OBITUARY 291 



He was one of the original members of the Ornitholo- 

 gical Society of South Africa, serving for some years on 

 the Council of that body, for Ornithology was his special 

 study. He contributed two papers on ' Birds of the Kaf- 

 frarian Frontier ' to the Journal of the Society (1909 and 

 1915), which are noteworthy as the first comprehensive 

 lists published on that fauna : and his name is commemo- 

 rated in one of the Kaffrarian birds he knew so well, 

 Pym's Coucal. 



Mr. Pym had a great reputation as a sportsman, and 

 many of his trophies now adorn the interior of the King- 

 williamstown Museum. Amongst them is a magnificent 

 Buffalo that he shot near Grahamstown, a specimen of 

 melancholy interest inasmuch as the Buffalo is now on 

 the verge of extinction in the Albany district. In order 

 to obtain material for his Museum, he made an expedi- 

 tion into British East Africa in 1910. This was carried 

 out at his own expense and proved to be a great success, 

 although it was on this trip that his system became 

 stricken with the fever from which he suffered at inter- 

 vals up to the time of his last illness. Another hunting 

 expedition in the Melsetter district in 1913 was not so 

 productive for that very reason ; but one of the minor 

 discoveries of the trip was a trapdoor spider that he 

 carefully collected for the present writer who afterwards 

 named it Moggridgea pymi. 



His record of active service is a good one. He went 

 with Methuen's column during the Anglo-Boer war and 

 was at Magersfontein. When the Great War broke out, 

 he joined the Kalahari Horse, which crossed the desert 

 and entered the enemy's country. Afterwards he volun- 

 teered for service overseas with the Heavy Artillery, and 

 in due course experienced the vigors of a training camp 

 in a wet and cold English winter: but the strain proved 

 too much for him, and discharged with a small pension, 

 as no longer fit for active service, he returned to South 

 Africa with health much impaired. This was the be- 



