MEMOIR OF JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 203* 
and ocean, afe also the varying scenes of his researches and discovered 
treasures. It is not long since we heard of him from the icy regions 
of Labrador, and again from the burning sands of Florida—countries 
sufficiently distant from each other in reality, but standing side by 
side in the history of this unwearied traveller, who seems to have sur- 
rendered his soul to one pursuit. ‘The wild sort of delight which the 
sight of Nature in her happiest aspectS awakens in his bosem, is wor- 
thy of being marked by the reader of his works. In one of his late 
volumes, he speaks of the cheering trills of the winter Wren, of the 
clear notes of the Robin, and the rolling melody of the Rose-breast, 
filling him with such emotions that he burned with the thirst of 
knowledge, and longed to learn from their own lips what every one 
could teach of the wondrous works of Heaven. When he saw the 
water birds, towering on firm and graceful wing, away to regions 
where none have followed, he longed to “ take the wings of the morn- 
ing” and pursue them to the lands where the presence of man has 
never disturbed their quiet abodes. It is curious to observe what an 
ornithological aspect his favourite taste gives to most of his descrip- 
tions. In the second volume of his Biography of Birds, there are 
such passages as the following :—‘ The prudent Raven spread her 
pinions, launched from the crag, and flew away before us; the golden 
Eagle, soaring aloft, moved majestically in wide circles; the Guillemots 
set on their eggs on the shelvy precipices, or plunging in the water, 
dived and rose again at a great distance; the broad-breasted Eider- 
duck covered her eggs among the grassy tufts.” ‘“* Far away stood the 
bold shores of Nova Scotia, gradually fading in the distance, of which 
the grey tints beautifully relieved the wing-like sails of many a fishing 
bark.” At one place he found the nests of Gulls on almost every tree 
of a wood that covered several acres; and he exclaims, ‘‘ What a 
treat, reader, was it, to find birds of this kind, lodged in fir-trees and 
sitting comfortably on their eggs!” He gives an account of the 
breeding habits of the tree and the fox-coloured Sparrows, two beau- 
tiful way-farers so well known in the United States of America, but 
which remain only a short season there, indulging in little more of song 
than a plaintive farewell; yet in the northern regions they are over- 
flowing with melody. Of the latter species, Audubon says—* Would 
that I could convey to your mind the effect which it produced on my 
feelings, when wandering on the desolate shores of Labrador! That, 
I could intelligibly tell you, of the cheerful notes of its unaffected 
warble, as it sat perched on the branch of some stunted fir! There 
for hours together, was continued the delightful serenade, which kept 
me lingering near the spot. The brilliancy and clearness of each 
note, as it flowed through the air, were so enchanting, the expression 
and emphasis of the song so powerful, that I never tired of listening.” 
Audubon has of late years introduced to the notice of his readers, 
several birds which were never known before to visit the United 
States. He has also added much to what was known of certain spe- 
cies previously described. The architecture of the feathered tribes 
has much engaged his attention ; and, as in every other branch of his 
pursuit, he has here given many new as well as highly satisfactory and 
_ interesting particulars. Indeed, from what has been stated above re- 
garding his ardour, and from the quotations inserted, there cannot 
