Vol. XX 

 1905 



^H Deane, Letter of Stvainson to Audubon. ^ I 



It is not practicable here to discuss the causes of these fluctua- 

 tions or to recommend measures for the protection of declining 

 species. This must be left for the final report. 1 It ought to be 

 possible for this association to make its influence felt toward 

 securing such uniform legislation in different States as may be 

 used to check the slaughter of waterfowl and shore birds, which 

 otherwise must result in the extirpation of several species. 



WILLIAM SWAINSON TO JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 

 {A hitherto unpublished letter.) 



BY RUTHVEN DEANE. 



In Dr. Elliott Coues's memorable address delivered at the Fif- 

 teenth Congress of the American Ornithologists' Union, entitled 

 'Auduboniana and other Matters of Present Interest,' 2 he called 

 attention to the fact that the man whom Audubon finally selected 

 to write the technical part of his ' Ornithological Biography ' and 

 ' Synopsis ' was William MacGillivray. He also stated how fortu- 

 nate it was that he had not fallen into the clutches of William Swain- 

 son as a collaborator in that great work, for in 1830 there were 

 negotiations to that end. In ' The Auk ' for 1898 Dr. Coues pub- 

 lished a letter of Swainson to Audubon 3 dated 2nd Oct. 1830, 

 showing conclusively that further attempts to engage in a co- 

 editorship were terminated. 



I have before me another letter of Swainson to Audubon, and 

 while it bears no date, there is a memorandum at the end, in Audo- 



1 The Decrease of Certain Birds and its Causes, with Suggestions for Bird 

 Protection. Annual Report of Mass. State Board of Agriculture for 1904. 

 In preparation. 



2 Bird Lore, Vol. Ill, 1901, p. 9. 



3 William Swainson to John James Audubon (a hitherto unpublished letter). 

 Auk, Vol . XV, 1 898, pp. 1 1 - 1 3. 



