VOl i906" m ] De ane, Letters of J. J. Audubon and S. F. Baird. 319 



give me some general idea of the manner in which I am to assist 

 you & of what particular Genera & Species you wish information 

 or specimens, I will do every thing in my power; for although of 

 course more difficult to find than birds, yet I hope that by increased 

 exertion to make up the difference. What do you think of the 

 Zoological report * presented to the N. York Assembly last winter 

 by Dr. DeKay? He created a great confusion in my brain re- 

 specting classification, which had already become quite muddled 

 by reading the work of Mr. Swainson on "Birds" in Lardner's 

 Cab. Cyclop. Can you tell me what bird his "Corvus Cacolotl" 2 

 is ? I have seen some numbers of your work now publishing, and 

 admire them very much. I have no doubt that it will do more to 

 spread a love for Natural history, than any work ever published. 

 For my part I read the description of birds and the episodes in 

 your "Ornithological Biography" with the same motive of pleasure 

 as I used to read a favorite novel. 



We have a bird in our collection which differs essentially from the 

 other species of its genus. It is a thrush and I send you quasi 

 description below. I will send you this bird as well as the others 

 spoken of by Philadelphia. I may have an opportunity of sending 

 it there in a week or ten days. You will find them in the hands of 

 Mr. J. Dickinson Sergeant, Chestnut St. two doors above the Mint. 

 Thrush. Turdus. 



Bill stout, tail broad and even. Secondary quills and tail feathers 

 mucronate, the former very much so : Third quill longest, exceeding 

 the Second by -||- Whole upper parts dusky olive, head only a 

 shade darker, a dark spot before the eye; a line from base of 

 upper mandible over the eye, and eyelids yellowish. Throat, neck 

 and breast tinged with pale yellowish brown; and marked with 

 decided and rather large brown spots. Sides dark yellowish 

 brown, rest of lower parts white, quills and tail brown the edges 



1 Assembly Document No. 50. Jan. 24, 1840. "Communication from the Gov- 

 ernor, transmitting several reports relative to the Geological Survey of the State." 



Includes Letter from J. E. DeKay, of the Zoological Department, dated May 7, 

 1839, with "Catalogue of the Animals belonging to the State of New York, as far 

 as they have been figured and described, January 1, 1839" (pp. 7-14) and "Report 

 of J. E. DeKay, of the Zoological Department" (pp. 15-36). 



2 Corvus cacolotl Wagler (Isis, 1831,527), is a synonymof Corvus sinuatus Wagler, 

 (Isis, 1829,748), the Mexican Raven (Corvus corax sinuatus) of the A. O. U. Check- 

 List. 



