8 Bulletin 1, Biological Society of Washington, 1918. 



soruses, a particular species of bird, more exquisitely deli- 

 cious than the ortolan, snipes also and ducks of various 

 kinds. The American shell drake and bluewing exceed all 

 of the duck kind whatsoever; and these are in prodigious 

 numbers. In the woods there are variety of birds remark- 

 able both for singing and for beauty; of which are the 

 mocking-bird, the red-bird or nightingale, the blue-bird, the 

 yellow-bird, the humming-bird, the Baltimore-bird, the sum- 

 mer-duck, the turtle, and several other sorts. 



"Reptiles and insects are almost innumerable; some of 

 them, indeed are harmless and beautiful, such as the black- 

 snake, the head-snake, the garter-snake, the firefly, and sev- 

 eral sorts of butterflies ; but the rattle-snake and viper, and 

 many others are exceedingly venemous and deadly." [A 

 footnote mentions the bull-frog and a small green frog which 

 sits upon the boughs of trees.] "Of quadrupeds there are 

 various kinds; squirrels of four or five different species" 

 (p. 10) [a footnote, pp. 10-11, mentions the ground and fly- 

 ing-squirrels, and the polecat or skunk] , "opposums, racoons, 

 foxes, beavers, and deer ; and in the desorts and uninhabited 

 parts, wolves, bears, panthers, elks or moose-deer, buffaloes, 

 mountain-cats, and various other sorts." (p. 11.) 



Many definite observations on the natural history of the 

 District are recorded in a charming little book published in 

 Paris in 1816. It has the rather forbidding title of "A 

 chorographical and statistical description of the District of 

 Columbia," 8 but the contents are enlivened by shrewd com- 

 ment on social customs of that day and enriched by informing 

 references to many plants and animals. The author is David 

 Baillie Warden who was upon consular duty in Washington. 

 He dedicated his book to Mrs. Custis, who we are informed 

 in the introduction accompanied him on some of his excur- 

 sions. He regrets "that the difficulty of communication has 

 prevented me from procuring other specimens of the birds 

 and insects of this District, which would have enabled me 

 to complete the nomenclature of objects of natural history. 



8 Interesting additions to this account by the same author are contained 

 in chapter 34, "Columbia Territory, and the City of Washington," in Vol. 

 3, of "A Statistical, Political and Historical Account of the United States 

 of North America," 1819, pp. 182-219. 



