ORIGINAL MEMBERS. 105 



Mr. E. C. NEWCOME. 



The best friends of ' The Ibis ' have not been limited to 

 those whose names have appeared oftenest, or even at any- 

 time^ in its pages. In tliis country ornithology has many 

 of its warmest supporters among men who scarcely ever 

 publish a line on the subject. Such a one Avas Edward 

 Clough Newcome, an original jNIember of the B. O. U.^ 

 Avho died on the 22nd of September^ 1871, having nearly 

 completed his sixty-second year. Devotedly attached from 

 his boyhood to field-sports, and having abundant oppor- 

 tunities for their enjoyment, his undoubted preference was 

 for such as brought him more especially into contact with 

 the wilder and less-known kinds of birds ; and being a close 

 and accurate observer, his knowledge of their habits and 

 peculiarities was of extraordinary extent. As an efficient 

 falconer he was, perhaps, unequalled, whether by professionals 

 or amateurs; and for many years he was, in England, 

 almost the sole and certainly the most influential supporter 

 of that ancient and nearly obsolete sport. In the pursuit 

 of what are ordinarily termed '' wild fowl," and in the 

 exercise of the various modes by which they are procured, 

 he had attained an aptitude little, if at all, inferior to that 

 of men whose livelihood depends on the successful practice 

 of their vocation. But experience in the field was not all ; 

 one of his favourite employments was the formation of a col- 

 lection of British birds : and this, consisting almost entirely 

 of specimens preserved and set up by his own hands, was at 

 the time one of the best of its kind in the kingdom, whether 

 for the completeness and rarity of its contents or for the 

 artistic taste and ornithological truth with which they were 

 mounted. Some of the species in it Avere represented by the 

 only examples supposed to have been obtained in Britain. 

 Such Avere the Rock-Thrush [Monticola saxatilis), the Capped 



SER. IX. VOL. II., JUB.-SUPPL. I 



