22 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 
for France, I had begun a series of 
drawings of the birds of America, and 
had also begun a study of their habits. 
I at first drew my subject dead, by which 
I mean to say that after procuring a 
specimen, I hung it up, either by the 
head, wing, or foot, and copied it as 
closely as I could.’”?’ Even the hateful 
Da Costa had praised his bird pictures 
and had predicted great things for him 
in this direction. His words had given 
Audubon a great deal of pleasure. 
Mr. William Bakewell, the brother of * 
his Lucy, has given us a glimpse of 
Audubon and his surroundings at this 
time. ‘‘ Audubon took me to his house, 
where he and his companion, Rozier, 
resided, with Mrs. Thomas for an at- 
tendant. On entering his room, I was 
astonished and delighted that it was 
turned into a museum. The walls were 
festooned with all sorts of birds’ eggs, 
carefully blown out and strung on a 
thread. The chimney piece was covered 
