LIFE OF WILSON. Ixix 



" I assure you, my dear friend, that this undertaking has involved n^e in 

 many difficulties and expenses which I never dreamt of; * and I have never 

 yet received one cent from it. I am, therefore, a volunteer in the cause of 

 Natural History, impelled by nobler views than those of money. The second 

 volume will be ready for delivery on the first of January next. I ha re re- 

 ceived communications from many different parts of the United States; with 

 some drawings, and ofiFers of more. But these are rarely executed with such 

 precision as is necessary for a work of this kind. 



" Let me know if you have ever seen the nest of Catesby's cotvpen-bird. I 

 have every reason to believe that this bird never builds itself a nest, but, like 

 the cuckoo of Europe, drops its eggs into the nests of other birds ; and leaves 

 the result to their mercy and management. I have found no less than six nesta 

 this season, with each a young cow-bird contained in it. One of these, which I 

 had found in the nest of the Maryland yellow-throat, and which occupied the 

 whole nest, I brought home, and put it into the cage of a crested red-bird, who 

 became its foster-father, and fed, and reared it, with great affection. It begins 

 to chant a little. 



'•' I have just heard from our old friend M* *. He has not yet published 

 the first number of his work ; and Bonaparte has been so busy with cutting 

 throats, and building bridges, in the forests of Austria, that the Inspector of 

 the Forests of France has not yet received his appointment." 



To Mr. Wm. Bartram. 



"October 11th, 1809. 



"Thanks for your bird, so neatly stuffed, that I' was just about to skin it. 

 It is the Rallus virginianus of Turton, and agrees exactly with his description. 

 The one in company was probably the female. Turton meutions four species 

 as inhabitants of the United States. I myself have seen six. Mr. Abbot of 

 Savannah showed me two new species. I found the sora, as the Virginians 

 call it, in the rice flats near Savannah, in March. General Wilkinson told me 

 that the sora was in multitudes at Detroit. Query — don't you think they 

 breed in the north, like the rice-birds ? Are not the European naturalists 

 mistaken in saying that the reed-birds or rice-birds pass from the island of 

 Cuba, in September, to Carolina ? All the Spaniards with whom I have con- 

 fer the transactions of a learned society, or compile a bald and meagre pamphlet, present 

 themselves before the public with an air of importance, which should seem to demand that 

 countenance and applause, as a matter of right, which true merit humbly requests as a 

 favor ! 



* The great expense of the publication prevented the author from giving all his plates 

 that finish which his taste and judgment would have approved ; but that in some instances 

 extraordinary pains were bestowed upon them, a cursory glance will render evident. I 

 have Mr. Lawson's authority for asserting, that, so anxious was he to encourage his friend, 

 frequently after computing the time spent upon perfecting his work, he found his reward 

 did not amount to more ihsm fifty cents per day. 



From a note to this gentleman, I make the following extract, relating to the bald eagle ; 



" I hope you go on courageously with the eagle ; let no expense deter you from giving 

 it the freest and most masterly touches of your graver. I thinit we shall be able to offer 

 it as a competitor with the best that this country or Europe can produce." 



