INTRODUCTION. 11 
with his own eyes, he complained that in the works 
of European naturalists he could only find “a few 
vague and formal particulars of their size, specific 
marks, &c., accompanied sometimes with figured 
representations that would seem rather intended to 
caricature than to illustrate their originals.” With 
an enthusiasm never excelled, this extraordinary 
man, who came to the United States a poor and un 
friended Scotch weaver, first taught himself, at the 
age of forty years, to draw and colour after nature, 
then applied himself to the study of various branches 
of knowledge, and having acquired the power of wri- 
ting clearly and elegantly, as well as of depicting by 
his pencil what he saw in his rambles, set out to 
penetrate through the vast territory of the United 
States, undeterred by forests and swamps, for the 
sole purpose of painting and describing the native 
birds. During seven years in which he prose- 
cuted this undertaking, he travelled more than ten 
thousand miles, ‘a solitary, exploring pilgrim,” as 
he describes himself. His labours were rewarded 
with no worldly riches or honours, for he had the 
greatest difficulty in procuring subscribers for his 
splendid work ; and whena bookseller at last under- 
took to print and publish it, the only remuneration 
which the author received was a payment for the 
mechanical labour of colouring his own plates. But 
his soul was set upon the one object of his life ; that 
of giving a complete account of one of the most in- 
teresting portions of the works of the Creator, as 
far as the vast continent of North America afforded 
him opportunities for diligent examination. He pas- 
sionately pusued his inquiry into the history of birds. 
In the preface to the fifth volume of his book, he 
says, “to me it appears, that of all inferior creatures, 
Heaven seems to have intended birds as the most 
cheerful associates of man;” and he declares that 
he has “a thousand times turned, with a delight 
bordering on adoration, to the magnificent reposi- 
