r.uRNs — AlilXander Wilson. 91 



by a different route. Partini^' with Duncan, who returned to 

 the farm via. Aurora, on the shores of the Cayuga, on the 

 20th of November, Wilson and Leech lodged at the outlet of 

 Owasco lake after wading in the cold stream and washing 

 V^iheirjjgols and pantaloons. At five o'clock the next morning 

 the journey was resumed past the outlet of Skaneateles lake, 

 Onondago Hollow, to INTanlius Square, Wilson falling insen- 

 sibly into a hard step, Isaac groaning a rod or two behind. 

 Wading knee deep in snow or worse in mud, the former sing- 

 ing to drown the latter's complaints and execrations against 

 the vile roads, they left Oneida Castle and Utica behind, fol- 

 lowing the valley of the Mohawk to within fifteen miles of 

 Schenectady, where Leech took the boat. At the latter 

 place they took the stage to Albany. Wilson's boots were 

 reduced to legs and uppers. New York was reached in a 

 sloop via the Hudson, and he reached home penniless on the 

 7th of December, having walked forty-seven miles the last day, 

 and traveled upward of twelve hundred miles in two months. 

 About the time his Foresters appeared in the Poi-tfolio in 

 1809, several prose articles appeared from his pen, signed 

 " W." They were entitled : " On the Study of Natural His- 

 tory, No. 1." Yo]. L June, pp. 511-513; "Queries Respecting 

 the Cowper-Finch of North America," Vol. H, July, pp. 61-62 ; 

 "The Naturalist, No. HL [Article on the Milkweed], August, 

 pp. 119-123; "Answer to theOueries in last Relating to the 

 Cowpen-finch of North America," August, pp. 151-152 ; and 

 " No. I\', Observations on the Nighthawk and Whippoorwill 

 of the Lnited States." Sept. pp. 197-199. His '' Invitation," 

 " The Solitary Tutor " and " A Rural Walk " contain a great 

 deal of nature. In his Scottish verses, with the single ex- 

 ception of " The Disconsolate Wren," he only incidently men- 

 tions the birds : but in America he frequently devotes whole 

 poems to a single species, as the "Hummingbird," " The Ty- 

 rant Flycatcher, or Kingbird," " The Baltimore Bird," " The 

 Fish Hawk, or Osprey," and the best of all " The American 

 Bluebird" ; most of w hich appeared in his American Ornithol- 

 ogy and is accessible to all. Doubtless had the poetry proved ac- 



