1851.] Linnean Society. 131 



the elements of design under David ; but at the age of seventeen he 

 quitted France to return to America, and devoted himself to the 

 study of nature, which had from childhood been his favourite and 

 engrossing pursuit. He was presented by his father with a " planta- 

 tion" on the Schuylkil River, in the State of Pennsylvania, and for 

 nearly twenty years attempted various branches of commerce, but 

 with little success, his mind being wholly intent on rambling through 

 the woods, the lakes and the prairies of the Western World, and 

 delineating the natural objects with which they abound. At length, 

 in 1810, he established a new home for his family in the State of 

 Kentucky, and betook himself entirely to travelling in pursuit of the 

 objects of his ever- increasing predilection. In April 1824, when he 

 had formed a -very large collection of drawings, he visited Philadel- 

 phia, and there became acquainted with Charles Lucien Bonaparte, 

 and with other naturalists, whose commendations of his labours first 

 led to his idea of publishing the materials which he had spent his 

 life in collecting. Over this idea he long brooded ; and finding that 

 it was in vain to think of publication in his native land, he deter- 

 mined to visit England, for which he set sail in 1825 or 1826. He 

 landed at Liverpool, and proceeded through Manchester and Carlisle 

 to Edinburgh, where he was received with the utmost cordiality, 

 and where he commenced the publication of his ornithological 

 illustrations, under the title of ' The Birds of America.' This mag- 

 nificent and costly work was completed in 1838, and contains 435 

 plates of the largest size yet employed for objects of natural history, 

 every bird being figured of the size of life, and the number of figures 

 amounting to 1065. From Edinburgh he proceeded to London, to 

 which city the publication of his work was soon afterwards transferred; 

 and in 1 828, in company with Mr. Swainson, he visited Paris. After 

 spending the winter of that year in England, he set sail for America 

 in the spring of 1829 ; and early in the following year returned to 

 England with his wife. From this time until the completion of his 

 great work he continued to share his time between America and 

 England, making, during his sojourn in the former, numerous jour- 

 neys and voyages into the less known portions of the North American 

 continent, and adding greatly to his stores of ornithological drawings. 

 These journeys supplied many vivid sketches to the illustrative text 

 of his work, which he published separately under the title of ' Orni- 

 thological Biography, or an Account of the Habits of the Birds of 

 the United States of America.' 5 vols. 8vo. London, 1831-1839. 

 In the last-named year he returned to America, which he did not 

 again quit, but busied himself, in conjunction with Dr. Bachman of 



