JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



1780-1851 

 BY WITHER STONE 



PROBABLY no name is more nearly synonymous with the study 

 of birds than that of Audubon, and no ornithologist is more widely 

 known. In science and literature as well as in other fields noto- 

 riety is due either to the personality of the man or to the workj* 

 which he has accomplished, while in certain cases both contribute H 

 to his fame. Audubon is a striking example of this, and the aid = 

 that he gave to the development of American Ornithology rests 

 quite as much upon his striking personality and the unique char- 

 acter of his bird portraits as upon the actual scientific value of 

 the labors that he performed. 



We cannot, therefore, form an estimate of his relative position 

 in the world of science without a careful consideration of Andiron, 

 theman as well as of Audubon the ornithologist. 



Unfortunately no one who knew him well has given us a careful 

 review of his life and character and consequently we are compelled 

 to fall back upon an autobiography covering his early life, written 

 for his children and upon his journals for the history of his later 

 achievements. 



It seems somewhat characteristic of the man that he does not 

 state when he was born and such mentions as he makes of his age 

 are at variance, so that his granddaughter states in her sketch of 

 his life "he may have been born anywhere between 1772 and 

 J 783 "; the usually accepted date is, however, May 5, 1780. 



His father, Jean Audubon, an admiral in the French navy, was a 

 man of wide experience. He rose entirely through his own exer- 



