The Birds of Long Island (1844)

Relatively little first-hand is known of J[acob] P[ost] Giraud, Jr.‘s life, other than that he lived in New York, traveled in adjoining states, had a keen interest in ornithology, was familiar with the works of earlier authorities, and sport-hunted on Long Island. He does not appear in major biographical or bibliographical references. To appreciate Giraud’s work, one needs to place it into a time-frame. The Introduction to his opus is dated June 1843. Only a few significant books on American ornithology had been published by then. They included: Alexander Wilson’s, 9-volume American Ornithology (1808-14)John James Audubon’s 4-volume The Birds of America (1827-38) and his 5-volume Ornithological Biography (1813-39). Thomas Nuttall’s A Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and of Canada, The Water Birds (1834), and The Land Birds (1840). Giraud’s contribution followed these major, well-known contributions by only a few years, in Wilson’s case, about three decades. Further, Giraud’s Birds of Long Island must be among the very first comprehensive regional avian works. Oddly, it is relatively little known.–Henry M. Reeves.