D8 OKKWXAI. .MKMBKUS. 



collections madc^ aluiost entirely at his instij.^"ation, Ijy 

 ]Mr. Ayres in Xatal and the Transvaal, and by his editing 

 in 187.2 'The Birds of Damara Land/ from the papers 

 of his friend Charles John Andersson. Gurney's own com- 

 munications to 'The Ihis^ reachj if we have counted them 

 rightly^ the number of one hundred and forty, the latest 

 being in the part issued in January 1891 ; and though 

 j^ome of them are admittedly of slight importance^ it is 

 observable of all that they deal Avith facts and not with 

 fancies. As he uever wrote for writing's sake^ and related 

 Avhat he had to state in the simple and precise terms which 

 prove the true man of science, his contributions may have 

 sometimes seemed dull compared with the brilliant essays 

 and darling speculations that this Journal occasionally 

 contains from other pens ; but no attentive reader can fail 

 to discern the solid foundation on which Gurney^s work 

 rests, and the probability, if not the certainty, of its being 

 consulted and found useful when theoretical treatises have 

 passed out of mind. 



The secret of this foundation is the accuracy of the in- 

 formation he possessed ; and it is undeniable that in his 

 knowledge of the Accipitres and Striges he stood alone. A 

 great part of his information regarding the first of tiiese 

 groups he fortunately contributed to ' The Ibis ' between 

 1875 and 1882, in a series of " Notes " on the first volume 

 of the ' Catalogue of Birds iu the British ^Museum/ and on 

 its conclusion he brought out "A List of Diurnal Birds of 

 Prey, with References and Annotations ' {cf. ' Ibis," 1884, 

 p. 45d), which is indispensable to all students of these birds. 

 This was his last important work, for though he contem- 

 plated a companion Avork on the Nocturnal Birds of Prey, it 

 is believed that not a word of it was written. Indeed, for the 

 last few years the state of his health forbade his often visiting 

 the Museum at NorAvich, where alone he could carry on 

 the examination of specimens necessary for the execution 

 of such a work. Some twenty years ago he was affected by 

 a disease believed to be incurable, though its fatal efibcts 

 might be long delayed by strict attention to diet ; and 



