Audubon's life naturally divides itself into three periods: his youth, which was on the whole a gay and happy one, and which lasted till the time of his marriage at the age of twenty-eight; his business career which followed, lasting ten or more years, and consisting mainly in getting rid of the fortune his father had left him; and his career as an ornithologist which, though attended with great hardships and privations, brought him much happiness and, long before the end, substantial pecuniary rewards. His ornithological tastes and studies really formed the main current of his life from his teens onward. During his business ventures in Kentucky and elsewhere this current came to the surface more and more, absorbed more and more of his time and energies, and carried him further and further from the conditions of a successful business career. J. B. WEST PARK, NEW YORK, January, 1902. CHRONOLOGY 1780 _May 4_. John James La Forest Audubon was born at Mandeville, Louisiana. (Paucity of dates and conflicting statements make it impossible to insert dates to show when the family moved to St. Domingo, and thence to France.) 1797 (?) Returned to America from France. Here followed life at Mill Grove Farm, near Philadelphia. 1805 or 6 Again in France for about two years. Studied under David, the artist. Then returned to America. 1808 _April_ 8. Married Lucy Bakewell, and journeyed to Louisville, Kentucky, to engage in business with one Rozier. 1810 _March_. First met Wilson, the ornithologist. 1812 Dissolved partnership with Rozier. 1808-1819 Various business ventures in Louisville, Hendersonville, and St. Geneviève, Kentucky, again at Hendersonville, thence again to Louisville. 1819 Abandoned business career. Became taxidermist in Cincinnati. 1820 Left Cincinnati. Began to form definite plans for the publication of his drawings. Returned to New Orleans. 1822 Went to Natchez by steamer. Gunpowder ruined two hundred of his drawings on this trip. Obtained position of Drawing-master in the college at Washington, Mississippi. At the close of this year took his first lessons in oils. 1824 Went to Philadelphia to get his drawings published. Thwarted. There met Sully, and Prince Canino. 1826 Sailed for Europe to introduce his drawings. 1827 Issued prospectus of his "Birds." 1828 Went to Paris to canvass. Visited Cuvier. 1829 Returned to the United States, scoured the woods for more material for his biographies. 1830 Returned to London with his family. 1830-1839 Elephant folio, _The Birds of North America_, published. 1831-39 _American Ornithological Biography_ published in Edinburgh. 1831 Again in America for nearly three years. 1832-33 In Florida, South Carolina, and the Northern States, Labrador, and Canada. 1834 Completion of second volume of "Birds," also second volume of _American Ornithological Biography_. 1835 In Edinburgh. 1836