Audubon the Naturalist: A History of His Life and Time. Vol. 2 (of 2)Herrick, Francis Hobart
History
Audubon the Naturalist: A History of His Life and Time. Vol. 2 (of 2)
Herrick, Francis Hobart
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851
I wish you would ask Trudeau whether _he_ recollects
the specimen of an Eagle send by Townsend in his first
collection, numbering 54 and which the latter has
lost, though he considered it as a new species. It was
procured in California. Townsend speaks sorrowfully of
the loss of this specimen. It never came under my eye,
did it come under yours? Ask Trudeau whether he ever saw
my Hirundo Serripennis in America. Bachman wrote to me
that Trudeau thought he had in the skins of Frederick
Ward. I think Trudeau will be pleased with the anatomy
of our birds, as it opens misteries hitherto unknown
in connection with the relative affinities of some
species toward others and assists in the formation of
groups &c., in what some day or other, will be called a
_Natural arrangement_!
I wish I could have spent a few weeks in Paris with you
and Trudeau, as I readily imagine that some new species
of North American birds, may yet be found there unknown
to the World of Science. I have written to Mr. Chevalier
and to Townsend, but will not, I dare say, hear anything
more of the former until through Victor, who intends to
see him very shortly after his arrival in America.
My Dear Wife is much better than when you saw her, and
I hope that when once again she has been safely landed
on our shores and enjoyed the warmth of our own Summers,
her health will be quite restored.
The _Little_ Lucy has grown as fat as butter, and the
rest of us are well.
We all unite in kindest best wishes to you and to
Trudeau, and I remain as ever, my Dear Friend,
Yours,
JOHN J. AUDUBON.
6 Alva Street.
In May, 1839, Audubon's fifth and last volume of the _Ornithological
Biography_, consisting of 704 pages, was issued. It was followed almost
immediately by _A Synopsis of the Birds of North America_, in which
the efficient aid of MacGillivray was again enlisted. On May 4 Audubon
wrote to Havell that this work was in press and would be ready in about
a month's time; again, on the 30th of June he announced that it was
finished and in the hands of the binder. With this methodical catalogue
of the birds of North America then known and described, to the number
of 491, fifty-two of which were new, Audubon's life and labors in
England were brought to a close.
The introduction to the last volume of his "Biographies" begins as
follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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