250 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



Mr. Boardman found," says Mr. Dresser in a letter of 

 November 7, 1902, " that I was working at ornithology 

 we became great friends and he helped me a great deal ; 

 for though I knew European birds well, it was then my 

 first experience with American birds." After having had 

 the management of the Lancaster mills for a year, during 

 which time Mr. Dresser installed the new local manager 

 as a change in their operation was necessary, he returned 

 to London. While at Musquash he made two visits to 

 Mr. Boardman. In 1864 and 18G5 Mr. Dresser visited 

 Texas and Mexico, studying the birds of southwestern 

 America, since which time he has not been in this 

 country. He has, however, traveled extensively in 

 Russia, Sweden, Lapland, Greenland and in southern 

 Europe. Mr. Dresser has a beautiful country house, 

 Topclyffe Grange, at Farnborough, R. S. O., Kent, 

 where he formerly resided and where Mr. A.J. Board- 

 man, one of Mr. Boardman's sons, visited him a few years 

 since. He now lives in London, however, where he is 

 engaged in the steel trade, having changed from lumber 

 to steel when he last moved to London — a fact which 

 shows the change in the building trades during the last 

 twenty-five years. In a recent letter Mr. Dresser writes : 

 " In answer to your question I would say that I have 

 no connection with our universities beyond that Prof. 

 Newton of Cambridge is one of my oldest and best 

 friends and we often work together. I am only an 

 amateur ornithologist and, like the smith of Scott's Fair 

 Maid of Perth, " I always fight for my own hand only 

 and love my independence." Mr. Dresser's writings on 

 ornithology have been very important and embrace the 

 following : 



