“Here.” His voice glows; his eyes glow. “This is what I wanted to show you.” Inside are lush full-color paintings of birds. Two white falcons swoop over each other, beaks open. A bloodred flamingo holds its black-tipped beak over stagnant water. Resplendent geese stand on a headland and peer into a heavy sky. Frederick turns the pages with both hands. Pipiry flycatcher. Buff-breasted merganser. Red-cockaded woodpecker. Many of them larger in the book than in real life. “Audubon,” Frederick says, “was an American. Walked the swamps and woods for years, back when that whole country was just
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