xii PREFACE 
lasted till the time of his marriage at the age 
of twenty-eight ; his business career which 
followed, lasting ten or more years, and 
consisting mainly in getting rid of the fortune 
his father had left him; and his career as 
an ornithologist which, though attended 
with great hardships and privations, brought 
him much happiness and, long before the 
end, substantial pecuniary rewards, 
His ornithological tastes and studies 
really formed the main current of his life 
Srom his teens onward. During his busi- 
ness ventures in Kentucky and elsewhere 
this current came to the surface more and 
more, absorbed more and more of his time 
and energies, and carried him further and 
Surther from the conditions of a successful 
business career. 
J. B. 
West Park, New York, 
January, 1902, 
