Between you and I the measurements of different Birds given by Wilson are hardly to be depended upon, as I constantly discover a great deficiency in this part of his descriptions which indeed in some cases are otherwise slack, and given as if when fatigued or vexed. Nay I even think at times that he has copied _Authors_ and not nature? as in the instance of the Oyster Catcher, which I fear he made & figured from a European one in the Philadelphia museum, took the descriptions from _Latham_, and described the Habits of Palliartus which is our own Bird and it seems the only species to be met with in America, at least on our Atlantic coast. Wilson committed the same blunder with the Rallus elegans which he _figured_ and described the habits of the R. capitans for it! I could enumerate more instances of carelessness, but poor Wilson is dead and may God bless his soul! The third volume of his letterpress,[129] which dealt with the water birds of America, made its appearance at the close of 1835; in the introduction he said: I look forward to the summer of 1838 with an anxious hope that I may then be able to present you with the last plate of my Illustrations, and the concluding volume of my Biographies. To render these volumes as complete as possible, I intend to undertake a journey to the southern and western limits of the Union, with the view of obtaining a more accurate knowledge of the birds of those remote and scarcely inhabited regions. On this tour I shall be accompanied by my youngest son, while the rest of my family will remain in Britain to direct the progress of my publication. [Illustration: EARLY UNPUBLISHED DRAWINGS OF AMERICAN BIRDS: ABOVE, "CAPRIMULGUS VOCIFERUS. WHIPPOORWILL FEMELLE. A. W. MAY 7TH, 1812. PENNSA. NO. II"; BELOW, "ROBIN A. WILLSON. TURDUS MIGRATORIUS. LITORNE DU CANADA—MALE—BUFFON—DRAWN BY J. J. AUDUBON JANY. 4, 1807—NEW YORK. NO. 102." Published by courtesy of Mr. Joseph Y. Jeanes.] Audubon returned to London with his family early in 1836, visiting Newcastle, York, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield by the way, and took a house at Number 4, Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square. As Mrs. Audubon's health was anything but good, they were fortunate in having as a neighbor in this street an eminent surgeon, Benjamin Phillips,[130] and this friend was also a subscriber to _The Birds of America_. "Were I to mention," said Audubon,