Anyone looking for a chronicle of the American wilderness in its infancy would do well to start here. There is great charm in the journals of 1820, where the spellings are still Audubon's own, and the flavor of the times -- especially regarding life on the frontier, and concerning everyday life in old New Orleans -- is everywhere. With his "Bird Biographies" of everyday varieties, as well as descriptions of now-extinct species, such as the Carolina Parakeet, and Ivory Billed Woodpeckers, this book is a treasure not just for nature lovers and bird aficianados, but for lovers of history as well.