30 Remarks in Defence of the Author 



and observation of three of the most active years of his life. 

 The additions already made to American Ornithology 



i 



by the labors of Audubon are iinmense ; suffice it to say, 

 that he has already added upwards of one hundred species, 

 not figured by Wilson. Some of these have been de- 

 scribed in the valuable continuation of Wilson's work by 

 Bonaparte ; still, with these deductions, there will be an 

 immense number of new birds published in the Work of 

 Audubon, for a knowledge of which, the public will be 

 solely indebted to his zeal, industry and experience. 

 Amongst the other interesting discoveries made by him, 

 may be noticed a new heron and an eagle, (Falco Wash- 

 ingtoniiy Aub.J the largest in the United States. Two 

 species of pigeon, a humming bird, and a considerable 

 number of the genera of the Muscicajja, Troglodytes and 

 Fringilla. ^ 



His services alone, In correcting the errors into which his 

 predecessors had fallen, from the want of opportunities 

 such as he has enjoyed, are invaluable, and will be duly 

 appreciated by the lovers of Natural History. It may not 

 be uninteresting to your readers to notice a few of these. 

 In his recent visit to Labrador, to which inhospitable 

 region he was led solely by his ardent zeal for the ad- 

 vancement of science, he has ascertained that the Larus 

 marinusy Lin. and the Larus argentatoideSj Bonap. are 

 the same bird, in different stages of plumage. In the 

 Liarus mlnutusj Bonap. ^ud ca^istratus^ Bonap. a similar 

 mistake had occurred. The Ardea Pealii of Bonaparte, 

 proves to be the young of the Ardea riifescens as ascer- 

 tamed by Audubon, in the highly interesting and ornitho- 

 logical region of Florida. The figure of Wilson of the 

 Rallus crepitans given as the adult bird, proves to be 

 that of a new species, found in the fresh water marsheS of 

 our southern country ; and the Falco lagopus^ Lin. U 



