398 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
been far superior to mine”; “I supported him,” he 
added, “to the best of my power.” 
Revision of his older drawings demanded much of 
Audubon’s attention during these years. On February 
10, 1828, he began the Whiteheaded Eagle (No. 7, 
Plate xxxi), the original of which had been procured on 
the Mississippi, where the bird was represented as din- 
ing on a wild goose; now, he said, “I shall make it 
breakfast on a catfish, the drawing of which is also with 
me, with the marks of the talons of another eagle, which 
I disturbed on the banks of the same river, driving him 
from his prey.” On the 16th of that month he was 
engaged with this drawing from seven in the morning 
until half after four, stopping only to take the glass of 
milk which his landlady would bring to him. This plate 
was engraved in the following April, and on May 1, 
1828, a first proof was sent to the Marquis of Lands- 
downe, president of the Zoological Society, as a mark 
of appreciation by its author, who had become a member 
of that body in the preceding winter. 
A striking characteristic of Audubon’s work was its 
diversity, produced not only by attractive embellish- 
ments of many kinds, but by the moving force and 
action with which he ever sought to vitalize his sub- 
jects. It is therefore not surprising that he was nettled 
by an incident like this: 
February 28. To-day I called by appointment on the Earl 
of Kinnoul, a small man, with a face like the caricature of an 
owl; he said he had sent for me to tell me all my birds were 
alike, and he considered my work a swindle. He may really 
think this; his knowledge is probably small; but it is not the 
custom to send for a gentleman to abuse him in one’s house. I 
heard his words, bowed, and without speaking, left the rudest 
man I have met in this land. 
