^°i9o^^] Rhoads, Auduboniaua. ^S? 



I have got twelve sheets of the 5th. Vol. of Biographies already 

 printed, and I expect to have quite finished by the ist. of April 

 next. I have decided on the Trichas resembling Sylvia FJiila- 

 delphia of Wilson. It is a distinct species, but what will probably 

 surprise you more, the S. Agilis of the same author is also perfectly 

 distinct from either. All this you will plainly see when you read 

 their separate descriptions and compare the three species. 



I wish you would ask Trudeau whether he recollects the speci. 

 men of an Eagle sent by Townsend in his first collection, num- 

 bering 54 and which the latter has lost, though he considered it as 

 a new species. It was procured in California. Townsend speaks 

 sorrowfully of the loss of this specimen. It never came under my 

 eye, did it come under yours ? Ask Trudeau whether he ever saw 

 my Hirundo Serripennis in America, Bachman wrote to me that 

 Trudeau thought he had at New York in the skins of Frederick 

 Ward. I think Trudeau will be pleased with the anatomy of our 

 birds, as it opens misteries hitherto unknown in connection with 

 the relative affinities of some species toward others and assists in 

 the formation of groups &c., in what some day or other, will be 

 called a JVatural arrangefne?it f 



I wish I could have spent a few weeks in Paris with you and 

 Trudeau, as I readily imagine that some new spQcies of North 

 American birds may yet be found there unknown to the World of 

 Science. I have written to Mr. Chevalier and to Townsend, but 

 will not, I dare say, hear anything more of the former until through 

 Victor, who intends to see him very shortly after his arrival in 

 America. 



My Dear Wife is much better than when you saw her, and I 

 hope that when once again she has been safely landed on our 

 shores and enjoyed the warmth of our own Summers, her health 

 will be quite restored. 



The Little Lucy has grown as fat as butter, and the rest of us 

 are well. 



We all unite in kindest best wishes to you and to Trudeau, and 

 I remain as ever, my Dear Friend, 



Yours, 



John J. Audubon. 

 6 Alva Street. 



