Upon returning to London in May of 1827, John James Audubon met with John George Children (1777-1852), the secretary of the Royal Society of London, about presenting the drawings for Birds of America to King George IV (1762-1830). The access Children had to the king was through a friendship with the person serving as the royal optometrist, Sir J. Walthen Waller (1769-1853). As the king was considering subscribing to Birds of America, he asked that Audubon include Sauve Qui Peut, one of the extremely few drawings that Audubon painted. Without Children advising him that he was making too great of a sacrifice, Audubon would have likely been glad to toss in his valuable painting in order to gain such a coveted subscription to Birds of America. Sauve Qui Peut hangs today in New York City in the entry hall at the Racquet and Tennis Club on Park Avenue. It is known neither to whom Audubon sold the painting nor for how much.
While exploring the Gulf of Mexico in the spring of 1837, Audubon discovered for science a bird that he named in honor of John George Children. For the later octavo edition of Birds of America, the male Children’s warbler is re-identified as the Yellow-poll wood-warbler. The Yellow-poll wood-warbler is commonly known today as the Northern Yellow warbler (Setophaga aestiva). The female Children’s warbler in the first edition does not reappear in the later octavo edition.