34 



The Avifauna. 



Henry Chapman Ford. 



Artist, Traveler, Patriot, Soldier and Nat- 

 uralist. 



^HE remarkable subject of this sketch 

 was all this and more, for in addition 

 to his scholarly acquirements, he possessed 

 a personality of exquisite refinement and a 

 gentle reserve that vaunted upon no occas- 

 ion whatsoever, although he was an accept- 

 ed authority on special lines. Mr. Ford 

 was born at Livonia, N. Y., in the year 

 1828. When quite young he decided to 

 pursue art as a profession and spent several 

 years in Europe, studying principally in 

 the cities of Florence and Paris. He re- 

 turned to the United States at the com- 

 mencement of the civil war and enlisted in 

 the army in 1861. Of delicate phj^sique 

 naturall}', his service was consequently 

 limited, and in one year he was discharged 

 on account of physical disability. He 

 opened a study in Chicago, Ills., and here 

 the sketches made in the South became 

 valuable capital. He was the pioneer 

 landscape artist of that city and was one of 

 the charter members of its Academy of 

 Design, filling the president's chair for 

 several years. For sketching purposes he 

 toured the picturesque portions of the 

 northern, southern and middle states. He 

 visited the Rocky Mountains, accompanied 

 by his wife and two other artists, in 1866, 

 and spent the summer in the then wilder- 

 ness of Colorado scenery, through which 

 no railroad had as yet made travel easy. 

 In 1874 a failure of health necessitated an 

 absolute change of climate which resulted 

 in his removal to Southern California, and 

 locating permanently at the little seaside 

 city of Santa Barbara. Nearly every sum- 

 mer season was spent in camp, either in the 

 Yosemite valley or among the old Francis- 

 can Missions throughout the state, of which 

 he made a complete set of etchings and 

 painted many beautiful pictures in oil. As 

 a naturalist Mr. Ford occupied a prominent 



position in Southern California. For many 

 years he was president of the Santa Barbara 

 Society of Natural History and always an 

 active member of the Horticultural Society 

 of that county. On his beautiful country 

 seat in the rural suburb of Carpinteria he 

 gratified his fine botanical tastes to the 

 lasting benefit of the community. Here he 

 devoted time and space to the cultivation 

 of rare flowers, importing many trees and 

 shrubs that were strangers in the valley. 

 Mr. Ford was an especial lover of birds and 

 the writer remembers with delight an in- 

 finitesimal owl that was domiciled and 

 thoroughly domesticated in one of the 

 deep-seated windows of his studio. His 

 lamented death occurred February 27, 1894, 

 leaving a vacancy in hearts and places no 

 other man can fill. 



Juliette Estelle Mathis. 



-*- — '. i ='>?.'3<" i '. — ►^>- 



The Golden Eagle. 



Aquila Chrysaetos. 



THIS magnificent "king of the air" has 

 received considerable attention at the 

 hands of our ornithological writers, and it 

 is with no idea of adding any remarkable 

 facts to its life history that this article is 

 presented. In Santa Clara county the 

 Golden Eagle is perhaps as abundant as in 

 any other portion of the world, from which 

 it is not to be inferred that it is a common 

 bird for he may well count himself fortunate 

 who has stormed the stronghold of Aquila 

 and borne away her treasures to his cabi- 

 net. The eagle inhabits both the moun- 

 tainous and valley regions, showing little 

 preference so long as its food is abundant. 

 They are resident, usually remaining 

 throughout the year near the locality in 

 which they are accustomed to nest. During 

 the winter months and in the spring they 

 may at times be observed soaring idly and 

 most gracefully over the deep ravines in the 

 mountains. By a series of circlings they 

 rise from the bottom of a canon to far above 



