LIFE OF WILSON. 
Ixix 
" I assure you, my dear friend, that this undertaking has involved me in 
many difficulties and expenses which I never dreamt of;* and I have never 
yet received one cent from it. I am, therefore, a volunteer iu the cause of 
Natural History, impelled by nobler views than those of money. The second 
volume will be ready for delivery on the first of January next. I have re- 
ceived communications from many different parts of the United States ; with 
some drawings, and offers of more. But these are rarely executed with such 
precision as is necessary for a work of this kind. 
" Let me know if you have ever seen the nest of Catesby's coivpen-Jjird. I 
have every reason to believe that this bird never builds itself a nest, but, like 
the cuckoo of Europe, drops its eggs into the nests of other birds; and leaves 
the result to their mercy and management. I have found no less than six nests 
this season, with each a young cow-bird contained in it. One of these, which I 
had found in the nest of the Maryland yellow-throat, and which occupied the 
whole nest, I brought home, and put it into the cage of a crested red-bird, who 
became its foster-father, and fed, and reared it, with great affection. It begins 
to chant a little. 
" I have just heard from our old friend M* *. lie has not yet published 
the first number of his work ; and Bonaparte has been so busy with cutting 
throats, and building bridges, in the forests of Austria, that the Inqjector of 
the Forests of France has not yet received his appointment." 
To Mr. Wm. Bartram. 
"October nth, 1809. 
"Thanks for your bird, so neatly stuffed, that I was just about to skin it. 
It is the Rallus virginianus of Turton, and agrees exactly with his description. 
The one in company was probably the female. Turton mentions four species 
as inhabitants of the United States. I myself have seen six. Mr. Abbot of 
Savannah shovved me two new species. I found the sora, as the Virginians 
call it, in the rice flats near Savannah, in March. General Wilkinson told me 
that the sora was in multitudes at Detroit. Query — don't you think they 
breed in the north, like the rice-birds? Are not the European naturalists 
mistaken in saying that the reed-birds or rice-birds pass from the island of 
Cuba, in September, to Carolina? All the Spaniards with whom I have con- 
fer the transactions of a learned society, or compile a bald and meagre pamphlet, present 
themselves before the public with an air of importance, which should seem to demand that 
countenance and applause, as a matter of right, which true merit humbly requests as a 
favor ! 
* The great expense of the publication prevented the author from giving all his plates 
that finish which his taste and judgment would have approved ; but that in some instances 
extraordinary pains were bestowed upon them, a cursory glance will render evident. I 
have Mr. Lawson's authority for asserting, that, so anxious was he to encourage his friend, 
frequently after computing the time spent upon perfecting his work, he found his reward 
did not amount to more than fifty cents per day. 
From a note to this gentleman, I make the following extract, relating to the bald eagle : 
" I hope you go on courageously with the eagle ; let no expense deter you from giving 
it the freest and most masterly touches of your graver. I think we shall be able to offer 
it as a competitor with the best that this country or Europe can produce." 
