4 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE 



birds. A second edition was published in 1869 by J. B. Lip- 

 pincott & Co., a third edition appeared in 1879 and a fourth in 

 1885. His publication on "Trees, Plants and Flowers" was 

 incorporated with the edition of 1879. 



I have in my possession an undated manuscript book entitled 

 " Wrens and Warbler Plates ", with pictures drawn and colored 

 presumably while yet in his teens, and although they are not 

 nearly up to the standard of his later work, they show care, 

 neatness and system. 



His greatest achievement, however, was his hand-painted 

 work on the " Trochilidae " (Humming Birds) which stands 

 out boldly as an example of unusual skill and ability and im- 

 parts a clear knowledge of the subject in hand. In the fifty- 

 three plates comprised in the four parts all but a few of the 

 birds are his own poses, and although he never saw but one 

 living species of hummingbird, the Rubythroat, his sketches 

 of other birds must have aided him in bringing to life as it 

 were, the dead skins before him. It is possible, too, that he 

 made his drawings from his own mounted specimens, and from 

 specimens at the Academy of Natural Sciences, which he men- 

 tions in at least one instance. 



It must also be taken into account that these drawings are 

 originals which were never reproduced and had not the advan- 

 tage of the engraver's touch or corrections, upon which artists 

 are often so much dependent. Particular comment has been 

 made by experts who have examined this work on the life-like 

 pose of the birds, the perfect balance of the body, whether in 

 the air or at rest, and especially on the harmony of the color 

 and selection of the flowers which appear with nearly every 

 plate. The species represented, as the preface states, are birds 

 of the far west. Central and South America, many of them rare 

 varieties. The text is also all handwork and the title page of 

 each part is especially well executed. The four bound volumes 

 in which the work is arranged are quarto size and the plates are 

 drawn on rough-surfaced, cream -tinted bristol board. 



The first part was largely prepared in 1854, and with the 

 second was completed in 1855; the third part was completed in 

 1857 and the fourth in 1858, although the last was never en- 



