xl LIFE OF WILSON. 



To Mr. Wm. Duncan. 



" Gray's Ferry, May 8th, 1805. 



" I am glad to understand that the plantation is increasing so fast in value, 

 but more so that it is not either Sold or otherwise disposed of at the low rate 

 at which we would have once thrown it away; yet it is the perpetual cause of 

 separating us, which I am very sorry for. I am living a mere hermit, not 

 spending one farthing, to see if I possibly can reimburse ****, who I can see 

 is not so courteous and affable as formerly. I hope to be able to pay him one 

 hundred dollars, with interest, next October, and the remainder in the spring, 

 we shall then be clear of the world ; and I don't care how many privations I 

 suffer to effect that. I associate with nobody ; spend my leisure hours in 

 drawing, wandering through the woods, or playing upon the violin. 



" I informed you in my last of sending Mr. Jefferson drawings of the Falls, 

 and some birds, which I found on the Mohawk, and which it seems have never 

 been taken notice of by any naturalist. He returned me a very kind and 

 agreeable letter, from Monticello, expressing many obligations for the drawings, 

 which he was highly pleased with ; and describing to me a bird, which he is 

 very desirous of possessing, having interested the young sportsmen of his 

 neighborhood, he says, these twenty years, to shoot him one, without success. 

 It is of the size and make of the mocking-bird, ligbtly thrush-colored on the 

 back, and grayish-white on the breast; is never heard but from the tops of 

 the tallest trees, whence it continually serenades us with some of the sweetest 

 notes, and as clear as those of the nightingale. Mr. Bartram can give no ac- 

 count of this bird, except it be the wood robin, which I don't think it is; for 

 Mr. Jefferson says, ' it is scarcely ever to he seen ;' and ' I have followed it for 

 miles without ever, but once, getting a good view of it.'* 1 have been on the 

 look-out ever since, but in vain. If you can hear of such a bird, let me know. 

 I wish you also to look for the new bird which I discovered. It is of the 

 size of the blue jay; and is of that genus — of a dull lead color on the back — 

 the forehead white — black on the back of the neck — the breast and belly a 

 dirty, or brownish white, with a white ring round its neck — its legs and bill 

 exactly the jay's. Pray inquire respecting it, and any other new bird. If 

 they could be conveyed to me, drawings of them, presented to the same dig- 

 nified character, might open the road to a better acquaintance, and something 

 better might follow. Alexander and you, will, I hope, be on the look-out with 



* After many inquiries, and an unwearied research, it turned out that this invisible mu- 

 sician was no other than the Wood Robin, a bird which, if sought for, in those places 

 which it affects, may be seen every hour of tlie day. Its favorite haunts Wilson has 

 beautifully described in its history; but so far from being found always "on the tops 

 of the tallest trees," it is seldom seen in such places, but seems to prefer the horizontal 

 branches, at no great height, especially when piping its exquisitely melodious song. One 

 of its names, the Ground Robin, is derived from the circumstance of its being frequently 

 seen upon the ground. Its song consists of several distinct parts, at the conclusion of 

 each of which it commonly flies a few feet and rests just long enough to continue the 

 strain. A person unacquainted with these particulars, would suppose that he heard several 

 birds, in various quarters, responding to each other, and would find it hard to believe 

 that the whole was the performance of one. 



