personal insult, played off my batteries against the craft. At last, the commodore walked up to me, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, and told me in a resolute manner, that if I had intended to insult the navy, he would instantly cut off my ears. His features exhibited all the spirit and animation of his noble nature, and as I had now succeeded in rousing the lion, I judged it time to retreat. So, changing my tone, I begged his pardon, and told him he now looked precisely as I wished to represent him. He laughed, and returning to his seat, assumed a bold countenance, and so, Sir, see the picture!"

From New Orleans, Audubon proceeded again to London, where he was presented with a diploma from the Royal Society. In addition, he received a general letter of recommendation to authorities in the British Colonies from the Duke of Sussex, with many of a similar nature from Lord Stanley and others.

In August he proceeded a second time to the United States, and landed at New York, where he passed a few days before proceeding to Philadelphia.

Everywhere he was received with honors and courtesies. Subscriptions and diplomas were lavished upon him, and at Washington he was presented by the government with numerous letters of assistance and protection along the frontier, which it was his intention to visit. After a visit to Charleston, he sailed for Florida, where he wintered during 1831.

In that fertile and beautiful country, where the Naturalist may luxuriate midst the rare abundance of curious and interesting objects, with which it is en

dowed, Audubon willingly loitered. While sojourning there, many important additions to his collection were made. Wandering on the beach, fenced by its beautiful coral, stretching like a giant wall along the shore, he could at leisure contemplate rising from the clear depths of the water, its curious inhabitants glittering in a thousand richly spangled dyes, emulating the sea itself in the exquisite harmony of their colouring. Raising his gaze, he could look upon the glowing Flamingo, the rosy-hued Curlew, the snowy Ibis, the purple Heron, and the dusky Cormorant and Pelican. Or in the interior, midst tangled groves, dazzling with gorgeous flowers, strange plants, and luxuriant trees, where the pure salubrious air, impregnated with fragrance, steals like balmy breath along, he was greeted by gayer songsters, gambolling among the bushes, or gliding over the fresh green waters.

Continually some strange aerial pilgrim, with which he was unacquainted, would gladden his sight. With the various species of doves to be met with in Florida, he was particularly delighted. The peculiarly gentle and loving disposition of these sweet birds, the constancy of their attachment to each other, and the anxious care exhibited by them for their young, are all characteristics which render them of especial interest. For Audubon, moreover, there existed associations with them, which had for him an irresistible charm, which, doubtless led him to ask as he does with an exquisite sensibility and simplicity, "Who can approach a sitting dove, hear its notes of remonstrance, or feel the feeble stroke of its wings, without

being convinced that he is committing a wrong act ?" His first attempt at drawing had been from the preserved specimen of a dove. Of this he had often been reminded, too young at the time of his first essay to remember it in after years himself.

The Fenaida dove, a visitor to East Florida from the West India Islands, is remarkable for the indescribably plaintive tenderness of its cooing. So touching is its utterance, that even to the heart, hardened by a life of crime, it is irresistible.

A notorious pirate, linked with a band of desperadoes, who menaced the Florida coast, chancing to hear its soft melancholy notes, lingered till feelings to which he had long been a stranger, subdued his spirit, and melted it to repentance. It was effectual too, for resolved to lead a different career for the future, at the cost of difficulty and danger, he effected his escape and returned like the prodigal to a rejoicing home.

The male bird which first appears in Florida, may be heard cooing for his companion for about a week before she arrives. They choose for their resting place spots thickly covered with grasses and low shrubs, in the heart of which they form their nests, glad if protected in addition by a hedge of sturdy mangroves. This meek, unambitious bird seldom soars high, and when crossing the sea flies close over the surface of the water. Though so timid, they are confiding, and will permit a person's near approach. Thus Audubon, once hoped to become the possessor of one alive, and imagined himself on the point of a triumphant capture, when the dove turned upon him her beautiful eye, and

he found that his intention was discovered. Gently she glided aside in her nest, then suddenly took to wing. Hovering around, she would alight within a few yards of her beloved nest-her wings drooping in sorrow, and her whole form trembling as if from severe cold. "Who could bear such a scene of despair?" exclaims Audubon. "I left the mother in security with her offspring."

In the morning, while concealed beneath some low spreading branch, her love-notes are given forth. Then, when with the freshness of the morn, the opening flowers spread out all their fragrance, and the sun with increasing ardor glances through the evergreen, thickly leaved oaks, to escape which the owl swiftly flying close over the earth, hastens to his retreat, and the heavy winged bat undulates through the dewy air, then the melodious accents of her most enchanting voice may best be heard.

The Ground Dove, closely resembling the Fenaida Dove in its habits, is another visitor of the middle portions of the East Florida coast. But the most beautiful, perhaps, of all its species is the Key West Pigeon, first seen by Audubon at the place after which it is named. "How I gazed," he tells us, "on its resplendent plumage !-how I watched the expression of its richly coloured, large, and timid eye, as the poor creature gasped its last breath. Ah! how I looked at the lovely bird, I handled it, turned it, examined its feathers and form, its bill, its legs, its claws, weighed it, and after a while formed a winding sheet for it of a piece of paper. Did ever Egyptian

pharmacopolist employ more care in embalming the most illustrious of the Pharaohs, than I did, in trying to preserve from injury this most beautiful of the woodland covers. The brilliant plumage of these birds glitters with the most magnificent ever changing metallic hues, and appears especially splendid when they are seen in flocks of from five to six at a time, performing their low, swift, protracted flight, hovering so closely over the surface of the sea, as to seem on the point of falling into it, or speeding to escape danger, towards the forests.

Early in the morning they emerge from the thickets to cleanse themselves in the shelly sands, surrounding the numerous islands, which protect, like fortifications the Florida shore.

They usually prefer the darkest solitudes for their habitations.