. The bird . ok,exhibiting both race, and the egg,the nest, the forest, the very land-scape, is a rivalry with nature. These great observers have onespeciality which separates them fromall others. Their feeling is so deli-cate, so precise, that no generalitiescoidd satisfy it; they must alwaysexamine the individual. God, 1think, knows nothing of our classifi-cations : he created such and such acreature, and gives but little heed tothe imaginary lines with which weisolate the species. In the samemanner, Wilson knew nothing ofbirds in the mass; but such an in-dividual, of such an age, with suchp
. The bird . ok,exhibiting both race, and the egg,the nest, the forest, the very land-scape, is a rivalry with nature. These great observers have onespeciality which separates them fromall others. Their feeling is so deli-cate, so precise, that no generalitiescoidd satisfy it; they must alwaysexamine the individual. God, 1think, knows nothing of our classifi-cations : he created such and such acreature, and gives but little heed tothe imaginary lines with which weisolate the species. In the samemanner, Wilson knew nothing ofbirds in the mass; but such an in-dividual, of such an age, with suchplumage, in such circumstances. Heknows it, has seen it, has seen itagain and again, and he will tell youwhat it does, what it eats, how itcomports itself, and will relate certainadventures, certain anecdotes of itslife. I knew a woodpecker. Ihave frequently seen a he uses these expressions, youmay wholly trust yourself to him ;they mean that he has held close relations with them in a species of. 126 THE HERONRIES OF AMERICA. liiendly and family intimacy. Would that we knew the men withwhom we transact business as well as Wilson knew the bird qua,or the heron of the Carolinas ! It is easily understood, and not difficult to imagine, that whenthis bird-man returned among men, he met with none that couldcomprehend him. His peculiarly novel originality, his marvellousexactness, his unique faculty of individualization (the only meansof re-making of re-creating the living being), were the chief obstaclesto his success. Neither publishers nor public cared for more thannoble, lofty, and vague generalities, in faithful observance of Buffonsprecept: To generalize is to ennoble; therefore, adopt the word general. It required time, and, more than all, it required that tliis fertilegenius should after his death inspire a similar genius, the accurate andpatient Audubon, whose colossal work has astonished and subjugatedthe public, by demonstrating that the true and li\dng in rep
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