The Voyage of La Pérouse 1785-1788
The ships then made their way to the west coast of America. La Pérouse wrote of California: "the fertility of this land is …beyond words." He was similarly impressed with the fauna, and mentions particularly the wide variety of birds observed there.
"Pair of Partridges, of California." from Voyage de La Pérouse Autour du Monde. Paris: Imp. de la République, 1797.
"Our ornithologists stuffed several varieties of sparrows, blue jays, tits, spotted woodpeckers, orioles; among birds of prey we saw the white-headed eagle, the great and the small falcon, the goshawk, the sparrow-hawk, the black vulture, the eagle owl and the raven …"
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