DELAWAEB VALiLETT ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 41 



mature Tennessee. The next night, while the storm was still 

 violent, eight more hirds were caught about the house, four 

 Red-eyed Vireos, two Ovenbirds, one Hermit Thrush and a 

 warbler, probably a Pine. These birds were so exhausted they 

 could hardly fly. 



John Dryden Kuser. 



Alexander Lawson 



So much interest is shown at present in Alexander Wilson, 

 the naturalist, that some of it naturally gathers about Alexander 

 Lawson, his engraver. In fact, no small degree of the nat- 

 uralist's great success was due to Mr. Lawson' s active and in- 

 telligent assistance. The latter was a Scotchman, who came to 

 this country previous to 1800, I believe. Eight children were 

 born to him, of whom five grew to maturity and became artists 

 of note. Of these, two daughters, who lived for many years in 

 West Chester, were known to me in my younger days as most 

 interesting and highly cultivated young ladies. 



Miss Malvina Lawson was very fond of her distinguished 

 father and told me many interesting stories about him, one be- 

 ing that he had at one time executed some work for John J. 

 Audubon. His most notable achievement, however, was the 

 lithographing of the bird-pictures for Wilson's Ornithology. 

 This book was very profusely illustrated and the pictures were 

 colored by hand, the coloring being done by Malvina and her 

 sister Catherine. At it they labored constantly for three years 

 and were paid five thousand dollars, an immense sum for two 

 young girls to earn in those days. 



In the latter part of her life Malvina with her sister, Mrs. 

 Mary L. Birckhead, lived in West Chester and visited at our 

 house frequently. Some of the pictures which she painted for 

 the children are still treasured in the family. Dying in West 

 Chester about 1880, she left one sister, Mrs. Birckhead, the last 

 living descendant of Alexander Lawson. The latter moved to 

 Philadelphia, where she, too, died a few years later. 



Robert P. Sharpless. 



