xii PREFACE 



lasted till the time of his marriage at the age 

 of twenty-eight; his business career which 

 followed, lasting ten or more years, and 

 consisting mainly in getting rid of the fortune 

 his father had left him ; and his career as 

 an ornithologist which, though attended 

 with great hardships and privations, brought 

 him much happiness and, long before the 

 end, substantial pecuniary rewards. 



His ornithological tastes and studies 

 really formed the main current of his life 

 from his teens onward. During his busi- 

 ness ventures in Kentucky and elsewhere 

 this current comes to the surface more and 

 more, absorbed more and more of his time 

 and energies , and carried him further and 

 further from the conditions of a successful 

 business career. 



J. B. 



WBST PAKK, NBW YORK, 

 January, 1902. 



