Bird-Lore
A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS
Official Organ of the Audubon Societies
| Vol. IV | January—February, 1902 | No. 1 |
Recollections of Elliott Coues
Coues as a Young Man
BY D. G. ELLIOT
THE youth of most persons who, in later life, may have attained a prominent position in the career—whether scientific or not—that may have been selected, possesses, doubtless to many, a particular interest, even though perhaps no personal acquaintance with the individual may have been formed. Those who have gained a creditable reputation, whether as facile writers, or independent investigators in science, or as actors in stirring deeds of bravery, or hardships overcome, excite the admiration and serve as a stimulant to others to go and do likewise.
It was probably impelled by some such thought as that just expressed that induced the editor of Bird-Lore to request me to give to its readers a brief account of my recollections of Elliott Coues as a youth, before the ability that was in him had been generally recognized; and of necessity I may write only of that which is faintly reminiscent, for the mist of years partly hides from memory the days when Coues and the writer were boys together, and the great majority of the letters received from him during his youth, and from which much that would have illustrated his early methods of expression and energetic temperament, have long since been destroyed. Those who knew Coues, even in later life, must have been impressed by the intensity of the interest exhibited by him when speaking upon some subject that was congenial, and which was a matter of daily thought. How the bright eye grew brighter and more penetrating, the attention fixed and earnest, while the well-phrased sentences fell from his lips with a facile flow that was admirable. This faculty, that was noticeable to everyone who listened to him in his prime, was eminently characteristic of him even in his college days, and his letters at that time were remarkable for the keenness of the reasoning exhibited and the ingenuity of the various arguments employed. Good temper in
