'*LIFE OF WILLIAM MACGILLIVRAY." 173 



kno\\ledge in natural history, especially in ornithology and 

 botany, which can only be done by travelling," and a stUl 

 stranger omission on the part of Mr. MacGillivray if any such 

 references exist and have not been recorded. Two extracts, 

 however, are given which are of great interest, as they refer 

 to the production of the naturalist's " great work," as he 

 rightly termed it, viz., the History of British Birds. The 

 first, which is under date 1818, shows that he was then already 

 contemplating the subject, for he writes : — ■" I have not 

 yet seen an account of the birds of Britain with which I am 

 entirely satisfied, and I have of late been thinking upon the 

 subject." And in the second, written in 1819, on the comple- 

 tion of his arduous journey on foot from Aberdeen to London — 

 during which he subsisted chiefly on bread and water, travelling 

 at one time a distance of 240 miles on an expenditure of 

 twelve shillings — he records the following notes when visiting 

 the collection of birds at the British Museum : — " I do not 

 altogether agree with modern ornithologists, and possibly 

 I may become some day the author of a new system." The 

 story of MacGillivray' s life on his return from London and his 

 residence in Edinburgh, 1820-1831, has already been described 

 by the naturalist in the preface to his Rapacious Birds of Great 

 Britain, and as Mr. MacGillivray has nothing of importance to 

 add we may pass on to the years which comprise his associa- 

 tion with the American naturalist, John James Audubon, 

 and the production of the first three volumes of the History 

 of British Birds. 



MacGillivray' s share in the authorship of Audubon's Ornitho- 

 logical Biographies is now well known, and Mr. MacGillivray 

 duly clironicles the meeting of these two great men in 1830. 

 The following is Audubon's o\vn account of this episode — 

 extracted from his journals in The Life and Adventures of 

 John James Audubon, by Robert Buchanan, 1868 : — " I 

 applied to Mr. James Wilson, to ask if he knew of any 

 person who would undertake to correct my ungrammatical 

 manuscripts, and to assist me in arranging the more scientific 

 part of the ' Biography of the Birds.' He gave me a card 

 with the address of Mr. MacGillivray, spoke well of liini and 

 his talents, and away to Mr. MacGillivray I went. He had long 

 known of me as a naturalist. I made known my business, 

 and a bargain was soon struck. He agreed to assist me, and 

 correct my manuscripts . . . and I that day began to write 

 the first volume." 



This meeting led to a warm friendship between the two 

 men, and amongst the many projects discussed by them was 



