CHAPTER VI 



THK COMPIvDTlON O? THE) ORNITHOI.OGY 



We return now to the story of Wilson's endeav- 

 ors to carry out his great plan, at the point where 

 we left off at the end of our fourth chapter. How 

 much the publication of the first volume of the 

 Ornithology meant to Wilson as encouragement 

 in his work and as a stimulus to increased exer- 

 tions it is impossible to estimate, but its moral 

 effect was doubtless great. He was no longer to 

 be regarded as a mere dreamer, for in part his 

 promise had been kept ; he had shown his ability 

 to carry his plan through. 



His eagerness to send the next volume to the 

 press was almost feverish, and by the fall of 1809 

 it was ready for the engraver, though nearly a year 

 elapsed before it appeared. In the mean while, 

 Wilson was eagerly searching out the habits of 

 every bird with which he met, using every possible 

 means to unravel the knots that perplexed him. 

 He lost no opportunity of catechising every one 

 with whom he came into contact; President Jeffer- 

 son, General Wilkinson, John Abbott, the student 

 of insect life in Savannah, Georgia; Michaux, 

 whose work on "American Forest Trees" so much 

 interested him; Bishop Madison of Virginia; his 

 own nephew, William Duncan; Peale, of Philadel- 

 phia, and chief of all, his old friend William Bar- 

 tram, he interested in his studies and from them all 

 drew what help and information he could. The 



