Ornithological biography, Vol. 3 (of 5) — A Closer Reading

A Gull's Annual Return

The account of the Great Black-backed Gull occupies several pages and is one of the volume's most sustained narratives. Audubon describes how the bird, initially thought to be a Lesser Black-backed Gull, was kept in his garden, where it became tame enough to follow the servant Peggy Oliver and beg for food. After two molts, its true identity emerged. The gull began a pattern of wintering at Canonmills and departing each spring, returning with remarkable regularity for at least eight years. Audubon records specific dates: arrival on 26 October 1829, departure after a young gull was shot on the loch, and a reappearance on 30 October 1830. The bird's absence in 1832 is noted with disappointment. This narrative reveals Audubon's willingness to invest years in following a single bird's life, and his readiness to infer emotional states—the gull 'reproaching us for cruelty' after the shooting, or 'forgetting the injury' by the next autumn.

Tensions Between Taming and Wildness

The gull story also highlights a recurring tension in Audubon's work: the desire to observe birds closely versus the recognition that they remain wild creatures. The gull was tamed, but its wings were not clipped, and it retained the ability to fly away. Audubon notes that after the death of his protectress in 1828, the gull 'became more distant in his manners.' The bird's comings and goings were voluntary, and its attachment to the garden seemed conditional. When a young gull (likely its offspring) was shot, the old gull abandoned the site for that winter. Yet it returned the following year. This pattern of approach and withdrawal, of trust and caution, mirrors Audubon's own position as a naturalist who must balance intimacy with detachment. The anecdote is not merely charming; it is a case study in the limits of domestication and the persistence of instinct.

Narrative Voice and Scientific Credibility

Audubon's prose in this volume oscillates between the formal language of natural history and a more personal, almost novelistic style. In the gull account, he includes direct speech from his servant—'Sir, Big Gull is come back!'—and records his own emotional responses: 'I of course gave up all expectation of ever hearing more of it.' These touches lend immediacy but also raise questions about reliability. Audubon is careful to note that the gull's recognition of its old friend the heron was something he was 'firmly persuaded' of, not a proven fact. He also admits that the manner of the gull's first disappearance 'has now escaped my memory.' Such admissions of uncertainty are scattered through the text, suggesting a naturalist aware of the limits of his evidence. The volume thus offers not only data but a portrait of the observer himself—fallible, hopeful, and deeply invested in the lives he chronicles.

Readers approaching this volume will find that Audubon's method rewards patience. The detailed species accounts are interspersed with 'delineations of American scenery and manners,' as the subtitle promises, but the most memorable passages are often those where the author's personal involvement with a single bird or place becomes visible. The gull narrative, in particular, shows how Audubon's ornithology was shaped by long-term acquaintance and a willingness to let the subject dictate the story's pace. To read this volume is to watch a naturalist at work, recording not just facts but the texture of a life spent watching.

I've always treasured that third volume, how the old naturalist let that Great Black-backed Gull settle into his garden year after year, patient as ink drying. It makes me recall the quieter beginnings in Ornithological biography, Vol. 1 (of 5) — Story, Setting & Ideas, where such faithful returns first felt possible. Some friendships simply wait between the pages.