I^zj. Deane, Letters from Abert to Audubon. [a"t 



Dear Sir. 



I have sent you a copy of my son's first expedition to the Rocky 

 Mountains. 1 The report of his second, from which he has just 

 returned is, of course, not yet made out. I shall talk to him about 

 the subjects of your letter. 



It was after an examination of your small edition of the birds 

 of America that I considered the Quail a new one. There is cer- 

 tainly nothing like it in that work, unless it be out of place in the 

 book and in that way has escaped my examination. A person of 

 some knowledge in these matters, who has seen the skins, calls it 

 a new bird, but there is no one of sufficient authority to depend 

 upon. 



Yours truly 



J. J. Abert 



J.J. Audubon Esq. 12 April '47 



Dear Sir 



There are two birds brought in by my son which we have not 



yet been able to find described by any one, one is a Quail and the 



other a Sialia? Our examination in reference to the latter, have 



not yet been very thorough. It was only yesterday that the skins 



had got through the thorough preparation you advised in order to 



preserve them. His mamalian skins are now going through a 



similar process. He says he will send them on for your inspection 



when cured and when an opportunity shall offer, the Skunk is a 



singular skin in its markings, and differing from anything that I 



have seen. Yours 



J. J. Abert. 



27 April '47. 

 J. J. Audubon Esq. 



1 Notes on a Military Reconnoissance, from Fort Leavenworth in Missouri, 

 to San Diego, in California. By W. H. Emery, 1848. Appendix No. 6. 

 Notes by Lieutenant J. W. Abert, pp. 386-405. 



2 In the Report of 1848, under date of December 7, 1846, Lieut. Abert writes : 

 "During the morning I was busily engaged in skinning birds, we had eight 

 Mexican blue birds 'sialia occidentalis\ They differ from the blue birds of 

 the United States in having the back brown and the wings tipped with black 

 and are more delicate in their contour." 



