ROME _January 10 th 1829_. DEAR SIR, I received in due time your favours of November 3d. & December 21 st. & now come to thank you for them, wishing you or rather expressing to you at the occasion of the renewal of the year, the warm wishes I constantly have for your health, happiness & especially for the success of your work. From the contents of your letter I clearly perceive that one at least of my letters to you must have miscarried. Nothing could be more interesting to me than the narrative of your journey to France, though I had heard from other quarters the good & well deserved reception you met with. Your letter of August 20 th. never came at hand, & it must have been the same with _at least_ one of mine to you. What you mention about _Temminck quite astonishes me_! ... I thought he would have undertaken even a journey to see you & your drawings!!! Please let me know when you write whether the Ornithological Illustrations of Jardine, Vigors & Co are stopped or still going on.—The animals I spoke to you of were reported as delivered to you by Mr Gray of the British Museum who had received them for me from the U. States. Is it not so? ... Corvus Cornix with us is very fond of the sea shore & feeds occasionally on fish, but I never observed it had the singular habits of C. ossifragus at least as described by Wilson. I am surprized at Messrs J B's conduct; I have always found them extremely kind and well disposed towards me; & although we have settled our accounts I had no reason to believe they would refuse our box. However we can do without their interference quite as well, & I hope you have already forwarded the box to Leghorn recommending it to the care of my agent in that port. Messrs F. & A. Filuchs.(?) I shall keep a good lookout for it being extremely anxious to see your new number. I should never have done if I was [to] repeat [to] you all the praise given to your work by our Italian artists & men of science!... I shall merely state that on my part I prefer the plate of Goldfinches to any other, birds and plants, being life itself; & that I am most anxious to see Astur Stanleyi which I strongly suspect to be my Falco Cooperii.... By this time, however you may have been able to ascertain the fact ... please let me know how the thing stands. It is only by your letter that I hear of my work (2 d) being in London: I have not yet seen a copy myself nor did I know positively that it had been published. You must surely have received one _from myself_ at all events, for I directed Messrs Gay & Lea to let you have one of the very first out. Let me know whether you have it & your opinion about it.—I think you are right in going to Russia, especially as in