Duchesses and other Animals
- Given by
- Not stated
- Protagonist
- Not stated
- Chain position
- Not stated
- Unlocked after
- Not stated
- Locations
- North of Saint Denis, Bayou Nwa, Lemoyne
- Target
- Not stated
- Rewards
- Not stated
- Unlocks
- Not stated
- Counter value
- Not required for 100%
Player notes
Arthur visits Algernon Wasp at his greenhouse north of Saint Denis after meeting him at the mayor's party. Algernon tries to interest him in extravagant clothes and a statue, then explains that he needs rare materials for his work. He gives Arthur a list calling for Little, Reddish and Snowy Egret plumes, along with Lady of the Night Orchids from Bayou Nwa.
Arthur returns with the first collection, and Algernon says it is for the Duchess of Sorrento before paying him and producing another commission. Arthur gathers Heron plumes, Lady Slipper Orchids and Moccasin Orchids for Baroness von Buckwald. The next order, intended for Contessa Di Bellagio, sends him into Lemoyne's wetlands for Gator Eggs, Acuna's Star, Cigar and Ghost Orchids.
After Arthur completes that order, Algernon calls the Contessa a terrible hag, tries to give him a flamboyant hat, and sets him to collect Spoonbill plumes and several more orchids for a New York girl's cabinet. Arthur brings those materials back to find Algernon distracted by his feelings for the Contessa. His final request is for Clamshell, Queen's, Sparrow Egg and Dragon's Mouth Orchids. When Arthur returns, Algernon reveals that the Contessa has married a postman. He offers Arthur his revolver and asks to be killed, but Arthur refuses. After a brief struggle, Algernon lets him keep the gun and gives him an Exotic Hat.
Trivia
- โIf the player starts to collect orchids before they're requested during the related part of this mission, in most cases they will de-spawn (disappear from the game) after a certain number of orchids of the same species has been reached. These numbers for every species are equal to the numbers of orchids in future Algernon's requests minus one (for example, all Acuna's Star Orchids will de-spawn after only 2 of them have been collected prior to the 3rd Request, and all Cigar Orchids will disappear after 6 collected plants). Some of the orchids won't de-spawn, but it is impossible to predict which ones, since this is completely random and varies between different players and different playthroughs. The orchids of any given species will re-spawn only after they appear in one of Algernon's requests during his side mission. So the player will have to collect only one last orchid of all requested species as soon as the task is assigned (except the ones that haven't de-spawned). This way the entire mission can be completed very quickly (if the player already collected all possible plumes, eggs and orchids along the game prior to this side mission).
- โThere's no point in collecting more than 5 plumes of each Egret species, since no one in the game buys them except Algernon during his quest. Excess Heron and Spoonbill plumes and Gator eggs can be sold to butchers for a nice profit.
- โEven when tasks are completed blisteringly fast, the cutscenes will always play as though a couple of days have passed between each of the assignments.
- โThe structure of this side mission in the Complete Official Guide is incorrect and doesn't match the parts of the mission and the tasks numbering in the game โ for some reason, Part I is split in two, so the 1st request is considered "Stage II" and this shift is continued with all subsequent tasks.
- โAlgernon's request for flowers is a reference to Daniel Keyes' short story Flowers for Algernon.
- โThe name of this mission is probably a reference to Gerald Durrell's book My Family and Other Animals.
This mission shares a wiki page with others in its chain, so page-level facts are not attributed to it.
Stranger quest data from Red Dead Wiki, CC BY-SA. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games.
Last verified September 14, 2026