THE BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA. 
In the early part of the 5th grade, Richmond was removed from school to take a position 
as page in the House of Representatives, in the first session of the Forty-Seventh Congress, 
a place arranged for him by his father. Here he remained until the close of the session 
By intensive study for a couple of weeks before the opening of the next school term he 
was enabled to enter the 6th grade, where he remained until the opening of Congress, 
December 4fch, 1882, when he again served as page until the close of the session, on March 
3rd, 1883. He had been early designated as “ Mail Page,” an easy job, which gav6 him 
access to the two mail boxes in the House, and almost free reign over one of them. The 
Library of Congress was then in the Capitol building, and Richmond found he could with¬ 
draw almost any needed book on order from a Member of Congress. Through this 
circumstance, he had his mail box almost filled with bird books. One of the books he 
unearthed proved to be Gray’s Handlist of Genera and Species of Birds, in three volumes. 
He conceived the idea of copying the scientific names of all the birds in the world, and 
got so far as finishing the first volume of Gray’s work, but gave it up at that point as too 
onerous an undertaking, at least for a boy, inasmuch as much of his spare time in these 
years was taken up with caring for infant brothers. 
A short time before the next school term, Richmond put in some more concentrated 
work on study, and entered the 7th grade, in September, 1883, but by November he quit 
school to become a messenger in the Geological Survey, a position obtained for him bv 
his father. This was the end of his “ regular ” school work—not much for a naturalist. 
He started a course in Latin, costing 82 per week, but his father demurred at this on account 
of the expense, so he gave it up. There were many mouths to feed, with but two wage- 
earners to feed them. He bought various text-books and carried on studies in a desultory 
way for several years, and during 1886-87 took a course in topographical draughting at 
the Corcoran Scientific School, though he never made any use of this subject. 
After several false starts in bird collecting, Richmond finally began a collection in 
April, 1884, and by May, 1885, Mr. Henshaw (to whom he was taking his specimens for 
identification at that time) remarked “ You make very poor bird skins,” and offered to give 
him a lettei of introduction to a friend who was then preparing specimens at Henshaw’s 
rooms. The offer was gladly accepted, and the friend proved to be William Brewster, not only 
an accomplished ornithologist, but a skilled maker of study specimens. Richmond gained 
more information on the subject of taxidermy from him in a couple of hours than he had 
absorbed in all oi his previous experiences. His preparation of study skins improved 
rapidly thereafter. In this month (May, 1885) appeared his first paper (under initials 
oul y)> h* the Ornithologist and Oologist.” A year or two later he became acquainted with 
Bendire, the Oologist, who then had charge of the egg collection of the National Museum. 
Shortly thereafter, he gave up the gathering of eggs and presented his collection to the 
Museum. 
The year 1888 proved an eventful one. He published his first paper in tlie Auk; 
visited Montana with a Geological Survey party, got his only glimpse of western bird-life 
and made a collection of birds and mammals there ; and was elected an Associate member 
of the American Ornithologists’ Union. 
About 1889, he resigned his position in the Geological Survey and was appointed a 
pecial Agent in the Census Office, to collect statistics on mineral waters. Here he remained 
vi. 
