148 



THE OOLOGIST. 



of the inhabitants he met with and also 

 shows that he was much concerned in 

 the natural objects he encountered and 

 especially the birds. The taste which 

 afterwards made his name immortal 

 was gradually being formed, yet the 

 circumstances which hastened the in- 

 spiratiou were soon to follow. From 

 peddler and weaver he became teacher 

 of a country school near Frankford, 

 Pa. From Frankford he removed to 

 Milestown and remained there as teach- 

 er for a number of years, at the same 

 time surveying for the inhabitants 

 dwelling in the vicinity, and thus in- 

 creasing his small income. No occu- 

 pation he might engage in could be of 

 more value to him in view of his future 

 study. Formerly he was deticient in 

 language and education. Now by hard 

 study and application he was rapidly 

 overcoming these faults. He applied 

 himself, closely to his work, acquiring 

 a broad sphere of knowledge and gain- 

 ing more distinction in mathematics. 

 While the occupation of school master 

 was not as exalting as it might be 

 still he manifested no displeasure 

 towards his new line of work. The 

 income from his school was small, but 

 he willingly shared it with his njphew, 

 William Duncan, who was striving to 

 carve a home out of the stubborn wil- 

 derness of Seneca county, Mew York. 

 Wilson himself had an interest in this 

 farm, it being purchased by a loan from 

 his old friend and former employer, 

 John A. Sullivan. Many are the letters 

 that he wrote to his nephew encourag- 

 ing him to bear up with tirmness under 

 his difficulties. He tells them to put 

 up with the rough fare and rough 

 clothing of the country. "Let us only 

 get the place into good order and you 

 shall be no loser by it." How he af- 

 fectionately encourages them, when his 

 own position at the time is far from be- 

 ing the most pleasant in the woi-ld. 

 While stationed at Milestown he under- 

 took a journey of eight hundred miles 



through almost an unsettled country 

 to visit his fi-iend. He returned after 

 an absence of only twenty-eight days, 

 having journeyed entirely on foot. 



From Milestown he removed to 

 Bloomfield, New Jersey, where he 

 taught a village school. Soon after he 

 applied for the position and his ser- 

 vices were accepted as teacher of Union 

 School, in the township of Kingsessing, 

 not far from Gray'sFerry on the Schuyl- 

 kill river. 



We shall hereafter speak of Wilson 

 as an Ornithologist, because it was at 

 this time and upon the banks of this 

 beautiful sti*eam that he received his first 

 definite Ornithological inspirations. 

 It is a peculiar and striking coinci- 

 dence that both he and Audubon were 

 first inspired by the beauties of the 

 feathered inhabitants upon the banks 

 of the same stream. Both have handed 

 down to posterity names that are colos- 

 sal monuments in their chosen science 



It was here that Wilson made the 

 acquaintance of the famous botanist, 

 William Bartram. Their acquaintance 

 ripened into a warm friendship. A 

 friendship that the cold hand of Death 

 alone could dissolve; and alas that was 

 destined to happen too untimelj\ Un- 

 der the immediate tutorage of Wm. 

 Bartram, Wilson gradually saw the 

 curtains drawn away from the face of 

 nature and the obscurities therein mi- 

 nutely revealed. 



Among the Snake Birds. 



By Pericles. 



A winter in Florida is among the 

 pleasantest memories of my life, and 

 the adventures of the season in that 

 sunny quarter, form bright pictures 

 that are frequently brought to my_ 

 mind's eye. Of all the birds that were 

 met with on the trip, there were few 

 which impressed me with their man- 

 nei's and peculiarities, as did the Water 



