to take on the costs of producing an 800-page work with maps and illustrations, and the work was not released until 1928, when the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish agreed to print and distribute the work. Originally, the Biological Survey requested that both Cooke and Merriam be listed as authors, which Merriam resisted. Ultimately, her revisions to even Cooke's original work were seen as a significant enough contribution that she was listed as the sole author, with Cooke credited in the introduction. Two years later, Vernon Bailey published a companion piece to his wife's work, titled Mammals of New Mexico. Later life and death When they were not traveling, the Baileys resided in Washington, D.C., spending their final years at a house on 1834 Kalorama Road. Visitors recalled their home as ornately decorated with memorabilia gathered on their travels. The centerpiece of their home was a portrait of the Bengal tiger living then at the National Zoological Park. Painted by wildlife artist Charles R. Knight, Merriam bequeathed the painting to the Smithsonian Institution upon her death, and it now resides in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Their Washington home was the subject of many dinner parties for naturalists, including Alice Eastwood, Clarence Birdseye, and fellow naturalist couple Olaus and Margaret Murie. The Baileys never had children together: Merriam had married late, and her pregnancies had ended in miscarriage, but she loved children and worked with them through various regional and national associations, including the Boy Scouts of America, the Playground and Recreation Association of America, the National Housing Association, the National Child Labor Committee, and the Working Boys' Home in Washington. Merriam was also a devoted aunt to her grand-nieces Floddie and Deirdre, helping the former to enroll in George Washington University when she could not attend Smith. Part of Merriam's mission was to educate children on wildlife preservation and observation. She hoped that the introduction of nature study into elementary and secondary classrooms would help children to learn about bird study and protection in school settings, which would encourage them to continue environmental study. Outside of the public school classroom, Merriam began teaching birding courses at the National Zoo in 1903. Her first class attracted only 15 students, but by 1913, over a dozen teachers were instructing over 100 students. Although Birds of New Mexico seemed poised to be Merriam's magnum opus, she continued writing into the