1930s. The National Park Service published her last substantial work, Among the Birds of Grand Canyon National Park, in 1939, when Merriam was 76 years old. She also received a number of honors, beginning in 1929, when the American Ornithologists' Union elected Merriam their first female Fellow. Two years later, she became the first woman to receive the Brewster Medal, awarded biennially to the writer of the most important ornithological work on birds of the Western Hemisphere. In 1933, the University of New Mexico awarded Merriam an honorary doctorate. Vernon Bailey retired from the U.S. Biological Survey in 1933 after 46 years of service, believing that it was time for a younger man to take over the position. After her husband's retirement, Merriam resigned from the Committee on Bird Protection and the couple attempted to retire in Twin Oaks. This was short-lived, as Florence was unhappy in their desert home, and they soon returned to Washington. Vernon and Florence took their final trip together in 1941, traveling to Upstate New York to see the aurora borealis. Vernon Bailey died in June 1942, after which Florence lived quietly. On September 22, 1948, at the age of 85, Merriam died of myocardial degeneration in her Washington home. She was buried in Locust Grove. Legacy Many of Merriam's works were designed not for scientists but for amateur birdwatchers, and works such as Birds of Village and Field became popular guides for birders. Her works often incorporated the studies of both professional ornithologists like Frank M. Chapman, Robert Ridgway, and Theodore Sherman Palmer, but they also used the observations of amateurs who observed birds on their property and in their neighborhoods. Her works were designed to invest the public in appreciating wildlife, and in turn birdwatching became a popular hobby. Science writer Paul Henry Oehser referred to Merriam as "one of the most literary ornithologists of her time", while Robert Welker classified her with Miller, Mabel Osgood Wright, and Neltje Blanchan as the four most important female authors of bird books in the nineteenth century. Parus gambeli baileyae, a subspecies of mountain chickadee from the mountains of Southern California, is named after Merriam. Joseph Grinnell identified the species in 1908, giving it the common name Mrs. Bailey's Chickadee as well as its scientific name. Merriam thanked Grinnell for the recognition, writing to him in a letter, "Parus has always been one of my favorite