Elliott Coues

Biography

Elliott Coues combined his service as an Army surgeon with a passion for natural history, producing landmark works on North American birds and mammals that remain influential to this day. His careful field notes, checklists, and editing of scientific journals helped professionalize ornithology in the late nineteenth century.

Even after leaving active military service he remained a tireless writer and advocate for conservation, and travelers to Arlington National Cemetery may pay tribute to a scholar whose devotion to study paralleled his patriotism.