136 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



eliminate moths. John Le Conte 9 had arrived for a 

 visit, and remained a fortnight. 



From Spencer F. Baird to William M. Baird. 



CARLISLE, May 25 th , 1846. 

 DEAR WILL, 



Is your patience almost exhausted? I would have written long 

 ago but waited until I could give you some account of what was in 

 the big box brought from New York. This I only opened last week, 

 & have but just finished looking over and making out the names. 

 There are a number left undetermined, but I can tell you most of 

 the new species. 



The shooting this spring has been very poor owing to the exces- 

 sive rains which prevented my going out. Could I have gone out 

 as often as I would have wished, I would have had a great many 

 skins prepared, as I got in the way of stuffing faster than ever. I 

 have made skins at the rate of 5 to 9 in an hour, and very good ones 

 too. One afternoon I stuffed 33. The only rarities were two white 

 Crowned sparrows & a few Tyrannula minima, flaviventris, & trailii, 

 & one female Mourning warbler. 



I have made a kind of nominal deposit of my birds in the college 

 museum, & Mr Emory has given me permission to have such cases 

 made as I wish, at the expense of the College. I am having three 

 or four made by a Cabinet maker in first rate style at an expense of 

 about 12 dollars each. They are to be 6^2 feet high, with 6 drawers, 

 each measuring 3 feet, x 18 inches, x io>^ inside. Each drawer to 

 have a tray about 4 inches narrower, so that it may be taken out 

 without the drawer. I have planned the cases so that I will defy 

 any Bug, Moth, or particle of dust to get in. The first is to be finished 

 this week. 



Col. Churchill arrived here on Saturday night, from Texas. 

 He brought me a pretty good skin of that great walking Cuckoo 

 like the one I showed you in Gambel's box at the Academy which 



9 John Le Conte, born in Liberty Co., Georgia, Dec. 4, 1818, 

 died in California, April 29, 1891. He was Professor of Physics 

 and afterward President of the University of California, and the 

 brother of Joseph Le Conte, the geologist. 



