Audubonian Sketches. 



269 



us look at it for a moment. It is life size, 

 as they all three are, and the bird is repre- 

 sented standing on the ground, being drawn 

 lengthwise on the paper. The execution is 

 quite crude, though the naturalist 'sticks 

 out ' in it, for notwithstanding the some- 

 what awkward position the bird is in, there 

 is life in it. The ground is simply ■A. wash 

 of pale green and brown, while over on one 

 side of the paper he has 'tried his brush,' 

 having made some rough concentric circles 

 with paint dabs about them. Beneath this 

 drawing we find written in lead-pencil in 

 two lines, 'La Pie, Buffon,' 'Pye, Piot 

 Magpye, Planet, english,' and over to the 

 left-hand corner, 'No. 44.' " 



The second picture is that of a coot, and 

 is here a marked improvement upon the 

 magpie. Far more pains have been taken 

 with the feet, legs, bill, and eye, though lit- 

 tle has been gained in the natural attitude 

 of the bird. It is also represented standing 

 upon the dry ground, which is here of a 

 pale, violet wash, unbroken by anything in 

 the shape of stones or vegetation. Except 

 very faintly on the wing, no attempt has 

 been made to individualize the feathers, the 

 entire body being of a dead black, worked 

 in either by burnt cork or crayon. Beneath 

 this figure has been written in lead-pencil, 

 but gone over again by the same hand in 

 ink, '' La foulque ou La Moselle — Buffon, 

 Riviere Loire Joselle — " " English — the 

 Coot." 



As is usually the case among juvenile ar- 

 tists, both this bird and the magpie are rep- 

 resented upon direct lateral view, and 

 no evidence has yet appeared to hint to us , 

 of the wonderful power Audubon eventu- 

 ally came to possess in figuring his birds 

 in their every attitude. 



There is a peculiar pleasure that takes 

 possession of us as we turn to the third and 

 last of these figures, the one representing 

 the green woodpecker {Gecinus viridis). It 

 is a wonderful improvement, in every par- 

 ticular, upon both of the others. The de- 



tails of the plumage and other structures 

 are brought out with great delicacy and re- 

 finement of touch; while the attitude of the 

 bird, an old male, is even better than many 

 of those published in his famous work. 



The colors are soft and have been so han- 

 dled as tolend to the plumage a very flossy 

 and natural appearance, while the old trunk 

 upon the side of which the bird is repre- 

 sented, presents several evidences of an in- 

 crease of the power to paint such objects. 



We find written in lead-pencil beneath 

 this picture, in two lines, and in rather a 

 Frenchy hand, " Le Pic vert, Buffon," "the 

 Green Woodpecker — British Zoology." 



When Mrs. Walker, the lady who pre- 

 sented me with these drawings, forwarded 

 them, I received from her a very valuable 

 letter, and in it she tells me that "there was 

 a portfolio of quite a number and variety of 

 birds left with my father by Mrs. Audubon, 

 but they have been given to different mem- 

 bers of our family. He left a half-finished 

 portrait of his wife and two sons, a portrait 

 of himself in oil colors, taken by himself 

 with the aid of a mirror, and a life size 

 American eagle; were they now in my pos- 

 session I would most willingly send them 

 for your inspection. 



" Mrs. Audubon was governess in my fa- 

 ther's family for several years, also in that 

 of a neighbor's of ours. I presume you are 

 aware she supported herself and sons by 

 teaching during the years of Mr. Audubon's 

 wanderings through America in pursuit of 

 his collections. I was but a child at the 

 time. He was with us eight months [in 

 Louisiana], but during the greater part of 

 the time was wandering all over the State, 

 walking the almost entire time; — no insect, 

 worm, reptile, bird or animal escaped his 

 notice. He would make a collection, return 

 home and draw his crayon sketches, when 

 his son John would stuff the birds and such 

 animals as he wished to preserve. I regret 

 greatly, Doctor, that I cannot gratify you 

 in giving a more minute account of Mr. Au- 



