INTRODUCTION. 11 



with his own eyes, he complained that in the works 

 of European naturalists he could only find " a few 

 vague and formal particulars of their size, specific 

 marks, &c., accompanied sometimes with figured 

 representations that would seem rather intended to 

 caricature than to illustrate their originals." With 

 an enthusiasm never excelled, this extraordinary 

 man, who came to the United States a poor and un 

 friended Scotch weaver, first taught himself, at the 

 age of forty years, to draw and colour after nature, 

 then applied himself to the study of various branches 

 of knowledge, and having acquired the power of wri- 

 ting clearly and elegantly, as well as of depicting hy 

 his pencil what he saw in his rambles, set out to 

 penetrate through the vast territory of the United 

 States, undeterred by forests and swamps, for the 

 sole purpose of painting and describing the native 

 birds. During seven years in which he prose- 

 cuted this undertaking, he travelled more than ten 

 thousand miles, " a solitary, exploring pilgrim," as 

 he describes himself. His labours were rewarded 

 with no worldly riches or honours, for he had the 

 greatest difficulty in procuring subscribers for his 

 splendid work ; and when a bookseller at last under- 

 took to print and publish it, the only remuneration 

 which the author received was a payment for the 

 mechanical labour of colouring his own plates. But 

 his soul was set upon the one object of his life ; that 

 of giving a complete account of one of the most in- 

 teresting portions of the works of the Creator, as 

 far as the vast continent of North America afforded 

 him opportunities for diligent examination. He pas- 

 sionately pusued his inquiry into the history of birds. 

 In the preface to the fifth volume of his book, he 

 says, " to me it appears, that of all inferior creatures, 

 Heaven seems to have intended birds as the most 

 cheerful associates of man ;" and he declares that 

 he has " a thousand times turned, with a delight 

 bordering on adoration, to the magnificent reposi- 



