-
phicus. Mr. Brewster and myself took three females at
Umbagog Lake in June. Your specimen now makes
the fifth taken in New England." February 10, 1874,
he writes : "I was much surprised to find that the
Nyctale Richardsonii has been taken in your vicinity
in spring, as it has generall)' been thought that only the
coldest winters drove it into the limits of the United
States." On November 11, 1876, Mr. Deane says:

We have had a very early aud uncommonly large flight of
Snowy Owls since the first of the month on our coast and it is
hard to conjecture the probable cause, especially as they appeared
in such mild weather and to my knowledge no other so northern
a species has been driven south in numbers. My object in writing
is to ask if you have had many in j-our section or if to your
knowledge any have been taken on Grand Mauan. I have learned
of nearly two hundred specimens having been seen and shot
between Saco, Me., and New Bedford, Mass., and the majority
were shot. Most of them have been taken on the coast altliough
numbers liave been seen in country towns and a few have been
seen perched on the housetops in Boston, Charlestown, etc.

CORRESPONDENCE 291

Letter from Lieut- Gov. Arthur H. Gordon to Mr. Boardman

Fredeuicton, July 15, 1863.
My Dear Sir :

I was much obliged to you for the trouble you took in procur-
ing me the squirrels. They arrived all safe and very pretty little
creatures they were, but alas I only two or three days after they
came their cage was found empty some stupid person having
allowed them to escape or some ill-disposed person having stolen
them I It was a great disappointment to me as I had fully intended
to take them with me to England for the Zoological Gardens. I
cannot ask you to take so nmch trouble again in procuring me
another pair, but should you hear of one perhaps you will kindly
remember that I am looking out for some and that I am quite
ready to pay well for them.

There is another animal which I am rather anxious to add to
my collection, the fisher or jiecquan. It is, I believe, very rare. I
have never seen even a dead specimen.

We have been parched for want of rain but it is falling now
at last.

Pray do not forget the list of birds and beasts you were good
enough to promise that you would contribute to my Keport to the
Queen. If a few words as to the habits, appearance, etc., of each
species were added it would much increase its value.

Yours very sincerely,

Arthur H. Gordon.

Letter from Prof. L. W. Bailey to Mr. Boardman

Fredericton, June 5th, 1874.
My Dear Sir:

Many thanks for your kind letter of the 2f5th ult. and for
your generous answer to my somewhat bold retiuest. The birds
you mention will be a very great addition to this part of our
cabinet, and will, I trust, do much to awaken a more general
interest in the whole.

I dare say that our students could do something in the way of
egg collecting, but I have felt a little reluctant to encourage them
in this direction, as I have somewhere read or heard (perhaps

292 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

from yourself) that egg?, unle?? thoroucrhly identified at the time
of collectiou as belongiug to anj' particular species, are useless or
worse than useless, being liable only to produce confusion. Our
students at this season are also too busy preparing for coming
examinations to devote mui^h attention to collecting. Unfortu-
uatel}- my most promising student in natural historj-, and one
who had already done a good deal in the way of preparing skele-
tons, etc., was suddenly carried ofT last winter bj' scarlet fever —
tlie onh' death whicli has ever occurred among the students of
the college.

lam glad to hear that your California trip was such a pleas-
ant one. I have ahvays had a yearning to see some of the won-
ders of the west, but am afraid that it will be long before I can
get there.

I hope you will not abandon your idea of a visit to Frederic-
ton and the St. Joliu river this summer. I shall myself be away
on the geological survej- after July 1. but the family will be at
home except during the first fortnight in July (when they pro-
pose to go to Campobello) and will be glad to see you. My own
headquarters for a time at least after going from home will be at
llampstead Village near Long Island on the St. John river, not
far from the place I told you of two or three seasons ago. Could
you make it convenient to come there any time in the early part
of July; I doubt not that you would find good sport on the hills
and lakes which abound in that vicinitj'.

As you speak of a number of birds as being already mounted,
it has occurred to me that it might be as well to send them at
once, if convenient, as they will thus serve to make a better dis-
play at our coming commencement. By the way, have you any
specimen of the little yellow canary-like bird here known as the
Thistle-bird? I should like very much to get one.

Please give my kind regards to ilrs. Boardman and believe

me, Yours very truly,

L. W. Bailey.

THE N:nr YOM
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CORRESPONDENCE 293

Letter from Prof. P. L. Sclater, London, Eng., to

Mr. Boardman

London, Jan. 3d, 1865.
Dear Sir :

You must, I fear, consider rae a very bad correspondent for not
ha\ing previouslj' replied to your letter of July last. We shall
be glad to take advantage of your kind offer to supply some of
the mammals of your country which are deficient in our series,
but as you say, the difficulty is the transport.

The only plan, I think, is to place a few animals on board any
ship you may find running into the Thames, under the charge of
the ship's butcher, giving him a letter to me reqiiesting payment
of 10s. or 20s. per head for such of them as he shall deliver alive
in this country. It will be necessary to get the captain's permis-
sion, of course, but this you will not find difficult with your con-
nections.

We receive a good many animals from the Australian col-
onies which are sent over exactly in this way.

As regards my own collection which you so kindly olfer to
assist, what I now most want are the sterna of birds of which I
am now forming a collection. If you could send me a few of
these belonging to American genera not represented in Europe
(such as Tyrannus, Tyvanga, Podilymbus, etc.) I should be grate-
ful. You might send them quite in the rough as I can get them
polished up afterwards, but they should be correctly labelled.

I shall soon be able to send you a new edition of our list of
living animals.

Very truly yours,

P. L. Sclater.

Letter from Charles E. Aiken to Mr. Boardman

Colorado Springs, Colo., Oct. 9, 1877.
Mr. Geo. A. Boardman:

Dear Sir — I have just received j-our favor of the 3d inst.
Your Robin is certainly a very interesting specimen. The
transition of black to white in the plumage of birds I have never
heard of before, and it indicates an analogy in the causes which

294 THE NATURAI.IST OF THE ST. CROIX

produce these abnormal stages, which I did not sivppose existed.
A? a cabinet specimen the bird would doubtless ])e more valuable
in its pi'esent plumage than it will be if it becomes entirelj' white,
but I should consider the loss compensated for bj' the interest
you "nill take in observing developments. Mj' suggestion is that
you have the bird photographed and spare his life a little longer
at any rate. It would be interesting to observe what eftect, if
any, would be produced by plucking the old plumage from a cer-
tain spot on the body — as the head — I believe that in all pure
albinos the skin, like the plumage, is colorless. I should sup-
pose that in melanotic specimens the skin would be black or at
least quite dark. If this was the case in your birds, does the skin
lose color simultaneously with the appearance of the white
feathers 'i

I have obtained a perfect albino mj'self this fall — a gray
wolf — which has even the nose and eyelids without color. I
have heard of two albino Buteo liorealis.

If I succeed in getting an adult Golden Eagle this winter I
will remember your want and shall be happy to exchange for
some of your specimens. Eagles were formerly quite plentiful
here but so many have been killed by hunters and sportsmen that
they are not often obtained now. I received one about two weeks
ago but in immature plumage.

I have been wanting to secure an Everglade Kite for a long
time. There are a number of other Florida birds which I need
but this one is the most important.

You speak of Sage Grouse — do you need any? I am think-
ing some of taking a trip over the " Range " this fall and if I do I
expect to be able to get specimens of the Sage Grouse as well as
Dusky Grouse and Ptarmigan.

Yours truly,

Chas. E. Aiken.

Letter from Dr. Ezekiel Holmes to Mr. Boardman

WiNTHROr, Dec. 30, 1862.
Geo. a. Boardman, Esq. :

My Dear Sir — Many thanks to you for your catalogue of
birds and also for your communication of the 23d inst.

CORRKSPONDENCE 295

I am happj' to find you still keeping your ornithological eye
on the watch for new specimens and am glad that you are so
successful in finding new comers. I feel a great interest in this
department of natural history, especially as it regards our own
State. It is a pity that naturalists have made so many new names
for birds long ago appropriately named. It loads the science
with synonyms without corresponding benefit. Names are, in
one sense, arbitrary and adopted merely to enable us to identify an
individual, or individuals by the hearing of it, while that name
should be descriptive; but whether it be or not, when it has been
promulgated that should be enough, and not subject to change
for light causes.

I did not get down so far as Calais last summer, but hope to
if the Scientific Survey of the State should be continued. I have
just finished my preliminary report on the fishes of Maine, as far
as investigated this past season. I have made no changes in classi-
fication or nomenclature, but have taken my own mode of telling
my story with a view of making it as familiar to " the masses," as
the politicians say, as I could, or at least, as much so as the
scientific phrases and technical terms would let me. I will seud
you a copy when published. I suppose I have about a quarter
part, or perhaps half of the fishes which are, or are to be found
in our waters, on m}' list of this year. If we go on, I must come
down into your section early to learn what I can of heriings and
herring fisheries in Maine and neighborhood, and it I do, will be
happj' to call upon you. In the mean time I remain.

Truly and cordially yours,

E. Holmes.

P. S. Any facts, or even " sailors" yarns " and " fish stories"

that may come to your know^ledge in regard to fish and fisliing in

Maine, will be interesting and valuable to me if you will send

them.

Letter from Dr. A. L. Heemann to Mr. Boardman

Philadelphia, May, 18G2.
Dear Friend Boardman:

I received your box three days ago for which I have many
thanks to return as there were several new species to my collec-
tion. The Ravens were certainly the largest sized ones I ever saw

29G THK NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX

and should not wonder if Baird on receiving his sliouM make a
new species of it. Your eggs were also all desirable, the owl
new to me ; the snipe finished out a series of four I have long been
trying for, and the Black Captit appears so different from the eggs
here that I should feel obliged to you if you can prf)cure me one
of the birds of which you sent me the eggs. I am on the look-
out for some birds' skins for you and will try to make an envoj'
before I leave here. Our spring has set in and we have now the
warblers in abundance which are traveling on their northward
course. Pay particular attention to them and their eggs as I am
almost •without any of them in my collection, but I hope one of
these days to tind them in that northei-n region which I most
earnestly desire to visit. In your letter you say that among my
duplicates there were several desirable birds and now I ask why
you did not take them? Please send me a list of what you wish
and you shall have all that I have among my duplicates, as they
are intended for that purpose. I am now hard at work collecting
what I can and some of our spring birds are already breeding.
Mr. Krider is not perfectly well and finds it out of his power to
come and pay you a visit as his affairs in the sutler business in
our army are in such a condition that he cannot leave here for
some time. I should like ver}' much to see your su^jposed eagles'
eggs and especially if the nest was found on the rocks. Our
common Bald Eagle always builds on trees, our Golden Eagle on
rocks, but the eggs are very much freckled with red and brown
spots which does not appear to be the case with j^ours. Mr.
Krider was much pleased to see the eggs of the English snipe,
and if you get anj- more please send a pair to him. With regard
to any warblers' eggs you may have I shall be very glad to have
them even though not thoroughly identified as I might go to
Washington and study them out with or from Prof. Baird"s col-
lection. He has just sent me a set of eggs among which are many
new species to my collection and I begin again to hope that some
of these days I shall have a show of the North American species.
Could you not obtain some of the Kaven's eggs of which you
sent me the bird? The fact is, that I would like to impress on
your mind that even the commonest species breeding in your part
of the country would be valuable both to John Krider and myself.

CORRESPONDENCK 297

I have not, for instance, a well authenticated egg of the Wood
Duck or Dusky Duck, which both appear to be common with jou.
I want as soon as you can make out a list of desired birds to
send it to me at once and I will see what I can do to fill it.
Much obliged to you if you can get me the eggs marked on the
English list, and I gave you at the same time a list of what Ameri-
can eggs I could supply and if the gentleman desires any of them
let me know it at once. Your friend,

A. L. Heemann.

Among Mr. Boardman's papers have been found many
letters from amateur and little known naturalists who
wrote to make inquiries respecting puzzling matters in
ornithology or to thank him for specimens sent or
information given. Here is a specimen that is most
gratifying. It was written by William H. Hoyt, Stam-
ford, Conn., and bears date August 24, 1886, but only
the opening paragraph of the long letter is given :

Your letter came duly to hand and yesterday A. M. the
box of eggs and skins arrived, and I think that during the half
hour I took to unpack it I was as near the summit of human
happiness as man ever attains. Being an enthusiastic naturalist
yourself, if you will call to mind some boxes you have perhaps
received from the Smithsonian or elsewhere, and remember the
delight of unpacking it, you will know how the treasures you
sent affected me. I think there is no pleasure so healthy, so full
and so satisfactory as that which comes with the gratificaLioa of
a naturalist's desire. I will of course make one exception — that
of human love and friendship. I never was so pleased with a
box before, because 1 never have had anything so rare as the
specimens it contained.

Many letters of a similar nattire are among the papers,
showing to what a large extent Mr. Boardman was send-
ing specimens to distant ornithologists and carrying on
a constant correspondence with lesser known naturalists
as well as with those who were famous.

CHAPTER XI

SCIENTIFIC I.ISTS

"l^TEXT to his large collection in ornitholog}' the
-^^ work that gave Mr. Boardman great authority
as a naturalist and brought him into correspondence
with so many students who had never seen his collection
were the lists of the fauna of the St. Croix valle}- which
he published from time to time in the scientific journals.
The basis of his list of birds were those first published
in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural
History in 1862, Vol. IX., pages 122-233. As his interest
in the natural history of his locality widened Mr. Board-
man studied all its branches and, as was his custom,
made records of all his observations. The following lists
embrace the results of his studies in the faunal distribu-
tion of Maine and New Brunswick.

These lists were finally revised bj' Mr. Boardman and
published in the columns of the Calais Weekly Times
between November 23, 1899 and February 5, 1900, the
old scientific nomenclature being used. But owing to our
increased knowledge of the relations which different fami-
lies and species of birds bear to each other the generic
names of many species have been changed since Mr.
Boardman's list was originally published.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 299

Also in scientific nomenclature it is the custom to give
the first scientific name applied to a species as its correct
name and treating all subsequently applied names of
that species as synonyms. In accordance with this lat-
ter custom it has been found necessary to change the
long-accepted names of many species for others which
were applied by other scientists at earlier dates and
which therefore had precedence. For these causes the
nomenclature originally used in connection with Mr.
Boardman's list differed quite e.ssentially from that now
accepted by science. To have published the list of birds
with the old nomenclature would have perpetuated errors
and employed a language obsolete to science. There-
fore the list has been revised to correspond with that of
the American Ornithologists' Union. In other particu-
lars Mr. Boardman's list as published in the Calais Times
remains unchanged.

In the list of fishes the authority followed in nomen-
clature has been The Fishes of North and Middle Amer-
ica, by David Starr Jordan, president of Iceland Stanford
Junior University and Barton Warren Evermann, Icthy-
ologist to the United States Fish Commission, in four
volumes, being Bulletin No. 47 of the United States
National Museum, Washington, D. C, 1896-1900. In
the list of mammals the authority has been American
Animals : A Popular Guide to the Mammals of North
America north of Mexico, with Intimate Biographies of
the More Familiar Species, by Whitmer Stone and Wil-
liam Everett Cram, New York, 1902. In the list of
reptiles the authority has been The Century Dictionary
and Cyclopedia, New York, 1899.

300 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

St. Croix Birds

Wilson's Thrush. Hylocichla fuscescens (Stcph.).
Not uncommon ; breeds.

Olive-backed Thrush. H3'locichla ustulataswainsonii
{Cab.). Not plentiful in summer; some breed.

Hermit Thrush. Hj'locichla guttata pallasii {Cab.).
Very abundant ; one of our best songsters.

American Robin. Merula migratoria {Linn.). Abund-
ant everj^where.

Cat-bird. Galeoscoptes carolinensis (Z,zV/w.). Not very
abundant ; breeds.

Stone chat. Saxicola oenanthe leucorhoa {Gmel,).
Accidental, only two specimens.

Bluebird. Sialia sialis (Z/«w.). Not common; few
breed.

Rub3^-crowned Wren. Regulus calendula {Linyi.).
Rare ; may breed.

Golden-crowned Wren. Regulus satrapa Licht. More
common ; few remain all winter.

Black-capped Chickadee. Parus atricapillus Linn.
Common, winter and summer.

Hudsonian Chickadee. Parus hudsonicus Forst. Not
very abundant ; few breed.

White-bellied Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis Lath.
Rare ; breeds.

Red-bellied Nuthatch. Sitta canadensis Zmw. Abun-
dant ; breeds.

Brown Creeper. Certhiafamiliarisamericana {Bonap.).
Not v&xy common ; breeds.

Winter Wren. Olbiorchilus hiemalis ( FzW//.). Resi-
dent ; not abundant.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 301

American Titlark. Anthus pensilvanicus {Lath.).
Common in migrations.

Black and White Creeper. Mniotilta varia (Limi.).
Common ; arrives early in May.

Prothonotary Warbler. Protonotaria citrea {Bodd.).
Very rare, only a straggler.

Nashville Warbler. Helminthophila rubricapilla
( VVils.). Common ; breeds.

Tennessee Warbler. Helminthophila peregrina( Wtls.).
Common ; breeds.

Blue Yellow-backed Warbler. Compsothlypis ameri-
cana usneae Brczastcr. Not uncommon ; breeds.

Cape May Warbler, Dendroica tigrina {Gmel.). Rare,
some years common ; breeds.

Summer Yellow Warbler. Dendroica sestiva {Gmel.).
Abundant ; breeds.

Black-throated Blue Warbler. Dendroica cserulescens
{Gmel.). Not abundant all summer.

Yellow-rump Warbler. Dendroica coronata {Lmn.).
Very abundant ; conies early.

Black and Yellow Warbler. Dendroica maculosa
{Gmel.). Abundant; breeds.

Chestnut-sided Warbler. Dendroica pensylvanica
{Linn.). Not uncommon ; breeds.

Bay-breasted Warbler. Dendroica castanea {IVils.).
Not uncommon ; breeds.

Black-poll Warbler. Dendroica striata (/v?r.r/.). Not
uncommon ; breeds.

Blackburnian Warbler. Dendroica blackburniae
(Gmel.). Not uncommon ; breeds.

Black-throated Green Warbler. Dendroica virens
{Gmel.). Abundant; breeds.

302 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Pine-creeping Warbler. Dendroica vigorsii (Aud.).
Very rare ; only one specimen.

Yellow Red-poll Warbler. Dendroica palmarum hypo-
chrysea Ridgw. Very abundant ; breeds.

Golden-crowned Thrush. Seiurus aurocapillus(Zm«. ) .
Very abundant ; breeds.

Small-billed Water Thrush. Seiurus noveboracensis
{GfucL). Common; breeds.

Mourning Warbler. Geothlypis Philadelphia ( Wtls.).
Very rare.

Maryland Yellow Throat. Geothlypis trichas brachi-
dactyla {Swain.). Abundant; breeds.

Wilson's Black-capped Yellow Warbler. Wilsonia
pusilla ( Wils.). Not very abundant; breeds.

Canadian Flycatching Warbler. Wilsonia canadensis.
{Linn.). Common ; breeds.

American Red Start. Setophaga ruticilla {Linn.).
Very abundant ; breeds.

Red-eyed Vireo. Vireo olivaceus {Linn.). Very
abundant ; breeds.

Philadelphia Vireo. Vireo philadelphicus {Cass.).
Rare.

Warbling Vireo. Vireo gilvus ( Vieill.) . Not plenty ;
remains all summer.

Blue-headed Vireo. Vireo solitarius {Wils.). Not
plenty ; remains all winter.

Great Northern Shrike. Lanius borealis ( Vieill.). Fall
and winter; common.

White-rump Shrike. Lanius ludovicianusZzww. Rare;
breeds.

Northern Wax Wing. Ampelis garrulus Litm. Rare ;
some winters in large flocks.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 303

Cedar Wax Wing. Ampelis cedrorum ( Vieill. ) . Com-
mon, some in winter ; breeds.

Purple Martin. Progne subis {Lmn.). Common;
breeds.

Cliff Swallow. Petrochelidon lunifrons (KSay). Very-
abundant ; breeds.

Barn Swallow. Hirundo erythrogaster Bodd. Very-
abundant ; breeds.

White-bellied swallow. Tachycineta bicolor ( Vieill. ) .
Very abundant ; breeds.

Bank Swallow. Riparia riparia {LiTui.). Very-
abundant ; cheap.

Scarlet Tanager. Piranga erythromelas Vieill. Rare ;
breeds.

Summer Red Bird. Piranga rubra {Lintt.). Grand
Manan. Rare ; only two specimens.

Pine Grosbeak. Pinicola enucleator leucura {Midler) .
Common in winter ; a few in summer.

Purple Finch. Carpodacus purpureus {Gmel.).
Abundant ; breeds.

American Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra minor {Brehm) .
Uncertain, some winters abundant ; breeds in winter.

White-winged Crossbill. Loxia leucoptera Gw^'/. Un-
certain, some winters abundant ; breeds in winter.

Common Red Poll. Acanthis linaria (ZzV//^.) . Win-
ters common ; breeds.

American Gold Finch (Thistle Bird). Astragalinus
\.x'\s\\s {Linn .) . Abundant; breeds.

Pine Finch. Spinus pinus ( Wils.) . Winter visitant ;
some breed.

Snow Bunting. Passerina nivalis {Littn.). Winter
visitant.

304 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Lapland Longspur. Calcarius lapponicus (Lmn.).
Very rare.

Savannah Sparrow. Ammodramus sandwichensis
savanna (IVi'/s.). Abundant; breeds.

Grass Finch. Pooecetes gramineus (Gw^/.). Abund-
ant ; breeds.

Yellow-wing Sparrow. Ammodramus savannarum
passerinus (IVi'/s.). Very rare ; accidental.

Sharp-tail Finch. Ammodramus nelsoni subvirgatus
{Dwight^. Not plenty.

White-crowned Sparrow. Zonotrichia leucophrys
{Forst.). Very rare.

White-throat Sparrow. Zonotrichia albicollis {GmcL).
Abundant.

Tree Sparrow. Spizella monticola {G?nel.). Only in
migrations.

Clipping Sparrow\ Spizella socialis {WUs.). Very
abundant.

Black Snow Bird. Junco hyemalis {Lmti.). Very
abundant.

Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia {Wilso7t). Very
abundant.

Swamp Sparrow. Melospiza georgiana (ZaM.). Not
uncommon.

Lincoln's Finch. Melospiza lincolnii {Aud.). Very
rare.

Fox-colored Sparrow. Passerella iliaca (^^-rr.). Fall
and spring.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Zamelodia ludoviciana
{Linn.). Rare ; breeds.

Blue Grosbeak. Guiraca cserulea {Linn.). Grand
Manan ; accidental.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 305

Indigo Bunting. Cyanospiza cyanea {Linn.). Not
uncommon ; breeds.

Bobolink. Dolichonyx oryzivorus {Linn.). Very
abundant.

Cow Bird. lAoXoihms aX^r {Bodd.) . Rare.

Red-winged Blackbird. Agelaius phoeuiceus {Linn.).
Abundant.

Meadow Lark. Sturnella magna {Li?in.). Very rare ;
only accidental.

Orchard Oriole. Icterus spurius (Z.m7z.). Very rare ;
only accidental.

Baltimore Oriole. Icterus galbula (/,/>/«.) . Not com-
mon ; rare.

Rusty Blackbird. Scolecopliagus carolinus {Mull.).
Common in migrations ; few in summer.

Purple Crackle. Quiscalus quiscula seneus {Ridgw.).
Very abundant.

American Raven. Corvus corax principalis Ridgw.
Not abundant ; breeds.

Common Crow. Corvus americanus And. CommoM,
resident.

Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata {Linn.). Common,
resident.

Canada Jay. Perisoreus canadensis {Lirni.). Com-
mon, tesident.

Shore Lark. Otocoris alpestris {Linn.). Very rare.

King Bird. Tyrannus tyrannus {Linn.). Very
abundant.

Great Crested Flycatcher. Myiarchus crinitus {Lin7i.).
Very rare.

Phoebe Bird Pewee. Sayornis phoebe {Lath.). Rare.

Olive-sided Flycatcher. Contopus borealis {Swains. ) .
Not uncommon ; breeds.

306 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Wood Pe wee. Contopus virens (Z,m».). Not uncom-
mon ; breeds.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Enipidonax flaviventris
Baird. Not uncommon ; breeds.

Traill's Flycatcher. Empidonax trail! ii alnorum
Brewst. Not uncommon ; breeds.

Ipswich Sparrow. Ammodramus princeps {Mayn.).
St. Andrews ; two.

Least Flycatcher. Enipidonax minimus Baird. Abun-
dant.

Ruby-throated Humming Bird. Trochilus colubris
Linn. Abundant.

Chimney Swift. Chsetura pelagica (Z,m«.). Abun-
dant.

Whippoorwill. Antrostomus vociferus ( PPi!7jt?7z). Not
uncommon.

Night-hawk. Chordeiles virginiauus (G^W(?/.). Abun-
dant.

Hairy Woodpecker. Dryobates villosus {Limi.).
Abundant.

Downy Woodpecker. Dryobates pubescens {Linn.).
Abundant.

Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker. Picoides
arcticus (Swains.). Not uncommon ; few in summer.

Banded Three-toed Woodpecker. Picoides ameri-
canus Brehni. Not uncommon ; few in summer.

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Sphyrapicus varius
(Linn.). Common.

Pileated Woodpecker. Ceophloeus pileatus abieticola
Bangs. Not uncommon.

Red-headed Woodpecker. Melanerpes erythroceph-
alus (Z,zMn.). Very rare.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 307

Yellow-shafted Flicker. Colaptes auratus {Lin7i.).
Abundant.

Belted Kingfisher. Ceryle alcyon {Linn.). Abundant.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus americanus {Linn.).
Very rare ; only accidental.

Black-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus erythropthalmus
( Wilson ) . Common.

American Long-eared Owl. Asio wilsonianus {Less.).
Not uncommon.

Short-eared Owl. Asio accipitrinus {Pall.). Not un-
common.

Barred Owl. Syrnium nebulosum {Forst.). Abun-
dant.

Great Gray Owl. Scotiaptex cinerea {Gmel.). Very
rare ; only in winter.

Richardson's Owl. Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni
{Bonap.). Not uncommon; winter.

Saw- whet Owl. Nyctala acadia {Gmel.). Common.

Little Screech Owl. Megascops asio {Linn.). Very
rare ; accidental.

Great Horned Owl. Bubo virginianus {Gmel.). Com-
mon.

Snowy Owl. Nyctea nyctea {Linn.). Some winters
common ; uncertain.

Hawk Owl. Surnia ulula caparoch {Mali.), some
winters common.

Gyrfalcon. Falco rusticolus gyrfalco {Linn.). This
falcon not uncommon in winter.

White Gyrfalcon. V aXco \s\Q.ndviS, Briinn. Only one;
Lincoln, Me. in Brewster's collection.

Black Gyrfalcon. Falco rusticolus obsoletus {Gmel.).
Winter visitant ; three specimens.

308 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

American Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus anatum
{Bo7iap.). Not uncommon ; breeds on cliffs.

Pigeon Hawk. Falco columbarius Z,/«w. Not uncom-
mon ; breeds on cliffs.

Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius Linn. Not uncom-
mon; more plenty.

Fish Hawk, Osprey. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis
{Gmcl.). Abundant.

Marsh Hawk. Circus hudsonius (Zz';z;z.). Abundant.

Cooper's Hawk. Accipiter cooperi {Bonap.). Not
common ; one of our rarest hawks.

Sharp-shinned Hawk. Accipiter velox {Wils.).
Abundant.

American Goshawk. Accipiter atricapillus {Wils.^.
Not uncommon ; breeds.

Red-tailed Hawk. Buteo borealis {Ginel.). Not
uncommon ; breeds.

Swainson's Hawk. Buteo swainsoni Bonap. Oct.,
1892, one specimen.

Red-shouldered Hawk. Buteo lineatus (G^;^e^/.). Not
uncommon ; breeds.

Broad-winged Hawk. Buteo platypterus ( Vieill.).
Abundant.

American Roughleg. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johan-
nis {Gniel.). Verj- rare.

Golden Eagle. Aquila chrysaetos {Linn.). Very rare ;
shot one in summer.

Bald Eagle, Gray Eagle. Haliaeetus leucooephalus
{Li?in.). Common; breeds.

Turkey Buzzard. Cathartes aura (Z,z>i«.). Very rare;
only one specimen.

Black Vulture. Catharista urubu {Vieill.). Not
uncommon some seasons.

SCIENTIFIC I.ISTS 309

Passenger Pigeon. Ectopistes migratorius {Lin?i.).
Not uncommon ; all gone.

Mourning Dove. Zenaidura macroura (Zm«.). Very
rare ; accidental.

Spruce Partridge. Canacliites canadensis canace
{Lt7i?i.). Common.

Canadian Ruffed Grouse. Bonasa umbellus togata
{Lin7i.). Common.

Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias Linn. Common.

American Egret. Ardea egretta Gmel. Very rare;
Grand Manan.

Snowy Heron. Ardea candidissima G"w^/. Very rare ;
Grand Manan.

Green Heron. Ardea virescens Lhui. Rare.

Black-crowned Night-Heron. Nycticorax njxticorax
nsevius {Bodd.). Rare.

American Bittern. Botaurus lentiginosus {Motitag.).
Very common.

Eeast Bittern. Ardetta exilis {Gmel.). Rare.

American Oyster-catcher. Haematopus palliatus
Tcmm. Grand Manan ; accidental.

Turnstone. Arenaria morinella (Zz>z«.). Fall; not rare.

Black-bellied Plover. Squatarola squatarola {Li?in.).
Not very common.

Golden Plover. Charadrius dominicus Miill. Not
very common.

Semipalmated Plover, ^gialitis semipalmata Bonap.
Common in summer.

Piping Plover, .^gialitis meloda ((9r^.). Rare; said
to breed on the islands.

American Woodcock. Philohela minor {Gmel.).
Plenty ; breeds early.

310 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Wilson's Snipe. Gallinago delicata {Ord.). Plent3';
some breed.

Redbreasted Snipe. Macrorhamphus griseus {Gmel.).
Rare.

Greater Long-beak. Macrorhamphus scolopaceus
{Say). Rare; St. Andrews.

Stilt Sandpiper. Micropalama himantopus {Botiap.).
Rare.

Knot ; Robin Snipe. Tringa canutus Z,z«w, Rare; in
river.

Purple Sandpiper. Tringa maritima Briinn. Abun-
dant in winter; islands.

Pectoral Sandpiper. Tringa maculata Vieill. Com-
mon in fall.

Bonaparte's Sandpiper. Tringa fuscicollis Vieill.
Rare.

Least Sandpiper. Tringa minutilla Vieill. Abundant
in summer.

Red-backed Sandpiper. Tringa alpina pacifica
{CoJies). Rare.

Curlew Sandpiper. Tringa ferruginea Briinn. Acci-
dental ; St. Andrews and Grand Manan.

Semipalmated Sandpiper. Ereunetespusillus {Lirm.).
Common.

Sanderling. Calidris arenaria {Li?in.). Common.

HudsonianGodwit. Limosahaemastica (ZzVz;?.). Rare.

Greater Yellow-legs. Totanus melanoleucus {Gmel.).
Common, spring and fall.

Lesser Yellow-legs. Totanus flavipes (Cw^?/.). Com-
mon, only in fall.

Solitary Sandpiper. Helodromas solitarius {Wils.).
Common.

SCIKNTIFIC I.ISTS 311

Willet. Symphenica semipalmata (G"w<r/.). Rare.

Ruff. Pav^oncella pugnax {Liyin.). Grand Manan ;
accidental.

Bartram's Sandpiper. Bartramia longicauda {Bechst.).
Accidental.

Spotted Sandpiper. Actitismacularia (Z?>m.). Abun-
dant.

I^ong-billed Curlew. Numenius longirostris Wils.
Very rare.

Hudsonian Curlew. Numenius hudsonicus Lath.
Very rare.

Eskimo Curlew. Numenius borealis {Forst.). Very
rare.

Red Phalarope. Crymophilus fulicarius {Litin.).
Not uncommon ; few breed.

Northern Phalarope. Phalaropus lobatus {Liftn.).
Plenty in spring and fall ; islands.

American Avoset. Recurvirostra americana Gmcl.
Accidental.

^ Black-necked Stilt. Himantopus mexicanus {MtilL).
Accidental ; St. Andrews.

Virginia Rail. Rallus virginianus Linn. Common.

Sora Rail. Porzana Carolina {Linn.). Abundant.

Little Yellow Rail. Porzana noveboracensis {Gmel.).
Several ; rare.

Purple Gallinule. lonornis martinica (Z,/w«.). Acci-
dental ; two.

Florida Gallinule. Gallinula galeata {Licht.). Sev-
eral.

American Coot. Fulica americana Gmel. Not uncom-
mon.

312 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Snow Goose. Chen hyperborea (/'<^?//. ). Rare; Grand
Manan.

Eesser Snow Goose. Chen hyperborea nivalis {Forsi. ) .
Accidental ; Grand Mann.n.

American White-fronted Goose. Anser albifrons
ganibeli {Haril.). Grand Manan.

Canada Goose. Branta canadensis (iLm«.). Common.

Brant. Branta bernicla (/-mw.). Common.

Mallard. Anas boschas /-/««. Accidental ; very rare.

Black Mallard. Anas obscura Gmel. Common.

Gadwall. Chanlelasmus streperus {Li'tiri.). Very
rare ; accidental.

Pin Tail. Dafila acnta {Linn.) . Very rare ; accidental.

Baldpate ; Widgeon. Mareca americana {Gynel.).
Very rare ; accidental.

Shoveller. Spatula clypeata {Li7m.). Very rare;
accidental.

Blue-winged Teal. Querquedula discors {Linyi.).
Common ; breeds.

Green-winged Teal. Nettion carolinensis {Gnicl.).
Not common.

Wood Duck. Aix sponsa {Linn.). Common.

Scaup Duck. Ay thya mari la (/./«?/.). Not common.

Eittle Blackhead. Aythya affinis {Eyt.). Not com-
mon.

Ring-necked Duck. Aythya collaris (Z)(^;?^Z'.). Not
uncommon ; breeds.

Red-head. Aythya americana (.^'/.). Rare ; breeds.

Barrows' Golden Eye. Clangula islandica (Gmt/.).
Common in winter.

American Golden Eye ; Whistler. Clangula clangula
americana {Bonap.). Common; resident.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 313

Buffle Head ; Butter Ball. Charitonetta albeola
{Li7in.). Common spring and fall; breeds.

Harlequin Duck. Histrionicus histrionicus {Li?in.).
Islands ; fall atid winter.

Longtail ; Old Squaw. Harelda hyemalis {Linn.').
Abundant.

Labrador Duck. Camptolaimus labradorius {Gmcl.).
Grand Manan ; very rare, none of late.

American Eider Duck. Somateria dresseri Sharpe.
Dresser. Abundant in winter.

King Eider. Somateria spectabilis (Z,m?z.). Not rare
in winter.

American Scoter. Oidemia americana Swains. Com-
mon.

White-winged Scoter. Oidemia deglandi {Bonap.).
Common.

Surf Duck. Oidemia penspicillata (Z/««.). Common.

Ruddy Duck. Erismatura jamaicensis (6^/«<?/.) . Not
rare ; breeds.

American Sheldrake. Merganser americanus {Cass.) .
Not rare ; breeds.

Red-breasted Sheldrake. Merganser serrator {Linn.) .
Not rare.

Hooded Sheldrake. Lophodytes cucullatus {Linn.).
Not rare ; breeds.

American White Pelican. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Gmel. Accidental ; one seen in Calais.

Common Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carbo {Lin7i.).
Not abundant.

Double-crested Cormorant. Phalacrocorax dilophus
{Swaiyi.). Common in migrations.

Gannet. Sula bassana (/-/>;«.). Common down the ba3^

314 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Black Skimmer. Rhynchops nigra Linyi. Accidental ;
down the bay.

Ivory Gull. Pagophila alba (G7/««.). Accidental;
Grand Manan.

Bonaparte's Gull. Larus Philadelphia ((9r^). Very
abundant ; none breed.

Sabine's Gull. Xema sabinii {Sab.). Eastport ; acci-
dental in bay.

Gull-billed Tern. Sterna nilotica {Hasselq.). Acci-
dental in bay.

Caspian Tern. Sterna caspia Pallas. Seen in migra-
tions; rare.

Common Tern. Sterna hirundo Linn. Abundant.

Arctic Tern. Sterna paradisseai5r/V'««. Abundant.

Least Tern. Sterna antillarum (Z.<?.y.y.). Accidental;
Grand Manan.

Kittiwake Gull. Rissa tridactyla (Z,m«.). Abundant
fall and winter.

Glaucous Gull. Larus glaucus {Brfinn.). Rare;
only found in winter.

White-winged Gull. Larus leucopterus Faher. Rare ;
only found in winter.

Great Black-backed Gull. Larus marinusZzVzw. Win-
ter bird ; few breed.

Herring Gull. Larus argentatus .5rz^>z7z. Common;
resident.

Ring-billed Gull. Larus delawarensis Ord. Common
in migration.

Laughing Gull. Larus atricilla Liyin. Few about
islands in summer.

Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis
{Gmel.). Accidental; Grand Manan.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 315

Pomarine Jaeger. Stercorariiis pomarinus {Temm.).
Not plenty.

Richardson's Jaeger. Stercorariusparisiticus {Linn.).
Rare.

Ivong-tailed Jaeger. Stercorariiis longicaudus Vieill.
Common ; fall.

Greater Shearwater. Puffinus gravis {O' Rcilly) . Com-
mon.

Sooty Shearwater. Puffinus fuliginosus Strickl. Rare.

Stormy Petrel, Mother Carey's Chicken. Procellaria
pelagica Linn. Accidental ; only Grand Manan.

Wilson's Petrel. Oceanites oceanicus (A1?////). Rare;
only in summer.

Leach's Petrel. Oceanodroma leucorhoa {Vieill.).
Common ; breeds on islands.

Red-necked Grebe. Colymbus holboellii {Reinh.).
Common ; breeds on islands.

Horned Grebe. Colymbus auritus Zz««. Common;
few breed.

Thick-billed Grebe. Podilymbus podiceps {Linn.).
Common ; breeds.

Loon. Gavia imber (G^z^ww.). Common; breeds.

Red-throated Loon. Gavia lumme {Gtinyi.). Com-
mon.

Razor-billed Auk. Alca torda Linn. Winter; few
breed on Grand Manan.

Common Puffin. Fratercula arctica {Linn.). Winter ;
few breed on Grand Manan.

Sea Dove. KWo^ zW^ {Linn .) . Winter only.

Black Guillemot. Cepphus grylle (/-zVztz.). Resident;
breeds on islands.

31G THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Foolish Guillemot. Uria troile {Linti.). Resident;
few breed.

Briinnich's Guillemot. Uria lomvia {Litin.). Resi-
dent ; few breed.

Fulmar Petrel. Fulmarus glacialis (Z,z>z?z.). Winter
sea bird ; Grand Manan.

European Starling. Sturnus vulgaris Linn. Shot in
Calais by Mr. Nichols.

Fishes

Yellow Perch. Perca flavescens {Mitch.).

White Perch. Morone araericana {Gmel.).

Striped Bass. Roccus lineatus {Block.).

Pumpkin Seed. Eupomotis gibbosus {Liym.).

White Lake Bass. Roccus chrysops {Raf.).

Saucer-eye Porgy. Calamus calamus {C21V.).

Weakfish. Cynoscion regalis {Block.).

Common Mackerel. Scomber scombrus {Li?in.).

Tunny, or Horse Mackerel. Thunnusthynnus {Linji).

Spanish Mackerel. Scomberemorus maculatus
{Mitch.).

Swordfish. Xiphias gladius {Linji.).

Blunt-nose Shiner. Vomer setipinnis {Mitch.).

Bluefish. Pomatomus saltatrix {Liyin.).

Bill-fish. Tylosurus marinus {Walb.).

European Stickleback. Gasterosteusaculeatus(Z,z«w.).

Many-spined Stickleback, Pygosteus Pungitius
brachypoda {Bean).

Silverside. Chirostoma bartoni {Jordan a^id Ever-
mann).

Redfish. Sebastes marinus {Linn.).

Sea Raven. Hemitripterus americanus {Gfnel.).

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 317

Sculpin, Greenland Bullhead. Cottus groenlandicus
{Girard) .

Common Sculpin, or Bullhead. Cottus octodecim
spinosus {Gill).

Labrador Northern Sculpin. Cottus labradoricus
{Girard) .

Sea Poacher. Aspidophoroidesmonopterygius(Z«'/(?r/i.) .

Toad-fish. Batrachus Tau {Liyin.).

Shanny. Blennius laevis.

Butter-fish. Pholis dolichogaster {Pallas).

Eel Pout. Zoarces aiiguillaris {Peck).

Lump-fish. Cyclopterus lumpus {Linn.).

Wolf-fish. Anarhichas lupus {Linn.).

Wr5'-mouth. Cryptacanthodes maculatus {Storcr).

Angler. Lophius piscatorius {Linn.).

Bank Cod (doubtful). Gadus callarias {Linn.).

Codfish. Gadus americauus {Gill).

Tomced. Microgadus tomcod ( Walb.).

Haddock. Melanogrammus oeglefiims {Linn.).

Pollock. Pollachius virens {Linn.).

Silver Hake. Merluccius bilinearis {Mitch.).

Burbot. Lota maculosa {Le Sueur).

Cusk. Brosmius brosme.

De Kay's Codling. Phycis de Kaii {Kau^.).

Ophiodon. Ophiodon elongatus {Girard).

Blackfish. Tautoga onitis {Linn.).

Cunner. Ctenolabrus adspersus.

Halibut. Hippoglossus hippoglossus {Linn.).

Common Flatfish, Flounder. Pseudopleuronectes
americanus ( Walb.).

Spotted Flounder, Turbot, Window Pane. Para-
lichthys oblongus {Mitch.).

318 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Shiner. Notemigonus chrj^soleucus.
Redfin. Notropis cornutus (Mitch.).
Dace. Rhinichthys cataractae {Cuv. & Vale?i.).
Roach Dace. lycuciscus rutilus {Raf.).
Creek Chub. Semotiius atromaculatus {Mitch.).
Red-sided Shiner. Leuciscus elongatus {Kirt.).
Brook Minnow. Fundulus heterochtus {Li^m.).
Common Sucker. Catostomus commersonii {Lacep.).
White Sucker. Moxostoma aureolum {Le Sueur.).
Chub-sucker. Erimyzon sucetta.
Minnow Killifish. Fundulus magalis {Walb.).
Common Pickerel. Esox reticulatus {Le Sueur.).
Salmon. Salmo salar (Z,m?z.).
Brook Trout. Salvelinus fontenalis {Mitch.).
Sea Trout. Salmo canadensis {Smith).
Landlocked Salmon. Salmo salar sebago {Girard).
Silver Salmon. Oncorhynchus kisutch ( Walb.).
Togue. Cristivomer namaycush {Walb.).
Blue-black Trout. Oncorhynchus nerka ( Walb.).
White or Gizzard Fish. Coregonus quadrilateral's
{Rich.).
Common Whitefish. Coregonus clupeiformis (./^//Vr/i.).
Smelt, Fresh Water. Osmerus mordax {Mitch.).
Sea Smelt. Hypomesus pretiosus {Girard).
Capelin. Mallotus villosus {Muller) .
Herring. Clupea harengus {Liyin.).
Thin-head. Leptocephalus gracilis {Storer).
Catfish. Amiurus melas.
Sturgeon. Acipenser sturis {Liyin.).
Porbeagle. Lamna cornubica {Gmel.).
Dogfish. Squalus canthias {Linn.).
Basking Shark. Cetorhinus maximus {Gunner).

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 319

Thresher Shark. Alopias vulpes (Ginel.).

Sleeper. Soraniosus microcephalus.

Skate. Raia laevis (yI//M.).

Hedgehog Ray. Raia erinace {Mitch.).

Lamprey. Petromyzon marinus.

Common Shad. Alosa alabamse {Jordan & Evcr-
mann).

Alewife or Gaspereau. Pomolobus pseudoharengus
{Wilso7i).

Menhaden, Mos.sbanker. Brevoortia tyranuus {La-
trohe) .

Brit. Clupea minima (Peck).

Autumnal Herring. Alosa mattonaca (Be Kay).

Anchovy. Stolephorus encrasicholus.

Balistes. Balistes capriscus.

Sharp-nosed Eel. Anguilla vulgaris.

Eel. Anguilla Bostoniensis (Le Suezir).

Conger Eel. Leptocephalus conger (Linn.).

Sand Launce. Ammodytes americanus (De Kay).

Mammals

Shrew^. Neosorex palustris (Vcrrill).

Foster's Shrew. Sorex Fosteri (Rich). Very rare.

Oared Shrevi^. Sorex platyrhincus ( Wagner) . Quite
common.

Cooper's Shrev/. Sorex Cooperi (Bach.).

Common Shrew. Sorex personatus (Geoffray).

Mole Shrew, short-tailed. Blarina brevicauda (Say).

Common Mole. Scalops aquaticus (Linn.).

Star- nosed mole. Condylura cristata (Z,z;m.). Com-
mon.

Wildcat. Lynx ruff us ( Gw/^. ) . Common.

320 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Loup-cen'ier. Lynx canadensis {Kerr^ . Common.

Gray Wolf. Canis occidentalis {Rich.). Common.

Red Fox. Vulpes fulviis {Desrnarest) .

Fisher Marten. Mustela pennanti {Erxlebai) .

Pine Marten or American Sable. Mustela americana
( Tut ton) .

Least Weasel. Putorius rixosus {Bangs) .

Maine Weasel. Putorius noveboracensis occisor
{Bangs).

Northern Mink. Putorius vison {Schreber) .

Northern Otter. Lutra canadensis {Schreber) .

Skunk. Mephitis putida {Ciivier).

Raccoon. Procyon lotor {Linn.).

Black Bear. Ursus Americanus {Pallas.).

Common Seal. Phoca vitulina {Lifin.).

Harp Seal. Phoca grcenlandica {Fabricicus) . Seen
in winter.

Hooded Seal. Cj'stophora cristata (i£"r.i7(f(5£'«). Often
seen on the rocks, Grand Manan and Murr ledges.

Gray Squirrel. Sciurus carolinensis {Gviel.).

Red Squirrel. Sciurus hudsonicus gymnicus {Bangs) .

Fox Squirrel. Sciurus rufiventer neglectus {Gray).

Flying Squirrel. Sciuropterus volans {Linn.).

Striped Squirrel. Tamias striatus {Linn.).

Woodchuck. Arctomys monax {Liyni.).

Beaver. Castor canadensis {Kuhl).

Brown Rat. Mus norvegicus {Erxlebcn) .

Black Rat. Mus rattus {Linn.).

Common Mouse, Mus musculus {Linn.).

Deer Mouse, Wood Mouse, White-footed Mouse.
Peromyscus Cucopus {Raf.).

Common Hamster. Cricetus frumentarius.

SCIENTIFIC LISTS 321

Red-backed Mouse. Hypudaeus gapperi {Baird).

Meadow Mouse. Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord.).

Northern lyemming Mouse. Synaptomys fatuus
{Ba7igs), The northern representative of Cooper's
lemming mouse.

Muskrat. Fiber zibethicus {Linn.).

Porcupine. Erethizon dorsatus {Linn.).

White-rabbit. Lepus americanus v\g\ma.nvis{Harlan) .

Moose. Alces americanus {Jardine).

Woodland Caribou. Rangifer caribou {Gmel.).

Deer.

Hoary Bat. Lasiurus cinereus {Beauvois).

Little Brown Bat. Myotis lucifugus {Le Conte).

Blunt-nosed Bat. Vespertilio subulatus.

Panther. Felis couguar {Kerr) . Well authenticated.

Wolverine. Gulo luscus {Lin?ie). Doubtful.

Testudinata or Turtles

Snapping Turtle. Chelydra serpentina. Common.
Painted Turtle. Chrysemys picta ( G^mj) . Rare,
Sculptured Turtle. Glyptemys insculpta {Agassis).
Rare.

Ophidia — Snakes

Green Snake. Chlorosoma vermalis {Baird and
Girard) . Plenty.

Little Brown Snake. Haldea striatula.

Ring- necked Snake. Diadophis punctatus {Baird and
Girard) .

Milk Snake. Ophibolus eximius. {Cope).

Striped Snake. Eutsenia sirtalis.

322 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Ribbon Snake. Eutaenia saurita.
Water Snake. Nerodia sipedon.

Batrachia, Anura — Toads and Frogs

Common Toad. Bufo lentiginosus.
Common BuU Frog. Rana catesbiana (Shaw).
Green Frog. Rana clauntaus (Lee).
Pickerel Frog. Rana Plustus (Lee).
Leopard Frog, Rana halecina (Kalm).
Wood Frog. Rana sylvatica (Lee).
Tree Toad. Hyla versicolor (Lee).

Urodella — Lizards

Yellow Spotted Salamander. Salamandridae maculoso
(Baird).

Symmetrical Salamander. Diemictylus miniatus
(Ra/.).

Water-Heat. Diemyctulus viridesceus (Raf.).

Red-backed Salamander. Plethodon erythronotus
(Baird).

Painted Salamander. Desmognathus fusca (Baird).

CHAPTER XII

NATURAL niSTORY SKETCHES

FROM among the many articles recording his obser-
vations upon natural history subjects that were
contributed by Mr. Boardman to the special journals and
magazines devoted to ornithology and natural history as
well as to the local newspapers, a few have been chosen
as representing the minuteness of his descriptions and
his graphic and interesting style. These published
sketches extend to many scores, all of which are equally
entertaining while but few can be used in this volume.
The minor notes originally contributed to The American
Naturalist and to Forest and Stream are reproduced
with their dates of publication as forming a record of the
time when such were made public.

Wintej- Life in Florida

The first consideration to the winter visitor to Florida
is the climate, which is delightful. I do not think so
agreeable a place can be found in the United States. I
am not so good a judge of the winter climate of Cali-
fornia, having spent but one winter there, and think the

324 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

climate of Florida much more dry, five daj^s out of six
bright and cloudless ; three, four and five weeks at a
time, clear and bright, and of most agreeable tempera-
ture, and even as far north as Palatka there are gener-
ally but two or three nights in the whole winter that ice
is formed. Rain rarely falls, and this is the great charm
of winter climate and enables the sportsman to be com-
fortable in his tent, when in Georgia, Texas or Cali-
fornia, he would wish himself in the hotel. The whole
coast, east and west, swarms with fish and of a very
fine quality ; pompano, sheepshead, grouper, red-fish,
king-fish, Spanish mackerel, mullet, turtle, and such
oysters — for flavor and size they beat anj'thing to be
found North. The St. Johns river is also full of fish.
Shad are plenty all winter and in the upper parts of the
river black bass were so plenty as to often jump into our
boats, and eight to ten pounders are very common.
Game, except quail, is getting scarce about the larger
places ; but you have only to go into the country to find
abundance of deer and turkey.

When I commenced, I intended from my experience
to tell of a more pleasant way to spend winters in Florida
than Mr. Beverly's (provided you have money enough),
and without costing near as much as to live at the hotels,
have a better table and lots of fine sport and withal, the
most comfortable and pleasant way a company of gentle-
men can spend winters in Florida. I,et a half dozen
good fellows get up a light-draft stern-wheel steamer, to
draw about twenty inches of water — just such a boat as
the little Clifton, so well known on the St. Johns river
for several years. The writer was on board of her for
two winters. She cost about $4,000, built and fitted up

NATURAIv HISTORY SKETCHES 325

at Philadelphia, was used four or five winters as a pleas-
ure-boat and then sold for a ferry-boat without much
loss. Three men made up the crew. The whole expense
was about $15 each day, which, divided among six, was
not high for such fishing and hunting as we used to get ;
and such bird suppers as Reuben could get up I never
expect to see again. This boat was built by a party of
gentlemen from Clifton Springs, New York, and run
down from Philadelphia. One could be got up much
cheaper now, in Jacksonville. Such a boat can go to the
upper waters of the St. Johns, above where hunters go,
and where game is plent3^ The St. Johns is a wonder-
ful river, and one of great magnitude, and it has always
been a wonder to me where so much fresh water comes
from. It runs from south to north, is over 300 miles
long and in many places is very near the coast. It
appears more like a beautiful chain of lakes for more
than a hundred miles from its mouth, and will average
nearly two miles wide, for that distance. The tide is
felt as far up as Palatka and, what appears singular,
when it is high water at the mouth of the river it is
low tide at Jacksonville. Visitors should always go up
as far as Enterprise, to see the beautiful lakes and won-
derful springs. We could not get the Clifton much above
Lake Winder. A floating island covered with willows
had drifted across the channel and we could only get
up in small boats to Eake Washington. We found Lake
Winder a fine place for game ; deer and turkeys were
very abundant and more snipe than we had seen in
Florida. We also found many birds which we did not
see about Lakes Harney and Jessup. The carrocca eagle,
in full, light plumage, was common ; also the purple

326 THE NATURALIST OF THK ST. CROIX

gallinule, coast bittern, yellow-crowned night heron;
and we found many extensive breeding places. This is
the home of the alligators, and they used to trouble us
by getting our birds as they fell into the water before
we could get to them. Sport can be had with alligators
by baiting a shark hook with a coot, or some other bird.
Fasten the end of the rope to the top of a small tree that
bends well and in the morning you are almost sure to
find one hooked. If a large one, you can only pull him
into the bank ; if a small one, keep away from his tail,
or teeth, and to get your hook, after you are done play-
ing with him, you must shoot him. In their stomachs
you will most always find a roll of feathers, fish and
often large moccasin snakes, and they sometimes eat one
another. I have seen one eight feet long in a large
one's mouth. Favorite birds for our party to shoot were
the white-plumed cranes, egrets, snowy herons, for their
plumes ; and we could make quite good collections of
Florida bird skins. The steamer had two small boats,
so we could go up the small creeks ; and we explored
most every lake and stream on the river. Although we
were so far south, we had no trouble with insects. All
the windows had wire gauze and we were careful to
keep the doors shut. Our sleeping accommodations and
our dining room were very good. The boat would run
about ten miles an hour and we would change our loca-
tion very easily. We found moccasin snakes very abun-
dant in the upper country, but had no trouble with
them. We saw very few rattlesnakes. One of our
party, Mr. Rice, at I,ake Jessup, shot a white heron that
fell into the water near the shore. He saw a large alli-
gator start for the bird and Rice thought he could get

NATURAI. HISTORY SKETCHES 327

the bird before the alligator, which he did, and threw
the bird over his shoulder, the alligator following ; and
as he reached the bank the alligator struck his legs, but
did him no damage. I have made this paper too long,
and can recommend for real comfort such a cruise.
Such a steamer, after going up the St. Johns river could
be taken around to St. Augustine, and so down to Indian
river, and the expense less than to live at the hotels.

The Woodcock's Whistle

I have been much interested in all your woodcock bird
whistle papers, and as my experience has extended over
more than half a century of woodcock shooting (and
many seasons' shooting I have bagged from 100 to 150
birds) and the bird always interesting me, I have spent
many pleasant hours in studying its habits in spring as
well as in fall and summer shooting, I want you to put
down my vote to the wing theory.

I know the bird has a little mouth talk, or note, which
I have often heard when the birds were mating and
strutting on the ground in the spring, and the same note
I have heard often from the old bird when I have been
catching the young chicks ; but the sound or note is not
the same as the whistle of the continuous-flying, fuU-
plumaged bird, and I have so often had the slightly
wounded bird in my hand, and held by the bill or feet,
make, as I am sure, the same whistling with his wings,
that I cannot be mistaken ; and the bird when not in
plumage, held the same way, does not make the whistle.
I know we do not all hear, see or think alike ; but any
person who will take a full-plumaged woodcock that is
lively, hold it by the bill or feet and let it have full use of

328 THE NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX

its wings, cannot but be convinced the whistle is made
with the wings.

Audubon should be pretty good authority, and he
records the noise as made by the wings ; and among all
my bird acquaintance I do not remember one bird that
has a continuous mouth note when flying, but very many
have a wing whistle when flying, such as the golden-eye
duck, whistling swan and many others, that can be heard
a long distance. The drumming ruffed grouse, noise of
the wings of the flushed quail and many others talk with
their wings as well as their mouths.

SyiaTces in Florida

I do not think your correspondent " Anti Snake" need
to be so much afraid of rattlesnakes in Florida. I have
done considerable camping, tramping and hunting in the
seventeen winters I have spent in Florida, but I have
never lost a dog nor seen a live rattlesnake in the woods
or swamps of this State. I walk through the swamps,
scrub palmetto or grass without ever thinking of snakes ;
and in the seventeen years have only known of two per-
sons to have been bitten by rattlers ; one a Mr. Babcock,
at Pine Island, Charlotte Harbor, and the young English-
man killed this winter at Halifax River. He saw the
snake and struck at it with a stick, when it struck back
and hit him. It doesn't do to play with them.

What is called the moccasin snake or cotton-mouth
here, is very abundant in the water and swamps in the
southern part of the State, but not much feared or con-
sidered very dangerous like the rattlers.

I was once shooting from a boat in south Florida when
the bushes pulled out one of our rowlocks (quite a loss

NATURAI. HISTORY SKETCHES 329

when we could get no other) . I proposed to our colored
man ' ' BiU' ' that he take off his shoes and pantaloons and
feel for it with his toes, in the water about three feet deep.
He dropped out of the boat and stepped upon a big moc-
casin snake. He gave an awful yell, and as he came out
had an enormous snake twined about his naked legs. As
soon as he was out of the water it unwound and went
away. Bill was sure he was bitten, and I thought he
looked very pale for a black man, but I could find no bite
or damage. It was several days before he got over the
shock, and the rowlock was never found. The moccasin
snake keeps in or near the water all the time, and the
fires that run all over the country do not kill them, but
the rattlesnake keeps most always upon the dry land, and
most of them are burned up in the long grass and scrub
palmetto.

I only know of three poisonous snakes in Florida or
United States : The rattlesnake, moccasin and coral
snake. The last is a small, very pretty snake, and not
dangerous unless you handle it. The rattlesnake of the
Southern States is a very large and dangerous reptile, but,
as I have said before, a very rare snake and seldom seen.

Tree Nesting Ducks

I have been interested in reading what Mr. Mather and
others say about tree ducks, and thought perhaps the
experience of an old bird and ^^^ collector might inter-
est the readers of your natural history column. Fifty
years ago we used to have six different tree ducks breed-
ing on our river : Barrows, golden eye and the buffle
head {albeola) rare, but the common golden eye, the
American merganser, hooded merganser and wood duck

330 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

abundant. About fifty years ago pickerel were put into
our waters, which soon put an end to most of our wild
ducks breeding, as the pickerel eat up all the chick ducks
except in the few lakes or ponds that were free from
pickerel. Near to Calais are several ponds and lakes
that are free from those fish, and the tree ducks bring
their young to those lakes for safety.

I was at the Keudrick Lake, and a lad that lived near
by was with me. A duck (whistler) came flying low
toward us, when the lad threw up his hat with a shout,
when the old duck dropped a young one that fell near
us that was at least ten days old. The old one went
for it so quickly I almost lost it, but I got it and put
it in my pocket for a specimen. We were near the
lake and the old duck also, when we saw she had four
others in the water. The boy said if we keep quiet
she will go away and bring others, or if she is afraid
of us very much she will take those across the lake or
to the other lake. They were getting near to some
water grass, when the old duck made a flutter, caught
one and went across the lake ; it was hardl}' two minutes
before she returned and took another.

I don't think she took them by her mouth, and the
one she dropped, if it had been in her mouth we should
have seen it. Mr. Eastman, father of the lad, said they
often took their young from one lake or river to another
if they thought them in danger, and said he had seen
them bring the young from the nest to the water and
then in their bills, or to go any distance, or if they are
any size carry them pressed to the bodj^ by the feet,
and the boys often by a shout made them drop their

NATURAI. HISTORY SKETCHES 331

young. They brought me several different kinds after-
ward, wood duck, whistlers and hooded mergansers, but
no young of the large merganser.

Many years ago I was up to Grand Lake Stream
salmon fishing, when I saw a large duck fly into a hole
high up in a large birch tree. The log drivers said it
was a sheldrake and had nested there many years. I
was anxious to see what kind of a merganser it was.
After the log drivers' day's work was done one of them
by driving spikes managed to get up. The old bird flew
out, and he brought down one egg and said there were
seven more. I then got the man to arrange a noose
over the hole and the next morning we had the old bird
hung by the neck and the eight eggs were new to
science. The log drivers said they had seen the old bird
bring down the young in her bill to the water. Several
years later Mr. John Krider of Philadelphia went with
me to the same tree and collected the eggs. He was a
well-known collector. Mr. Audubon was mistaken in
his account of the nesting of this merganser since he
describes it as nesting on the ground among rushes, in
the manner of the serrator, having a large nest raised
seven or eight inches above the surface.

On one of my collecting trips my attention was called
by the log drivers to a singular contest between two
ducks ; it proved to be a female wood duck and a female
hooded merganser, for the possession of a hollow tree.
Two birds had been observed for several days contesting
for the nest, neither permitting the other to remain in
peaceful occupancy. The nest was found to contain
eighteen fresh eggs, of which one-third belonged to the
merganser and, as the nest was lined with the down of

332 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

the merganser it appeared probable this bird was the
rightful owner of the premises. I once found a dusky
duck's nest in a cavity of a leaning birch tree about
thirty feet high.

The Winninish of the Saguenay

I have compared the winninish of the Saguenay with
the landlocked salmon of Maine (salmo gloveri) and think
them the same. Some years ago some of the Saguenay
fish were sent to Cambridge. Prof. Agassiz, Mr. Putman
and myself compared them and Agassiz thought them the
same. I have no doubt that the salmo gloveri is quite
common in most of the rivers about the Bay of Fundy,
as well as along the state of Maine, and when taken
have been called the young of the sea salmon.

Unless you have both to compare, it is not easy to tell
the difference. They have been examined as to all their
measurements so scientifically, their markings, etc.,
which I have no doubt you have seen, that it is not hard
to tell the S. gloveri from the true salmon. The number
of vertebrae differ— fifty-nine in the salmon to fifty-seven
in S. gloveri, a double row of small teeth in the vomer
of the young salmon, a single row in the .smolt of the
gloveri.

Some of our English fishermen thought our fish the
same as the European S. Trutta a S. cambricas. Some
specimens were sent to Dr. Gunther, F. R. S., of Eng-
land, who pronounced them different and nothing to do
with the sea salmon. I do not understand how they ever
got the name land-locked salmon, as they always had
access to the sea, and in my boy days S. gloveri was

NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES 333

common to the tide waters and more often taken as far
down as there were fish weirs.

They have been identified in several of our Maine
rivers, also in Lock Lomond and Mespeck, N. B., in Nova
Scotia, in St. John's Lake, Grand Lake, Salmon River
and Pockwock Lake, and I have no doubt it will be found
in many of the rivers of clear water coming into the St.
Lawrence, and when caught are called young salmon.
I have seen specimens of S. gloveri caught on our rivers
that weighed ten or twelve pounds. The large fish
seldom take fly or bait, but keep in the deep water.

Strange Ways of Bears

Bears are queer animals and the ways of the wild
female almost past finding out. There is an old expres-
sion of Pliny's, "licked into shape." Walsh explains it
as having arisen out of an early superstition that a bear's
cub is born an amorphous mass and is licked into shape
by the dam. The ancients took it as a serious state-
ment of natural truth, Pliny giving the following account
of the phenomenon : "Bears, when first born, are shape-
less masses of white flesh, a little larger than mice, their
claws alone being prominent. The mother then licks
them gradually into proper .shape." Shakespeare, in
Henry VI., Part III., refers to this superstition in the
following lines :

To disproportion me in every part,
Like to a chaos or an unlicked. whelp
That carries no impression like the dam.

There is interesting bear reading by Pallas, Pennant,
Godman and Richardson, but not much about the very

334 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

young bears. Here in Maine and New Brunswick, with
our very cold weather, deep snows rarely fall before the
last of November and bears usually take to their dens
about that time for hibernation. The male bear is easily
satisfied with any kind of a hole, behind the root of an
upturned tree, a hollow cliff, or in the end of an old
hollow log. But not so with the female if she is par-
turient. She selects a very obscure place and makes,
as the Indians say, " a soft feather bed of fir branches."
Our bear hunters and Indians all attest to the truth of
the deep privacy of the female in denning and it is not
often that her den is found. It is a maxim with our bear
hunters and woodsmen that no one has ever taken a
she-bear with young, and it is said to be a fact that if
disturbed she will always abort. Richardson, quoting
from Pennant, and Godman, both attest to the deep
privacy of the female and to the saying of the Indians
that the female bears went like the wild geese south in
winter. It is said that the female bear is always very
fat in the fall, while the male is wasted by the September
rut. It is said there is seen at times over a bear's den
a kind of sweat or vapor that will condiict a dog or man
to them. They are never entirely unconscious. If you
poke them with a gun or stick they will growl, but
relapse again into repose.

The number of young is usually two, but often only
one, very rarely three or four. The young cubs are
queer, helpless little things when first born, which is
about New Year's day. They are not much larger than a
full grown red squirrel, weigh from eight to ten ounces
and measure from tip of nose to end of hind toe about
ten inches. They are covered by a fine, close black hair

NATURAIv HISTORY SKETCHES 335

upon the back and head, but bluish slate toward the
belly and inside the limbs. The ears are naked, the eyes
closed, the tongue exposed and jaws slightly open, no
teeth, claws large, tail long for its size. After birth the
cub receives but little food and passes the three or four
months in semi-torpor and grows but little until the
parent emerges, and then quite fast. It is singular that
so large an animal, that often weighs four hundred
pounds, should have so small cubs.

In this bear hibernation destroys maternal instinct.
She will always leave her cub to freeze when driven
from her den ; but in April or May keep away from her.
That an animal so highly organized as a bear should be
able to retain not only its vitality, but its animal heat
and its muscular strength for four months, without any
food whatever, is well attested, knowing as we do that
in this time, if there be no supply there is no waste save
perhaps of animal heat.

But when we consider the female, we find there is
waste and no supply. The material for a second life and
its growth must be taken from an accumulated fund.
An atmosphere saved only by the animal heat of the
mother from that without the den often down to zero and
a torpid mother await this blind-born, feeble offspring.
By some instinct it is led to the mamma, where, like
certain marsupials, it retains a firm hold on the nipple,
and now a change comes over the still torpid parent in
the increase of the lacteal glands to secrete milk ; and a
wonderful fact is that no food is taken by the parent
during both operations. And how wonderful the polar
bears, whose retreat must be doubled in length and
severity by the arctic latitude and ice-formed den.

336 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

I have found great trouble in getting specimens of
very young bears. The hunters, always in a hurry to
get their bear bounties, take them to the treasurer for
the money and he cuts off the nose from the skin of the
old one and the whole head of the little ones. In my
many winters in the South and in California, where
bears do not den, I have never been able from the
hunters to find one, nor ever had seen one until it was
old enough to follow the mother.

The Big Woodpeckers

"Red Wing" wishes some one having acquaintance
with the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campe philus princi-
palis) to send a note to the Forest and Stream. This
bird, now quite rare, was not uncommon in all the large
swamps in Florida, from Lake Washington to St. Mary's
river. It was more abundant up the Wekiver, a small
stream below Sanford, but used to be common about
Lake Jessup and all the large swamps on the west coast,
but of late so many shooters and bird collectors go south
that they have nearly exterminated many very interest-
ing birds.

But a few years ago the little Carolina parrot or
paroquet was very abundant all over Florida. Now they
are not seen. The ivory-billed woodpecker is easily
found, if you know its note, which it utters continually
as it ascends the tree, but I have never heard any sound
when flying. As soon as it alights, at nearly every leap
commences its loud, queer note, repeated three times —
pate, pate, pate — and this can be heard a long way and
often leads to its destruction.

NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES 337

I have never taken their eggs. They breed in large
high trees and are not easily obtained. Capt. Brock, at
Lake Jessup, a few years since, told me of a pair he
thought were breeding, but a look at the tree and hole
was sufficient. We did not get the eggs, but both birds
were secured. They were not inclined to leave the tree
and we thought they must have eggs or young ; and this
was early in March. Mr. Maynard of Boston collected
seven or eight on the west coast of Florida in the winter
of 1883-84 and I had two sent me from near Palatka. A
smaller bird of this variety is found in the West Indies
and a larger one in Mexico.

Bird Study

Interest in bird lore is being stimulated among Calais
students, teachers and would-be naturalists, and I have
been asked by a lady teacher to write a Bird Study paper
for some preliminary work. As early spring is the time
to begin watching the birds, while in their migrations,
some hints on the subject may now seem quite apropos.

Birding is a pastime akin to hunting. It affords entirely
as much freedom, equal opportunities to draw near to
nature, as many hazards to call into play nerve and
fortitude, and chances for acquiring quite as much know-
ledge. The chief difference is that one necessarily
involves bird slaughter, the other must embrace the not-
ing of facts. I might say it is essentially a pastime for
woman. Her nature craves the recreation of hunting,
but, on account of her delicate sympathies, not from lack
of nerve, she shrinks, as a rule, from the use of the gun.
She can, however, endure and even enjoy the hazards,

338 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

and can make lier note book more than tally with any
sportsman's gaming bag.

Birds are now — May 25, 1899 — fast coming and
leaves afford less chances for cover than later. Prepara-
tory to setting out she might acquaint herself wnth certain
facts pertaining to her field of investigation. Lists of
the bird migrants she may expect to arrive, a bird manual
of the birds of her locality or state, at the library, may
be very helpful. Also, a few trips to a museum to
familiarize herself with the lists. An opera glass and a
note book, in the way of equipments, are quite indispen-
sable, and she may, if she does not mind the extra
luggage, take along some bird book, but this is not
necessary. A small boy or a congenial companion, or a
dog, if he be the right sort, as a bugbear to impudent
vagrants or uncertain cattle w^hich may cross her path.
The next thing is a choice of a wood or field for activity,
but this is sometimes quite a problem. Birds are erratic
in their choice of stopping places, and the point to find
out is w^here they hold forth. But, as this is the age of
bicycle riding, distance does not count. One of my
favorite woods used to be the St. Stephen rural cemetery,
and Mr. Almond's smiling face was always ready to
welcome me, however early I might get there. Hon. G.
F. Hill's woods, out on the valley road, was another
good place where I found birds to congregate. At Mill-
town, St. Stephen, out back of Mr. Roy's, back of Todd's
mountain, so called, and in the Butler pasture and up
about ' ' burned hill' ' road. The more the beginner moves
about, unless she is absolutely certain of her ground,
the better is her chance of finding something.

NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES 339

One of the most important things to learn is the note
or song of the bird. It would be hard to imagine what
a spring would be without the songs of birds; spring
would lose one of her greatest charms if there were no
vSong birds. The best part of a bird is its song. The
cedar bird is beautiful, but has no song and is no favor-
ite. One of the first June birds we hear in the woods is
the red-eyed fly-catcher and you hear his note all day,
rain or shine. Another quite common is called golden
crown thrush, but which, I think, should be called a
warbler. It has a sharp note that sounds like "teacher,
teacher, teacher," and at times a far rarer song, like
some of the finches. In the song of the robin there is
something military ; in that of the bobolink, hilarity ; in
that of the cat bird, pride.

But I enter the woods and, while listening to the lesser
songsters, a strain has reached my ear from out of the
depths of the forest that to me is the finest sound in
nature — the divine soprano of the hermit thrush. The
river drivers call it the nightingale, as it sings in the
night. You often hear it a long way off, sometimes a
quarter of a mile away, where only the stronger and
more perfect parts of his music reach you and through
the general chorus of warblers and finches you detect
this sound, rising pure and serene as if a spirit from
some remote height was slowly chanting a divine accom-
paniment. The song appeals to the sentiment of the
beautiful and suggests a serene, religious beatitude as
no other sound in nature does.

Although this bird sings at nearly all hours of the
day, it best appears in the evening song. The note is
very simple and sounds like this: "O spheral, spheral,

340 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

O holy, holj', O clear away, clear away, O clear up, clear
up ! " interspersed with the finest trills and most delicate
preludes, as if the little creature were praying for the
bright sunny days of midsummer. It has not a proud
strain like the mocking bird or tanager, it suggests no
passion or emotion ; but its note seems to be the voice
of that calm, sweet solemnity one attains in his best
moments. A bird collector, I am sorry to say it was I,
shot one while singing. I opened its beak and found
the inside yellow as gold. I was almost prepared to find
it inlaid with pearls or diamonds, or to see an angel
issue from it. All the thrush family are fine singers, but
the hermit thrush the best of them all.

During the last of Ma3' and early days in June is the
time for the student of ornithology to study the birds.
They are then nesting and in full song and plumage.
We little suspect when we walk in the woods, or even
under the large trees of our sidewalks, whose privacy we
are intruding upon — that over our heads are rare and
elegant visitants from Florida, Central America and the
islands of the seas.

The birds of the family Turdidae, the thrushes, belong
to the highest rank of bird intelligence and to the first
rank among song birds. Our common robin, though
not a wonderful songster like the hermit thrush or the
" veery," called the Wilson's thrush, the blue-bird, with
its sweet warble and the brown thrush, in some parts
called the mocking bird (the two last named seldom
making their appearance so far north as Calais), is often
classed with the thrushes.

There are five species of thrushes listed among the
birds of Eastern North America; but there are only

NATURAI. HISTORY SKETCHES 341

three species the ordinary observer will be likely to
notice in this latitude and of these the robin is the only
species that attracts general attention. The robin is
well known from I^abrador to Mexico and by the same
name. The other two of the five are not familiar in the
haunts of man and seldom are heard in town.

The Wilson thrush, or " veery," has queer unearthly
notes to its song, which I cannot describe. It is thought
by some to be the peer of all thrushes, but I do not think
so. It is a little larger than the hermit and about the
size of the largest English sparrow. The hermit is the
smallest of all. All have brown backs and white breasts,
speckled with dark brown spots. The hermit thrush is
reddest on the tail, and his breast is finely spotted. The
"veery" has a tawny or reddish brown back without
any change of color at the head or tail, and is slightly
spotted on the sides of his breast. The hermit builds a
nest in the depth of the dark woods, on the ground, of
moss, coarse grasses, pine needles and other materials of
this kind that can be found in the woods ; the " veery"
about the same.

Birds are of inestimable value to mankind. Without
their unremitting services our gardens and fields would
be laid waste by insect pests. But w^e owe them a greater
debt even than this, for the study of birds tends to
develop some of the best attributes and impulses of our
nature. Among them we find examples of generosity,
unselfish devotion, of the love of mother for offspring
and other estimable qualities. Their industry, patience
and ingenuity excite our admiration ; their songs inspire
us with love of music and poetry ; their beautiful plumage
and graceful manners appeal to our esthetic sense ; their

342 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

long migrations to distant lands stimulate our imagina-
tions.

Some of the waders and phalaropes breed in northern
Labrador and winter in Patagonia, going a hundred
degrees of latitude, fall and spring ; and tempt us to
inquire what are the causes of those wonderful periodic
movements ; and, finally, the endless modifications of
form and habits by which they are enabled to live under
most diverse conditions of food and climate — on land
and at sea — invite the student of nature into fields
inexhaustible of pleasurable research.

Minor Notes on Natural History

I have lately obtained a black specimen of the common Red
Squirrel. It was killed at Letang, New Brunswick, where neither
the Gray nor the common Black squirrel are known to occur. —
American Naturalist, volume 1, page 53.

How does it happen that we find the Black Guillemot, Uria
grylle (Lath.) in full black plumage all winter? All our works on
Natural History tell us they change to white or gray in winter,
but I often get specimens which are black in raid-winter. IMay it
not be that only the young are light in winter? I can hardly
think it possible some would remain black and others change ; I
can see no difference between my dark winter and summer speci-
mens. — American Naturalist, volume 1, page 53.

A correspondent of the American Naturalist inquired in the
number for November, 1867: "Can you inform me wliat is the
use of the comb-like formation on the inside of the middle claw of
the Night-heron, the Night-hawk and Whippoorwill ? Is it peculiar
to night-birds?"' This inquiry was referred to Dr. T. M. Brewer
who referred it to Mr. Boardmau, who writes that INIr. Boardman
answered it in a very satisfactory manner. Tlie peculiar " forraa-
ation," says Mr. Boardman, is used by the birds to clean their
heads and such portions of their neck, back, etc., as they cannot

NATURAIv HISTORY SKETCHES 343

reach with their bills. He often finds them containing feathers,
down, dead skin, etc. — American Naturalist, volume 1, page 498.

Mr. G. A. Boardraan of Milltown, Me., writes us (November,
1868) that he collected the nests and eggs of the following birds
in the spring of 1868: Goshawk, Canada Jay, White-winged
Crossbill, Pine Finch and the Pine Grosbeak. — American Natural-
ist, volume 3, page 222.

In the June (1868) Naturalist, Mr. Tripp in his interesting
article, states that the Tennessee warbler is not found in New
England, or only as a straggler. With us it is one of our very
common warblers, and I can collect half a dozen almost any
morning about the twentieth of May. A few remain through the
season. — American Naturalist, volume 3, page 222.

In the August (1868) Naturalist you ask if, like Mr. Pope,
anyone has observed Wilson's Snipe on trees? This is not an
uncommon habit of the bird, when you are taking its nest or
catching its young ; but I have never observed it at any other time.
Of our sixteen species of ducks, I have observed the same thing in
all but two, when trying to catch their young. — American
Naturalist, volume 3, page 222.

In the American Naturalist, Vol. 3, page 331, Mr. H. A. Purdie,
writing of Mr. Boardman's statement that the Tennessee warbler
was very abundant in his locality, says : "This fact is very inter-
esting. It shows how irregular is the distribution of some of our
birds. This species seems to be one of a class of birds which,
though quite rare in other parts of New England, are not at all so
in southeastern Maine, reaching that region, I presume, by way of
the St. Lawrence and central IVlaine water route."

In the August (1868) Naturalist, A. R. Y. mentions that the
Pied or Labrador duck was shot on Long Island last winter. I
would be much obliged to A. E. Y. if he would let me know if the
specimens shot were fuU-plumaged males and who has them.
This is a very interesting bird to the naturalist, from the fact of
its being so rare, and I had almost begun to think the bird had
left us, as I had not heard of a full-plumaged male Ijejng taken
for ten years. I have been shown two which were taken for the

344 THE NATURALIvST OF THE ST. CROIX

youucr, but one was a young albino Scoter and the other I did not
know. Not many years ago it was a common bird all along our
coast, from Delaware to Labrador; and in the New York market
there would at times be dozens of them ; aud then for a few years
not one. It would be very interesting to know where they have
gone. Though so much has been learned of the distribution,
summer aud winter homes of birds within a few years, their
breeding habits, line of travel north and south, aud from the
numerous collectors who have gone to Labrador, the fur countries
and across the continent; yet not one word is said about the
Labrador duck, a common bird a few years ago. So good a flyer and
diver cannot be extinct like the clumsy Alca impennis (Great Auk),
and any collector who may take a full-plumaged bird, or knows
where they have gone, by letting it be known in the Naturalist,
Avould interest many of its readers. — American Naturalist, volume
3, page 383.

I had sent me (shot in this neighborhood) a good specimen of
the Black Vulture {Cathartes atratus), the first one I ever knew
so far east; aud also a fine specimen of the Purple Gallinule,
GalUnula wiarJintca. — American Naturalist, volume 3, page 498.

Mr. G. A. Boardman of Calais, Me., writes that he found
several flocks of the Ring-neck Duck {Fulix collaris) breeding on
the river, near Calais, the past season and that he secured the old
and " chicks." He states that he knows of no other instance of
this duck breeding iu New Englaud. —American Naturalist,
volume 5, page 121.

I found a mocking bird {Minus polyglottus) iu the woods up
the river this past season. This is the first time the bird has been
found in Maine, to my knowledge, and I think it could not have
been an escaped cage bird. — American Naturalist, volume 5,
page 121.

I received in November last a very pretty black specimen of
the Sciurus Hudsonius and also a pure white specimen of the same
species. —American Naturalist, volume 5, page 121.

Mr. G. A. Boardman of Calais, Me., writes us that he has a
Florida Gallinule {GalUnula yaleata) that was shot near Calais

NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES 345

this last spring. Also a black Goldeu-wiuged Woodpecker
(Colaptes auratua), black as a grackle aud breeding with a wood-
pecker of the usual color. An albino of the Little Black-headed
Duck (Fulix affinis) has also been added to his collection and he
found a pair of Red-headed Ducks {Aythya Americana) breeding
near Calais. This is the first time he has found the Red-head in
summer. — American Naturalist, volume 5, page 662.

Mr. Geo. A. Boardman of Calais, has had presented to him a
deer's hoof without the cleft which is something of a curiosity,
though how unusual we are not iuformed. — Forest and Stream,
May 27, 1875.

la answer to Prof. Le Conte's question about hybrids in
ducks, I would say I have found the dusky and mallard cross
quite often ; have now three or four mounted in my collection. I
once found a cross between what looked like a red head and pin
tail, and think perhaps such changes are now observed more tlian
in former years. I have found no crosses within five or six years.
I would like to ask If the male mallard does not change its
plumage in summer. They are not common with us. — Forest and
Stream, Dec. 9, 1875.

Woodcock have been more abundant than I have ever known
them, some afternoons would get up a dozen ; very unusual for
East Florida. I wing-tipped a snipe, GalUnago Wilsonii-, it fell
into the water; the dog going to retrieve it, it would dive like a
grebe. I have known the spotted sandpiper to do this, but never
a snipe. They are fast leaving for the north. A quail started to
fly out on the St. John river and lighted in the water; ingoing
for the bird witli a boat, it flew from the water and saved itself;
no stick or chip could be seen. My friend, Mr. Livingston, shot a
large rattlesnake. It had a good sized rabbit in its throat all
covered with saliva; on pulling tlie rabbit out of its mouth it soon
ran away apparently uninjured. I saw the first pui-ple maitiu,
Progne purpura, February 2d ; have seen them come to the boxes
in Jacksonville the 11th February ; this year they are a little late.
The only swallow we see here in winter is the wliite-bellied,
Hirundo bicolor. — Forest and Stream, March 15, 1877.

34G THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX

Workmen cutting logs on Lee river, Vt., in February, 1878,
found a nest and young of the Crossbill. This is not unusual as
Mr. Boardraan has found them breeding in winter in the vicinity
of Eastport, Maine. — Forest and Stream, March 7, 1878.

On May 29, 1880, Mr. Gordon Plummer of Brookline, Mass.,
shot in that town a beautiful specimen of the adult male blue
Grosbeak. This is believed to be the only specimen of this species
ever taken in Massachusetts. None previous to this has ever
been recorded. We have the record of one specimen only, taken
in New England, which was shot in Maine nineteen years ago and
is now in the possession of Mr. George A. Boardraan, the eminent
ornithologist. — Forest and Stream, June 24, 1880.

AVhen up in northern Dakota this fall, I was told by a herder
of a very curious eagle's nest, composed largely of buffalo ribs,
which I went to see. It was upon a hillock, and could be seen a
long distance off". There were about forty ribs, one end of each
turning up, then filled in with nearly a cart load of turf and
rubbish. It had been used this year, and looked as if it had been
used many years. Saw no birds as thej- had left, so could not tell
the species, but the large buffiilo ribs in the foundation of a bird's
nest looked very strange. — Forest and Stream, Dec. 28, 1882.

I saw a few weeks ago an interesting paper from Byrne about
vultures, and perhaps it would interest him and others to know
liow far north the black vulture occurs. Last September, when
shooting in northern Dakota, about twelve miles north of Sanborn,
I saw quite a large number of birds I supposed to be the common
turkey buzzard, aura, but, one coming near, I saw it to be the
short tail species, atratus. Soon another came near, which I shot,
as I wanted to be sure there was no mistake about its being a
black vulture. The bird did not appear to have any of the strong
smell I have found in the specimens taken in the South. I have
also found the bird in the East, nearly the same parallel, in north-
ern Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where aura is very
seldom found. The turkey buzzard is common about Lake Minue-
tonka in summer, but I never have seen atratus in Minnesota and
was much surprised to find the bird in Dakota. In regard to the
way buzzards sustain a flight so long, soaring in the air without

NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES 347

any visible motioa of the wings, may it not be on something of the
principle of a kite? The string, of course, holds the kite; but the
bird has intelligence and by a certain curve of its wings and tail
throws a weight upon the body and causes a purchase upon the
air, as the string to the kite. Hawks were very abundant in
Dakota in September. They appeared to be migrating by the
hundreds. Marsh, rough-legs and Swainson's were most numer-
ous.— Forest and Stream, March 8, 1883.

The cold winter north sent to Florida great numbers of wood-
cock, to the joy of the shooters. Quail have been quite numerous
and the gardeners now complain that they take more strawberries
than the robins north. The Everglade Kite has been making us a
visit near Jacksonville this winter. Three are now in the taxider-
mist's hands, taken near here. — Forest and Stream, April 10, 1884.

When in Minneapolis, Minn., a short time since, I saw in Mr.
Tappan's taxidermist shop the skin of a black lynx (Lynx rufus).
It was killed In South Florida the winter of 1885. I have seen
very dark and nearly black wolf skins in Florida, but never before
saw or heard of a black lynx. It is to be sent to the National
Museum, Washington. — Forest and Stream, Sept. 23, 1886.

A boy has sent me an English starling shot here with some
redwings. I saw some imported ones were let out at Central Park
last spring. This may be one of tliem come north. — Forest and
Stream, Aug. 22, 1889.

After some years we are this summer having some of our old
acquaintances in the way of wild pigeons. Several flocks have
been about, and I hope they may again become abundant. —
Forest and Stream, Sept. 5, 1889.

As Mr. Seth Gerry of Eobbinston (about twelve miles below
Calais) was milking his cows in the yard on Wednesday evening,
a large bull moose made its appearance among the cows. They
did not appear the least alarmed. Mr. Gerry shot the creature
from his ;house window. Not often does such large game come
to a man's j^ard to be shot in such an old-settled neigliborliood as
Eobbinston. The head will be sent to your neighbor, John
Wallace, to be mounted. — Forest and Stream, Oct. 31, 1889.

348 THU NATURAI^IST OF THK ST. CROIX

I thought perhaps some of your readers might like to know
of a new way to study owls. Some friends went out shooting a
day or two ago. One shot at and wounded the wing of a big
Virginia horned owl. He was advised to kill the bird but would
not do so. He was going to study the bird alive, so he put the
big bird down behind him in the blind. Soon a duck came flying
along and he stooped so low in shooting he sat on the owl. The
owl not liking this way of being studied fastened its claws into
his back and refused all attempts to make it let go, and the more
they tried to get him off the harder he pinched, and from the
howling of the man it would appear as if the owl was studying
the man instead of the man studying the owl. The bird had to be
killed before he would let go, and although the man's back may
not be as smooth as usual, and it may be some time before he can
sit down, he knows more about owls than he did. — Forest and
Stream, Dec. 4, 1890.

In writing you the other day the woodcock paper I intended
to speak of the power curlews have of iuflexing the upper bill
same as the woodcock, so as to run along the groove of the lower
mandible and to clean out whatever may be adhering there. Prof.
Baird told me this and a Jamaica man, a Mr. Ilill, said the ibis
also does the same. — Forest and Stream, Jan. 8, 1891,

In answer to your or Mr. Chapman's note about wolves in
Florida, I would say that I purchased winter before last the skin
of a very large black wolf, as black as any bear, killed near Fort
Mears, south Florida. I sent it to the National Museum, Washing-
ton and last winter a skin dealer in Jacksonville had another one,
very dark (but not black), killed down in Lee county, south
Florida. — Forest and Stream, Dec. 3, 1891.

Your cuts of the wild animals have all been very fine; the last
Lynx canadensis, very life-like. This wildcat a few years ago
was very common in our woods and Lynx rufus did hardly ever
occur. Now it is much more abundant than canadensis. About
five years ago a taxidermist, Mr. Tappan, secured a black Lynx
rufus, a very pretty, glossy black animal. I wanted to procure it
for the National Museum, Washington, but as a black Lynx was
something very rare, he did not care to part with it. It was taken

NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES 349

down iuto southwest Florida. I afterward saw him in Minne-
apolis and he consented to send the skin, which he had tanned, to
AVashiugtou as a fur specimen. This wildcat {L. rrifus) is very-
abundant in Florida, but much smaller in size. Hair thin and
coarse even in winter. — Forest and Stream, November 24, 1892.

Woodcock arrive in Maine not long after the arrival of the
robins, or as soon as the ground has been softened by the sunny
days. The female soon builds a poor little nest of leaves upon
the ground, lays four eggs of a dull clay color covered with
brownish spots. The eggs are large for the size of the bird,
nearly as large as the eggs of the partridge. The male assists in
incubation. The young are a funny little downy crowd and will
quicklj' hide under a twig or leaf, while the old bird often takes
them through the air to a place of safety. Twice I have found
the chicks in Florida, so a few breed far south and a few have
been found in winter as far south as Jamaica. I never in my
shooting found them in California. — The Calais Times.

INDEX

Aiken, Charles E., letter of 293

Albinism 120

Albinos, list of 121

Allen, J. A., 34, 47 ; letter of, 54 ; trib-
ute to Mr. Boardman, 144 ; sketch
of, 287.

American Merganser IIG

Backman, Dr 197

Bailey, L. W., letter of 291

Baird, Spencer F., 35, 37, 40, 43, 57,
59, 61, 65, 68, 70, 78, 79, 83, 136,
153, 154 ; death of, 85, 156 ; note
about black robin, 122 ; letters to
Mr. Boardman, 161, 163-174.

Bears, habits of, 127 ; ways of 333

Birds, the Boardman collection, 96 ; of
Calais, first list of, 39 ; of Florida,
list of, 49 ; of St. Croix, list of, 300.

BirdStudy 337

Black Buzzard 115

Black Robin 121, ISO

Black Vulture 177, 346

Blue Grosbeak 346

Boardman Family, history of 3

Boardman, A. J.. 30

Boardman, Charles A 25, 29, 45, 78

Boardman, Frederick Henry 25, 30

Boardman, George A., birth of, 16 ;
marriage of, 21 ; children of, 29 ;
visits West Indies, 32 ; first visit
to Florida, 45 : letter to J. A.
Allen, 48, 54 ; letter to S. F. Baird,
59, 63, 75 ; injury to knee, 73 ; let-
ter to Hallock, 94 ; collection of
birds, 96, 98, 106 ; death of, 97 ;

sale of collection of birds to New
Brunswick government, 102: mem-
ber Congregational church, 136 ;
personal characteristics, 130 ; fond-
ness for reading, 139 ; tributes to,
141 ; membership in learned soci-
eties, 151.
Boardman, Mrs. George A., 25, 132;
death of, 92.

Boardman, Georgianna A 30

Boardman, Gorham 138

Boardman, William B 30, 93

Brewer, Thomas M 285

Brown, N. Clifford, letter of 99

Buffle Head Duck 219

Calais, first settlers of, 13 ; birds of,
list first published, 39.

Capercailzie or Wood-grouse 113

Cliff Swallow 35

Cormorant, Double-crested 234

Coues, Elliott 121,289

Crossbill, breeding in winter 346

Dall,William H., tribute to Mr.Board-

man 150

Dresser, Henry E., 44, 125, 192 ; trib-
ute to Mr. Boardman, 151 ; sketch
of, 249 ; works of, 251 ; letters of,
252-262.
Ducks, Crested European, 114 ; Gold-
en-eyed, 231 ; Labrador, 117, 118,

343 ; Pied, 200 ; Ring-necked, 205,

344 ; Ruddy, 204 ; Tufted, 179.

Duck Hawk 218, 266, 278

Ducks, Tree Nesting 329

Eaton, H. F 21

INDEX

351

Edmunds, Hon. George F 203

Eggs, collection and care of 119

Elliot, D. G., 118,275 ; tribute to Mr.

Boaidnian, 150.

Everglade Kite 347

Fishes, list of 31G

Flewelling, W. P 103, 107

Florida, list of birds of, 49 ; snakes in,

228 ; winter life in, 324.

Florida Gallinule 344

Foster, Dr. Henry 60,90, 91, 190

Fredericton, N. B., city of 108

Frogs, list of 322

Gale, the Saxby 50

Gay, Edward G 113

Glover, P. W 123

Gordon, Arthur H., letter of 291

Grebe, Crested, 230; western 273

Hallock, Charles, 67, 94, 119, 123;

account of Boardman collection,

107 ; sketch of, 281 ; tribute to Mr.

Boardman, 142.
Hawk, Black and Rough-legged, 224,

225, 239 ; Broad-winged, 241.

Heemann, A. L., letter of 295

Henry, Joseph, 43, 46 ; death of 72

Hill, George F 101

Holmes, Ezekiel, letter of 294

Hybrids in ducks 345

Knight, Ora W 118

Krider, John 37, 42

Labrador Gyrfalcon 114

Langley, S. P 126

Lee, Leslie A 139

Library, New Brunswick legislative.. 109

Lizards, list of 322

Lynx Rufus 211, 282, 347

Mammals, list of 319

Marsh Hawk 238

Melanism 120

Messina Quail 113

Minneapolis, birds of . . .74, 76, 77, 82, 247

Moose, shot in farm yard 347

Murchie, James 141

Natural History, attractions of, 67 ;

sketches, 323.

Night Heron 218, 342

Osborne, Henry 124

Owl, Acadian, 223 ; Great Homed,
232 ; Virginia Homed, 348.

Owls, period of incubation 224

Pine Grosbeak 256, 273

Ridgway, Robert, 86, 119, 129 ; letter
of, 87 ; tribute to Mr. Boardman,
150 ; sketch of, 2G2.

Rogers, John F 107

Saxby Gale 56

Saguenay, Winninish of 332

Scientific lists 298

Sclater, P. L., letter of 293

Screech Owl 221

Shell Heap 188, 202

Smithsonian Institution, 71, 81 ; Mr.

Boardman's gifts to, 126.
Snakes, list of, 321 ; in Florida, 328.
St. Crobc, birds of, 300 ; fishes of, 316 ;
frogs of, 322 ; lizards of, 322 ;
mammals of, 319 ; snakes of, 321 ;
toads of, 322 ; turtles of, 321 ; val-
ley, 11.

Tennessee Warbler 343

Toads, list of 322

Todd, William 18, 20

Todd, William F 101, 103,105

Tree Nesting Ducks 329

Turtles, list of 321

Tweedie, L. J 102

Verrill, A. E Ill

Vulture, Black 344

Waite, B. F 17

Wales, Prince of, in Halifax 284

Whipple, Bishop Henry B 77

Wilson's Snipe on Trees 343, 345

Winninish of the Saguenay 332

Winter Life in Florida 323

Wood, Dr. Alphonso 220

Wood, Dr. William, 34, 86, 213 ; col-
lection in ornithology, 216 ; letters
of, 224, 225, 229.-234.

Wood, Mrs. Mary Ellsworth 216

Woodpecker, Three-toed 116, 336

Wood Pewee 273

FROJr the press of Charles 11. Glass & Company, Bangor,
Maiue, in an Edition of Five Hundred Copies, all for
Private Distribution.

JUL I 1953