ere AU NE 8 Utes EN, 35 
In 1904, he was married to Margaret E. Sumner, of Ithaca, and their 
home was made “‘above Cayuga’s waters” at the edge of the Cornell 
campus. There are two children, Sumner and Mary, to whom he was a 
most devoted father. His studio, which was detached but adjacent to 
his house in Ithaca, was a Mecca for prominent ornithologists from all 
parts of the country and a house of wonders to students of Cornell and 
other young people of the community. In it he kept not only his studies 
and sketches but an interesting assortment of curios and souvenirs 
picked up on his travels to various parts of the world. There was also 
his very choice collection of bird skins which, although it did not exceed 
4,000 specimens in number, was especially selected and rounded out to 
meet the exacting needsof his work. Thiscollection was largely the result 
of his own field work, birds that fell to his own gun, and were preserved 
by his own hand. 
In his earlier years, Fuertes sometimes said half jestingly that he was 
an ornithologist first and a painter afterward. His genius as a painter 
will never be denied, but it is plain that his supremacy in his field was 
gained by many qualities besides mere skill as a draughtsman and 
colorist. His knowledge of birds was exceedingly extensive and, in some 
respects, almost profound. It was obtained mainly through direct 
contact with the subject. Probably it is not too much to say that 
Fuertes had a wider acquaintance with living birds in the field than any 
painter that ever lived. This was because he sought them out, not 
primarily to paint them but to know them and to enjoy them, often at 
the sacrifice of time and money. It was characteristic of him to do 
field work under various auspices. A general favorite himself, he played 
no favorites and was persona grata in all quarters. His first long trip 
was with the Harriman-Alaska Expedition; later he joined a party from 
the U.S. Biological Survey for work in Texas and New Mexico; and for 
several seasons he was associated with his friend Dr. Frank M. Chap- 
man, in expeditions for the American Museum of Natural History to 
Canada, Mexico and South America. He also visited California, Flor- 
ida and the West Indies. His last and longest journey was as ornitholo- 
gist and artist of Field Museum’s recent expedition to Abyssinia, where 
he personally collected and prepared no less than one thousand birds 
and made about one hundred paintings and sketches. 
The affiliations which he made with different institutions were 
mutually advantageous and usually soarranged that he retained originals 
of sketches and paintings for himself while specimens collected were 
shared, but so conscientious was he that what some might have con- 
sidered his own interest was often neglected. He was a good shot, an 
ardent collector, and had such an inexpressible joy in the living bird 
and its surroundings that he would forget everything else including his 
painting. His day in the field was so occupied with hunting, observing 
and preparing specimens that he rarely had time for painting, even 
