rway
rats had taken possession of the whole, and reared a young family among
the gnawed bits of paper, which, but a month previous, represented
nearly a thousand inhabitants of air! The burning heat which instantly
rushed through my brain was too great to be endured without affecting
my whole nervous system. I slept not for several nights, and the days
passed like days of oblivion;--until, the animal powers being recalled
into action through the strength of my constitution, I took up my gun,
my note-book, and my pencils, and went forth to the woods as gayly as if
nothing had happened. I felt pleased that I might now make better
drawings than before; and ere a period not exceeding three years had
elapsed, my portfolio was again filled."

[Illustration: J.J. AUDUBON.]

In 1826 he sailed for Europe to exhibit his newly collected treasures to
foreign ornithologists. He succeeded in obtaining pecuniary aid in
publishing the work, and plates were made in England. The book was
published in New York in four volumes (elephant folio) in 1830-39. The
birds are life-size. 'The American Ornithological Biography,' which is
the text for the plates, was published in Edinburgh, 1831-39, in five
octavo volumes. Accompanied by his two sons he started on new
excursions, which resulted in 'The Quadrupeds of America,' with a
'Biography of American Quadrupeds,' both published at Philadelphia,
beginning in 1840. During that year he built a house for himself in the
upper part of New York, in what is now called Audubon Park, and died
there January 27th, 1851.

Audubon's descriptive text is not unworthy of his plates: his works are
far from being mere tenders to picture-books. He is full of enthusiasm,
his descriptions of birds and animals are vivid and realizing, and his
adventures are told with much spirit and considerable literary skill,
though some carelessness of syntax.

A DANGEROUS ADVENTURE

From 'The American Ornithological Biography'

On my return from the Upper Mississippi, I found myself obliged to cross
one of the wide prairies which, in that portion of the United States,
vary the appearance of the country. The weather was fine, all around me
was as fresh and blooming as if it had just issued from the bosom of
nature. My knapsack, my gun, and my dog, were all I had for baggage and
company. But although well moccasined, I moved slowly along, attracted
by the brilliancy of the flowers, and the gambols of the fawns around
thei