INTRODUCTION 
13 
Not till the writing did it really seem to 
strike in and become part of me. ... 1 
am not always aware myself how much 
pleasure 1 have had in a walk till I try 
to share it with my reader. The heat of 
composition brings out the color and 
flavor. Literature does not grow wild in 
the woods.” 
As for Audubon, it would take a vol¬ 
ume to do justice to his life and work. 
From the point of view of bird study, 
however, his value is largely limited to 
the pictures. As Burroughs wrote,/'his 
ear is less skilled than his eye.” In ob¬ 
servation he was admirable. "He not 
only paints the form and colors of the 
bird,” declares Burroughs, "but its man¬ 
ners also. Its most characteristic and in¬ 
stantaneous attitude is seized with a grace 
and a completeness all but marvelous.” 
Audubon was born in Louisiana of a 
Spanish mother. Among his first memo¬ 
ries was the sight and sound of the mock¬ 
ing bird. But he was sent to France, his 
fathers country, to be educated. There 
he learned drawing of the famous David. 
He was sent back to America to manage 
