Part 2

The Ornithology of the United States may be said to have been commenced by ALEXANDER WILSON, whose premature death prevented him from completing his labours. It is unnecessary for me to say how well he performed the task which he had imposed upon himself; for all naturalists, and many who do not aspire to the name, acknowledge his great merits. But although he succeeded in observing and obtaining a very great number of our birds, he left for others many species which he was unable to procure. These have been sought for with eagerness, and not without success, by persons who have engaged in the pursuit with equal ardour. The PRINCE OF MUSIGNANO, full of enthusiasm, having his judgment matured by long observation, and his mind stored with useful learning, collected in our woods and prairies, by our great rivers, and along our extended shores, materials sufficient for four superb volumes, intended as a continuation of WILSON’s work. THOMAS NUTTALL, equally learned and enthusiastic, next entered the field. His Manual of our Birds contains a mass of useful information, and is for the most part excellent. Many others have, in various ways, endeavoured to extend our knowledge on this subject; but with the exception of THOMAS SAY, none have published their discoveries in a connected form. Dr HARLAN has given to the world an excellent account of our Mammalia; various works on Mollusca have appeared, and at present Dr HORLBECK of Charleston is engaged in publishing an account of our Reptiles.

Along our extended frontiers I have striven to observe and gather whatever had escaped the notice of the different collectors; and now, kind Reader, to prove to you that if not so fortunate as I had wished, I yet have done all that was in my power, I present you with a third volume of Ornithological Biographies, in which you will find some account of about sixty species of Water Birds not included in the works of WILSON. These, at one season or other, are to be met with along the shores or streams of the United States. Some of them are certainly very rare, others remarkable in form and habits; but all, I trust, you will find distinct from each other, and not inaccurately described.

The difficulties which are to be encountered in studying the habits of our Water Birds are great. He who follows the feathered inhabitants of the forests and plains, however rough or tangled the paths may be, seldom fails to obtain the objects of his pursuit, provided he be possessed of due enthusiasm and perseverance. The Land Bird flits from bush to bush, runs before you, and seldom extends its flight beyond the range of your vision. It is very different with the Water Bird, which sweeps afar over the wide ocean, hovers above the surges, or betakes itself for refuge to the inaccessible rocks on the shore. There, on the smooth sea-beach, you see the lively and active Sandpiper; on that rugged promontory the Dusky Cormorant; under the dark shade of yon cypress the Ibis and Heron; above you in the still air floats the Pelican or the Swan; while far over the angry billows scour the Fulmar and the Frigate bird. If you endeavour to approach these birds in their haunts, they betake themselves to flight, and speed to places where they are secure from your intrusion.

But the scarcer the fruit, the more prized it is; and seldom have I experienced greater pleasures than when on the Florida Keys, under a burning sun, after pushing my bark for miles over a soapy flat, I have striven all day long, tormented by myriads of insects, to procure a heron new to me, and have at length succeeded in my efforts. And then how amply are the labours of the naturalist compensated, when, after observing the wildest and most distrustful birds, in their remote and almost inaccessible breeding places, he returns from his journeys, and relates his adventures to an interested and friendly audience.

I look forward to the summer of 1838 with an anxious hope that I may then be able to present you with the last plate of my Illustrations, and the concluding volume of my Biographies. To render these volumes as complete as possible, I intend to undertake a journey to the southern and western limits of the Union, with the view of obtaining a more accurate knowledge of the birds of those remote and scarcely inhabited regions. On this tour I shall be accompanied by my youngest son, while the rest of my family will remain in Britain, to direct the progress of my publication.

In concluding these prefatory remarks, I have to inform you that one of the tail-pieces in my second volume, entitled “A Moose Hunt,” was communicated to me by my young friend THOMAS LINCOLN of Dennisville in Maine; and that it was at his particular request, and much against my wishes, that his name was not mentioned at the time. I have now, however, judged it proper to make this statement.

JOHN J. AUDUBON.

EDINBURGH, 1st December 1835.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page

The Canada Goose, Anser canadensis, 1

The Red-throated Diver, Colymbus septentrionalis, 20

The Great Red-breasted Rail, Rallus elegans, 27 or Fresh-water Marsh-Hen,

The Clapper Rail, or Salt-water Rallus crepitans, 33 Marsh-Hen,

The Virginian Rail, Rallus virginianus, 41

THE AMERICAN SUN PERCH, 47

The Wood Duck, Anas Sponsa, 52

The Booby Gannet, Sula fusca, 63

The Esquimaux Curlew, Numenius borealis, 69

Wilson’s Plover, Charadrius Wilsonius, 73

The Least Bittern, Ardea exilis, 77

THE EGGERS OF LABRADOR, 82

The Great Blue Heron, Ardea Herodias, 87

The Common American Gull, Larus zonorhynchus, 98

The Puffin, Mormon arcticus, 105

The Razor-billed Auk, Alca Torda, 112

The Hyperborean Phalarope, Phalaropus hyperboreus, 118

FISHING IN THE OHIO, 122