CORRESPONDENCE 229 



so far away I shall give up all hope of ever seeing you 

 this side of Jordan ; ' ' while in 1885 he says : ' ' Now 

 you are back from the south at your old home I hope to 

 hear from you oftener, if I can't see you. But why in 

 the world can't we see each other before we die ?" The 

 main reason why Mr. Boardman did not visit Dr. Wood, 

 was because his trips between Boston and New York 

 were nearly always made by boat. He was an owner in 

 the lines, a director in one of them and was always at 

 home upon the boats, enjoying their freedom and pre- 

 ferring them to the train. Moreover, in going by rail, 

 as he occasionally did, Mrs. Boardman was generally 

 with him, often some of the boys and, as he says in his 

 letters, he had so much baggage, traps of one kind and 

 another, and generally dogs on his journeys to and from 

 Florida, that it was not convenient to stop over. The 

 two friends ever lived with the hope of seeing each other 

 sometime, a pleasure that was, however, never realized. 



Extracts of Letters from Dr. Wood to Mr. Boardman 



East Windsor Hill, March 4, 1868. 



I have been hoping all winter to see you here and give you 

 some eggs. I don't know what you wish, but if you will refer to 

 my list that I sent j^ou I will let you have anything of which I 

 have duplicates or which I can replace if I have not duplicates. I 

 keep the Barred Owl's egg sacred for you although urged strongly 

 to part with it. One oologist told me that if I should live seveuty- 

 five years I should not probably find another about here. I hope 

 you will visit me the coming season and we will look over things 

 and have a good time generally. 



I have done but little in the way of taxidermy this winter, 

 everything in the way of birds has been scarce except Goshawks, 

 the first time in twenty years that I liave been able to get one. 

 Tliis winter I have received six and have known as many more 



