Some Early American Ornithologists 163 



drawings, etc., were sent abroad to his patron, and in 1791 he published an 

 account of his travels. In this volume, besides much botanical lore, he pre- 

 sented important accounts of the birds that he observed and, what is of more 

 interest, a complete list, or ' Nomenclature,' of the birds known to him as 

 occurring from Pennsylvania to Florida east of the Alleghanies. 



This was a landmark in the progress of American ornithology, the next 

 in importance to the work of Catesby, and the first ornithological contribution 

 worthy of the name written by a native American. Unfortunately, Bartram 

 neither adhered to the Linnasan system of nomenclature nor did he describe 

 the birds which are here for the first time mentioned; and, although we can 

 identify all the species of his list, we cannot use his names. Bartram was 

 very modest; he had no intention of writing an ornithology, and merely gave 

 his list, as such, for the interest of his readers; and so, perchance, we are 

 compelled to take it, only regretting that we cannot bestow more credit 

 where credit is due. 



But Bartram's claims to consideration as one of the pillars of American 

 ornithology do not rest wholly upon his 'Travels' or his 'Nomenclature.' 

 It was his profound knowledge and the assistance that it enabled him to 

 of?er to others that have done more for ornithology than his own publica- 

 tion, and most generously and cheerfully did he share his store with those 

 who came to him for aid. 



In the year 1800, at the age of sixty-one, after his father's death, he lived 

 with his brother at the Botanic Garden, happy in his congenial surroundings 

 and sufficiently removed from the smoke and bustle of the neighboring city. 

 Here, as was customary with men of his day, he kept a diary, in which the 

 daily phases of nature were faithfully recorded; and this little volume, with 

 its time-stained pages and faded writing, now lies before me. Here are rec- 

 ords of the ''Mock- bird" at various dates in the winter, the arrival from the 

 south of the Blackbird, the Pewit and other harbingers of spring, as well as 

 the blooming of the various spring flowers and the first piping of the frogs. 



Alas! the Mock -bird no longer comes so far north as Philadelphia at 

 any season, except as the rarest straggler, and so closely have the railroads 

 and the oil-works encroached upon the historic garden that the wild birds 

 do not visit it as frequently as they once did. But things are not all changed : 

 one evening the diary tells us of the presence of the "Little Horned Owls" 

 in the bushes before the door, and on my last walk through the shaded 

 paths of the garden I came suddenly upon a pair of these same "Little 

 Horned Owls" hiding in the ancient box-bushes. Were they the lineal 

 descendants of those that Bartram heard hooting a hundred years ago ? 

 Who can say ? At all events, it is pleasant to think that they were. 



In the retirement of his garden the venerable naturalist lived his peace- 

 ful life, and there he ended it suddenly on the 22d of July, 1823, in his 

 eighty-fifth year. But during this time many a friend was entertained. 



