severance. 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 scorn* 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.
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 H o R Lr
BECK 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 lie be possessed of due enthusiasm and per