136 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 
eliminate moths. John Le Conte® had arrived for a 
visit, and remained a fortnight. 
From Spencer F. Baird to William M. Baird. 
CaruisE, May 25", 1846. 
Dear WILL, 3 
Is your patience almost exhausted? I would have written long 
ago but waited until I could give you some account of what"was in 
the big box brought from New York. This I only opened last week, 
& have but just finished looking over and making out the names. 
There are a number left undetermined, but I can tell you most of 
the new species. 
The shooting this spring has been very poor owing to the exces- 
sive rains which prevented my going out. Could I have gone out 
as often as I would have wished, I would have had a great many 
skins prepared, as I got in the way of stuffing faster than ever. I 
have made skins at the rate of 5 to 9 in an hour, and very good ones 
too. One afternoon I stuffed 33. The only rarities were two white 
Crowned sparrows & a few Tyrannula minima, flaviventris, & tratltt, 
& one female Mourning warbler. 
I have made a kind of nominal deposit of my birds in the college 
museum, & Mr Emory has given me permission to have such cases 
made as I wish, at the expense of the College. I am having three 
or four made by a Cabinet maker in first rate style at an expense of 
about 12 dollars each. They are to be 61% feet high, with 6 drawers, 
each measuring 3 feet, x 18 inches, x 1024 inside. Each drawer to 
have a tray about 4 inches narrower, so that it may be taken out 
without the drawer. I have planned the cases so that I will defy 
any Bug, Moth, or particle of dust to getin. The first is to be finished 
this week. 
Col. Churchill arrived here on Saturday night, from Texas. 
He brought me a pretty good skin of that great walking Cuckoo 
like the one I showed you in Gambel’s box at the Academy—which 
® John Le Conte, born in Liberty Co., Georgia, Dec. 4, 1818, 
died in California, April 29, 1891. He was Professor of Physics 
and afterward President of the University of California, and the 
brother of Joseph Le Conte, the geologist. 
