274 Rhoads, Abbot's Birds of Georgia. [j^jy 



The accompanying half-tone illustrations (Plate IV) from two of 

 the best of Abbot's sketches in this series, together with a repro- 

 duction of the artist's signature at end of his letter to George Ord, 



will give a fair idea of his work and his autograph. Owing to the 

 English names of the birds, given by Abbot below each, being 

 written in red ink it was necessary to trace them over carefully in 

 black ink on the prints from which these half-tones were prepared. 

 While this does not materially alter the character of the hand- 

 writing it does not do justice to the neatness and smooth finish of 

 the originals. With some exceptions, to be noted in the check-list 

 of figured birds at the end of this paper, Abbot has aimed to write 

 along the upper margin (or top) of the reverse side of each a repeti- 

 tion of the English name, and below this the binomial, followed by 

 "length" in "inches." This also is written with red ink, which, 

 curiously enough, has the same sort of peculiar sanguine, poke- 

 berry tint which adorns alike the Cardinal, Scarlet Tanager, 

 Purple Finch, and Red-headed Woodpecker! 



It should be stated that the numerical sequence of plates in this 

 portfolio and their consecutive numbering in rather crude lead 

 pencilling is evidently modern and with no regard to system, 

 zoological or artistic, as the quoted list will show. 



Certainly Abbot had no hand in this feature of the collection. 

 That he was* responsible for all the red ink chirography on these 

 sheets is however readily proved by a comparison of it with the 

 handwriting of his fine folio autograph letter to Ord in the archives 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences which was published in full 

 in 'The Auk' (1906, p. 365) by Dr. Witmer Stone. 



In a comparative analysis of the two bird portfolios it will be 

 seen that, of the ninety-two species identified in the De Renne 

 series, there are twenty-seven species not present in the set de- 

 scribed by Faxon. There are also two unidentified hawks, 

 Plates 27 and 59, one of them possibly representing an additional 

 species. These two, for convenience of reference, are designated 



