AUDUBON IN LONDON 383 
as his biographer remarks, display all the charm found 
in the work of his distinguished cousin, William Havell. 
These won immediate recognition in London, where he 
received commissions from various publishers, includ- 
ing the house of Messrs. Colnaghi & Company. 
Robert Havell, Senior, then in his fifty-eighth year, 
though deeply interested in Audubon’s adventurous 
plans, felt himself too old to embark on so extended a 
work, which it was then believed would require from 
fourteen to sixteen years for completion; he volun- 
teered, however, to do his best to find a substitute. 
With this in view, he applied to Mr. Colnaghi, the pub- 
lisher, and was immediately shown the unsigned proof 
of a beautiful landscape, exquisitely drawn and en- 
graved by one of the youthful retainers of his estab- 
lishment. The elder Havell, after scrutinizing it care- 
fully, exclaimed, “That’s just the man for me!” 
“Then,” replied the publisher, ‘“‘send for your own son!” 
Through this singular coincidence, father and son be- 
came reconciled and a partnership between them was 
soon announced. 
As a test of young Havell’s skill, to follow the 
story of his biographer, Audubon gave him his drawing 
of the Prothonotary Warbler, which had already been 
engraved and issued by Lizars as Plate iii of The Birds 
of America earlier in that year. MHavell finished the 
engraving in two weeks, when a proof was struck and 
the naturalist summoned. Audubon examined the 
print with the utmost keenness and deliberation; then 
he seized the sheet, and holding it up, danced about 
the room, calling out in his French accent: “Ze jig is 
up, ze jig is up!’ The Havells, who at first thought 
this might signify disapproval, were quickly disabused 
when Audubon approached young Robert and, throw- 
