Reports of Explorations & Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable & Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, . . . in 1854-5. Volume IX. General Reports Upon Zoology of Several Railroad Routes Birds

4to [30 x 24 cm]; lvi, 1005 pp, numerous tables, index. contemporary leather-backed boards, rubbed, edge wear, joint cracking but strong, spine title lettering faded, interior is quite clean and very good. A picture of this book is available upon request by email. This report was reprinted verbatim for the Cassin bird book, The Birds of North America, published 1860, that became a classic work on the birds of the western US. Zimmer 646: 'The most important work on North American birds up to its date since Audubon and Wilson. The work consist of a critical, descriptive account of all the birds of North America, north of Mexico, and is not restricted to the species collected by the Pacific Railroad Surveys'. Hasse p. 62. Goetzmann, Army Exploration in the American West: 'The massive volumes of the Pacific Railroad Reports represented the combined efforts of the topographical engineers and a sizable contingent of the country's foremost scientists. Not since Napoleon had taken his company of savants into Egypt had the world seen such an assemblage of scientists and technicians marshaled under one banner'.