Identifier: audubonhisjourna02audu (find matches)
Title: Audubon and his journals
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Audubon, John James, 1785-1851 Audubon, Maria Rebecca, 1843-1925 Coues, Elliott, 1842-1899
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: New York, Scribner's Sons
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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mentsand positions peculiar to them. Amongst the water-birds also I found characteristic manners. I observedthat the Herons walked with elegance and stateliness,that, in fact, every family had some mark by which itcould be known; and, after having collected many ideasand much material of this kind, I fairly began, in greaterearnest than ever, the very collection of Birds of America,which is now being published. The better I understood my subjects, the better I be-came able to represent them in what I hoped were naturalpositions. The bird once fixed with wires on squares, Istudied as a lay figure before me, its nature, previouslyknown to me as far as habits went, and its general formhaving been frequently observed. Now I could examinemore thoroughly the bill, nostrils, eyes, legs, and claws,as well as the structure of the wings and tail; the verytongue was of importance to me, and I thought the moreI understood all these particulars, the better representa-tions I made of the originals.
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AUDU150N. FROM A PENCIL SKETCH AFTER DEATH, B\- JOHN WOODHOUSE AUDUBON.January 28, 1851, EPISODES 527 My drawings at first were made altogether in water-colors, but they wanted softness and a great deal of finish.For a long time I was much dispirited at this, particu-larly when vainly endeavoring to imitate birds of softand downy plumage, such as that of most Owls, Pigeons,Hawks, and Herons. How this could be remedied re-quired a new train of thought, or some so-called accident,and the latter came to my aid. One day, after having finished a miniature portrait ofthe one dearest to me in all the world, a portion of theface was injured by a drop of water, which dried where itfell; and although I labored a great deal to repair thedamage, the blur still remained. Recollecting that, whena pupil of David, I had drawn heads and figures indifferent colored chalks, I resorted to a piece of thatmaterial of the tint required for the part, applied the pig-ment, rubbed the place with a cork stump,

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