Birds of New York: Memoir 12, New York State Museum, New York State Education Department [Volume I ONLY]

Albany, NY: University of the State of New York, 1910. Presumed first edition/first printing. Hardcover. Fair. No dust jacket. Cover worn and stained. Front board weak. Plate 42 is Passenger Pigeon in color.. Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. 501 plus unpag. p. Includes: illustrations, maps, index. Volume I ONLY. Fold-out. Numberous full page color plates. Stamp of "Compliments of Humphrey E. Slocum, Member of the Assembly" on fep. Explanation of Plates. This volume is on Water Birds. In 1914 the author published the second volume on Land Birds. From Wikipedia: "Elon Howard Eaton (sometimes Elon Eton; 8 October 1866 27 March 1934) was an American ornithologist, scholar, and author. He was born in the Town of Collins near Springville, New York, the son of Lucien Eaton and Sophie Newton. As a youth, he took a taxidermy course in Buffalo, New York, where he prepared wildlife he had taken in the field with his shotgun. Eaton was home-schooled and self taught in rural southern Erie County, although he also attended the Griffith Institute in nearby Springville. He attended the University of Rochester where he graduated in 1890 with a B.A. Subsequently, Eaton received an M. A (1893), M. Sc. (1911) and Sc.D. (1927), all from Rochester. After teaching science in local schools, he attended Columbia University (1899 1900) for additional graduate work, studying paleontology under Henry Fairfield Osborn. Eaton established the biology department in Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 1908, where he taught until his death. He was the New York State ornithologist from 1908 to 1911. Each May he led a group of students and fellow ornithologists on a bird survey of Potter Swamp. Part of the delay between volume one and volume two of "Birds of New York" was due to his marriage in 1909 to Gertrude Yeames and a heart attack in 1913. The publication of this work elicited many letters to Eaton, including one from the then-young Roger Tory Peterson. In 1915, Eaton later married second time, to Ester Woodman. His two marriages produced four children. Elon Eaton also enjoyed a sporting life. Game taken in the field Eaton prepared himself for dinner parties. Eaton died in Geneva, New York of atherosclerosis." From Wikipedia: "Louis Agassiz Fuertes (February 7, 1874 Ithaca, New York August 22, 1927 Unadilla, New York) was an American ornithologist, illustrator and artist. He set new standards for ornithological art and is considered as one of the most prolific American bird artists after John James Audubon. He made thousands of bird paintings and sketches, based on studies in nature and details from fresh specimens, that illustrate a range of ornithological works. He died in a car accident near New York, shortly after returning from an expedition to Abyssinia. His name is commemorated in two species. One, a species described by Frank Chapman as Icterus fuertesi although now considered a subspecies of the Orchard Oriole. The other, Fuertes's Parrot, or Hapalopsittaca fuertesi, was rediscovered in 2002 after 91 years of presumed extinction. He influenced several other wildlife artists after him, apart from mentoring George Miksch Sutton. The Wilson Ornithological Society instituted an award in his memory in 1947."