lOT 2 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 26, 1909. 
The Earl of Derby to Audubon. 
A FRIEND sends us a letter from the Earl 
of Derby to John James Audubon, the naturalist, 
which we feel quite sure will interest ornitholo¬ 
gists. 
As is well known, the Earl of Derby and Mr. 
Audubon were on terms of considerable inti¬ 
macy. Audubon painted for Lord Derby a 
number of pictures, one of which, we believe, 
a dog and pheasants, was copied in part by the 
naturalist and may now be seen at the Ameri¬ 
can Museum of Natural History in this city. 
For the Earl of Derby was painted also a replica 
of The Eagle and Lamb, showing a golden eagle 
stooping on a lamb, both figures being life size. 
This picture is now in 
private hands in New 
York, a copy by Audu¬ 
bon is said to be also 
in the British Museum. 
This letter was writ¬ 
ten before the inven¬ 
tion of the modern 
envelope and is on a 
folded sheet sealed on 
the front and ad¬ 
dressed on the back, 
bearing the frank of 
the Earl of Derby. 
The postmark reads 
January 17, 1835. We 
reproduce the address. 
Dear Sir:— 
I received your two 
letters last night & 
hasten to thank you 
for your obliging 
readiness to aid in the 
promotion of my pur¬ 
suits on your side of 
the Waters & I have 
great hopes that by 
the assistance of your 
zealous & talented 
friends, owing to your 
recommendation, I 
may considerably suc¬ 
ceed. 
Your recommenda¬ 
tion of Dr. Harlan wouia be quite suffi¬ 
cient with me, but as I cannot as yet claim 
any, the slightest, acquaintance with him my¬ 
self & you appear desirous that it should 
not be shown to be done at your request, 
I will, with your leave, confer with Mr. 
Yarrell, on the best mode of attaining the 
object desired. 
The Snowy Owl may either be sent off from 
London at once by the Liverpool Umpire Coach 
which will deposit it on the following day at 
Prescot at a Publican of the name of Harry 
Holihead (an old servant of mine) who will 
forward it immediately to me at this place, or 
it may be given into the charge of Mr. Fuller 
at the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, to 
be forwarded as quickly as possible to me, 
which will I doubt not be done in the same way 
as I have pointed out above. ■ 
I have hardly yet had time to look over the 
Catalogue you sent me with any care but I see 
one which I shd certainly wish to obtain (the 
Tetrao obscurus) & I am almost sure there are 
about a dozen or so more, which I can not now 
positively specify. 
Did I in my last inform you that I have ven¬ 
tured to differ with you, tho’ with diffidence 
on one of the Articles in your Work? I mean 
the Labrador Falcon which is well figured in 
the plate, but, (/ think improperly,) in the Text, 
referred to the European Peregrine. I reed 
I think in 1833 two Birds which I could not 
then refer to any species; they were young, or 
rather immature and purchased by me from the 
person (but thro’ an intervening Channel) who 
had brought them, or said he had from No. 
America. Being confined together in too small 
a Cage one of them attacked & eat the other 
all but the Head. The survivor is still living. 
& having more room remains very quietly in 
company with two common Buzzards & two 
Peregrines of 1834 Male & Female. It is cer¬ 
tainly larger than either of them, & tho’ with 
much the same air does not agree in plumage 
with any adult specimens of Peregrines that I 
have ever seen, but accords very well with your 
Labrador. When Gould formerly saw my Bird 
he fancied it wd prove a Gyrfalcon (in which 
I could not agree) but in his late Visit acknowl¬ 
edged his mistake. 
I have this moment rec’d from Havell your 
47th No. (ending with the 235th plate) as well 
as the 4th No. of Mr. Swainson’s Birds of 
Brasil. Will you be kind enough to let Mr. 
Havell know this, & tell him to send me in his 
Bill that it may be paid. 
Is your tufted Duck (rufitorques) a new 
species or is it what Wilson calls the Raft 
Duck. I own I consider it different from our 
English Tufted. 
Yours very truly, 
Derby. 
Australian Furs. 
According to the report of Henry D. Baker, 
United States Consul, at Hobart, Tasmania, 
there is now an opportunity for establishing 
direct trade relations between Tasmanian fur 
dealers and importers in the United States. At 
present the Tasmanian furs pass through Mel¬ 
bourne and Sidney, Australia, to London and 
are imported thence to the United States. The 
prices of kangaroos, wallabies and opossums are 
higher now than ever before. The animals are 
becoming scarcer in Tasmania and are now pro¬ 
tected on the Crown lands. It is believed that 
American fur buyers could make a considerable 
saving if they would purchase their skins direct 
from Tasmania. 
The following ex- 
G tract from a letter 
from a Tasmanian 
merchant is of in¬ 
terest : 
“It is always admitted 
that our furriers’ skins, 
presumably on account 
of ours being the cold¬ 
est climate in Aus¬ 
tralia, carry the best 
coating of fur and are 
of a richer color than 
any other similar skins 
in Australia, and yet 
most of these are 
either bought by the 
m a i nl a n d merchants 
and shipped to London 
or shipped direct to 
London from here, 
and eventually a num¬ 
ber of them find their 
way to the United 
States. Direct trade 
with the United States 
could b e developed 
with better results to 
the manufacturer and 
more profit to our¬ 
selves, as the saving in 
shipping charges alone 
amount to consider¬ 
able. Our furs are 
taken and are available here from April to July, 
and this firm will be pleased to give full in¬ 
formation relative to the trade and also submit 
sample skins to prospective importers.” 
Rabbits, which have been such a frightful pest 
in Australia, devastating whole farming and 
grazing districts, especially in the States of 
Victoria and New South Wales, are now com¬ 
ing to be ,a source of revenue to the colony. 
During the past five years more than 41.000,000 
frozen rabbits have been exported from Vic¬ 
toria, mainly to England, while more than 98.- 
000,000 skins were exported besides 5,000,000 
locally consumed. The United States has an 
interest in this matter since the consular in¬ 
voices show that the export of rabbit skins direct 
to the United States has increased from $2,754 
in 1904 to $243,382 in 1908. 
As well understood, the first rabbits were im¬ 
ported to Australia fifty or sixty years ago to 
be bred for shooting. They multiplied so rapidly, 
however, that as far back as 1880 measures had 
to be taken to control their increase. 
THE EAGLE AND THE LAMB. 
Painting by John James Audubon. 
