Save the Audobon Octavo!

Today is a very special day for Roswell Eldridge, who's made it a mission in life to help keep the books of John James Audobon intact. (The nature artist's gorgeous pictures are removed from his books and sold for 4-figure sums). Eldridge prefers to make digital copies of the art and keep the endangered Octavos - those books that combine art and text - intact.

To mark Audobon's 222nd birthday, Eldridge is throwing a 24 hour virtal party. The festivities begin at www.audubonoctavos.com, with a colorful 2 minute slideshow explaining the plight of the lesser spotted Octavo; then visitors can skip to Eldridge's main site, where he's holding a draw for a signed, framed, Eldridge-Audubon Print of either the Whooping Crane or the Sandhill Crane.