THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 257 



and ptarmigan ; and on one solitary occasion was accessory to the death 

 of a reindeer, l)ut as other rifles besides his own were simultaneously 

 discharged, it is difficult to say whose was the effective luiUet. I am glad 

 to be able to record that Mr. Walker declined to give the poor creature 

 the coup lie grace, and, for this especial purpose, resigned to another his 

 coutcau de chassc. 



In May, 1840, he married ^Slary Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Mr. 

 Ford, of EUell Hall, near Lancaster, and spent the summer on the Con- 

 tinent, again collecting in Switzerland with his customary assiduity. 



In 1848 he explored the Isle of Thanet, the following year the Isle of 

 Wight, and succeeding years, 1850 and 1851, he visited (ieneva and 

 Interlachen ; and during the former }ear commenced his great work on 

 Diptera. This formed part of a projected series of works on British 

 insects, to be called ' Insecta Britannica,' a project in which the late Mr. 

 Spence took a deep interest. 



During the year 185 1 was published the first volume of the " Diptera.' 

 This work is printed in 8vo., and contained 314 pages ; the second volume 

 appeared in 1853, and contained 298 pages ; and the third volume in 



1856, and contained 352 pages. Thus the entire work comprised nearly 

 1000 pages of closely-printed descriptions. 



Another tour on the Continent occupied a considerable portion of 



1857, ]Mr. Walker visiting Calais, Rouen, Paris, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, 

 Heidelberg, Wiesbaden, Frankfort, Mayence, Cologne, Brussels, Aix-la- 

 •Chapelle, and Antwerp. During the journey he collected in the Black 

 Forest ; and this is the only scene of his scientific labours, during the 

 tour, of which I have anv intelligence. 



The summer of i860 was devoted to a thorough exploration of the 

 Channel Islands. Dr. Bowerbank was his companion during a portion 

 of the time, and, as a consequence, the sj^onges of these islands were a 

 main object of research — the Gouliot caves in Sark, so celebrated for 

 their marine productions — were a great attraction to both naturalists. 



In 1 86 1 ]\Ir. Walker's excursions were chiefly confined to North 

 Devon ; he visited Linton. Clovelly, Ilfracombe, Bideford, and Barn- 

 staple : and now his attention seems to have been again chiefly occupied 

 with Lepidoptera, at the scarcity of which he was greatly disappointed, 

 having expected, from the extensive woods, to have found moths })articu- 

 larlv abundant. 



