302 AUDUBON 



Troglodytes bewickii is a new and rather a rare species, 

 found only in the lowlands of the Mississippi and Louis- 

 iana. I have killed five or six specimens, and it differs 

 greatly from Troglodytes ludovicianus ; I wish I had a spe- 

 cimen to send you. I particularly thank you for your 

 observations, and I hope that you will criticise my work 

 at all points, as a good friend should do, for how am I to 

 improve if not instructed by men of superior talents ? I 

 cannot determine at present about ' Stanleii,' because I 

 never have seen the Falco you mention. My bird is 

 surely another found in the south and north, but a very 

 rare species in all my travels; when you see the two fig- 

 ures, size of life, then you will be able to judge and to 

 inform me. My journey to the mouth of the Columbia is 

 always uppermost in my mind, and I look to my return ' 

 from that country to this as the most brilliant portion of 

 my life, as I am confident many new birds and plants 

 must be there, yet unknown to man. You are extremely 

 kind to speak so favorably of my work, and to compare it 

 with your own ; it would be more worthy of that compari- 

 son, perhaps, if I had had the advantages of a classical 

 education ; all I deserve, I think, is the degree of encour- 

 agement due to my exertions and perseverance in figuring 

 exactly the different birds, and the truth respecting their 

 habits, which will appear in my text. However, I accept 

 all your kind sayings as coming from a friend, and one 

 himself devoted to that beautiful department of science, 

 Ornithology." My subscribers are yet far from enough 

 to pay my expenses, and my purse suffers severely for 

 the want of greater patronage. The Zoological Gardens 

 improve daily ; they are now building winter quarters for 

 the animals there. The specimens of skins from all parts 

 of the world which are presented there are wonderful, but 

 they have no place for them. 



August 25. I have had the pleasure of a long letter 

 from our Victor, dated July 20; this letter has reached me 



