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A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE 

 DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Official Organ of the Audubon Societies 



Vol. IV January — February, 1902 No. 1 



Recollections of Elliott Coues 

 Coues as a Young Man 



BY D. G. ELLIOT 



THE youth of most persons who, in later life, may have attained a 

 prominent position in the career — whether scientific or not — that 

 mav have been selected, possesses, doubtless to many, a particular 

 interest, even though perhaps no personal acquaintance with the individual 

 may have been formed. Those who have gained a creditable reputation, 

 whether as facile writers, or independent investigators in science, or as 

 actors in stirring deeds of bravery, or hardships overcome, excite the ad- 

 miration and serve as a stimulant to others to go and do likewise. 



It was probably impelled by some such thought as that just expressed 

 that induced the editor of BiRD-LORE to request me to give to its 

 readers a brief account of my recollections of Elliott Coues as a youth, 

 before the ability that was in him had been generally recognized ; and of 

 necessity I may write only of that which is faintly reminiscent, for the 

 mist of years partly hides from memory the days when Coues and the 

 writer were boys together, and the great majority of the letters received 

 from him during his youth, and from which much that would have 

 illustrated his early methods of expression and energetic temperament, 

 have long since been destroyed. Those who knew Coues, even in later 

 life, must have been impressed by the intensity of the interest exhibited 

 by him when speaking upon some subject that was congenial, and which 

 was a matter of daily thought. How the bright eye grew brighter and 

 more penetrating, the attention fixed and earnest, while the well -phrased 

 sentences fell from his lips with a facile flow that was admirable. This 

 faculty, that was noticeable to everyone who listened to him in his prime, 

 was eminently characteristic of him even in his college days, and his letters 

 at that time were remarkable for the keenness of the reasoning exhibited 

 and the ingenuity of the various arguments employed. Good temper in 



