Ap"'-1 The late Mr. J. G. O'DonoaJnie. 175 



1917 J JO / _> 



THE LATE MR. J. G. O'DONOGHUE. 



Attracted by the conversazione of September, 1908, the late 

 Mr. James G. O'Donoghue sought nomination as a member 

 of the Field Naturahsts' Club, and was elected in November, 

 He at once showed his love of the open, engendered by his 

 upbringing in Gippsland, by taking part in the excursion to the 

 You Yangs on Cup Day of that year, and furnishing for the 

 report of the outing some notes on the birds met with — the 

 first bird notes in connection with a You Yangs trip. Most of 

 his holidays in earlier years had been spent with the gun in 

 search of game of various kinds, and he had become very 

 familiar with Bacchus Marsh and its neighbourhood ; con- 

 sequently, he was always ready to lead an excursion in that 

 district. In January, igio, in conjunction with Mr. P. R. H. 

 St. John, he contributed his first paper to the Club's pro- 

 ceedings, entitled "Through the Brisbane Range" {Vict. Nat., 

 xxvi., p. 151). This was followed in December by " A Short 

 Ramble along the Lerderderg " {Vict. Nat., xxvii., p. 188). 

 In November, 1912, along with Mr. St. John, he contributed 

 " Further Notes on the Brisbane Range " {Vict. Nat., xxix., 

 p. 130). Then he revived some of his Gippsland experiences 

 in "Some Notes on the Victorian Lyre - Bird " {Vict. Nat., 

 xxxi., p. II). Li 1914 and 1915 he made two extended visits 

 with friends to the Northern Mallee. which he recorded in 

 " Wanderings on the Murray Flood-Plain " {Vict. Nat., xxxii., 

 p. 2) and " Rambles in Raak " {Vict. Nat., xxxiii., p. 7). Both 

 of these arc extremely interesting, and, though dealing with 

 a portion of the State generally regarded as being devoid of 

 interest, are good examples of his power of placing living 

 descriptions of scenes visited and incidents met with before 

 an audience of nature-lovers. He was also the author of 

 several excursion reports which have appeared in the pages 

 of the Naturalist from time to time. Being the possessor of 

 keen eyesight, ornithology was his first love, but under the 

 influence of his Club membership he rapidly accumulated a 

 good knowledge of botany and geology. He was not a 

 collector, preferring rather to hand over any novelties to some 

 appreciative friend or institution. He was a capable photog- 

 rapher, and an invaluable man on excursions, as those who 

 were members of the Baw Baw (January, 1914) and Wilson's 

 Promontory (December, 1915) parties will readily grant. In 

 fact, whatever he set his heart to do he did it willingly and 

 to the best of his ability. To his energy may be attributed 

 in some measure the success of the two recent exhibitions of 

 wild-flowers in aid of patriotic purposes. In an official 

 capacity he served the Club as assistant hon. secretary and 

 librarian for the years 1912-13 and 1913-14. In June, 1914, 



