
Birds of America
A short post to commemorate the death on this day (27 January) of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon (1785 – 1851). Audubon was born in Haiti, spent much of his childhood in France, and emigrated to America, initially to run his father's 284 acre farm in Mill Grove, about 20 miles from Philadelphia. Audubon had been fascinated by birds since childhood and he began his study of them in earnest at Mill Grove. He also met his wife, Lucy Bakewell, there. Audubon had the