142 ORIGINAL MEMBERS. 



the Little Ouse^ on the borders of Norfolk and Suflblk, 

 this, of course, during the interludes of University studies. 

 He was just in time to find some of the Harriers breeding, 

 and notably Montagues Harrier, which then nested regularly 

 in Feltwell Yen in company with the Short-eared Owl. 



From a purely natural-history point of view, there could 

 be no greater calamity than the draining of Whittlesey Mere, 

 and it may also be questioned if there has been any great 

 economic advantage in destroying such an area of flood and 

 fen, teeming with everything that could interest the sports- 

 man and the naturalist, simply for the sake of growing oats 

 at 16s. a quarter, and other grain at corresponding prices. 



However, the lake was drained in the summer of 1850, 

 about the same time that the Great Northern Railroad 

 Company, with much difficulty, carried their line through 

 the vast area of peat Avhich, for many miles, surrounded 

 it. Simpson was a witness of all these operations, and 

 furthermore he had to deplore the loss of his boat, which 

 was rendered useless owing to the draining of the lake. 



The year 1848 Avas in many ways a memorable one. It 

 was in that year that Simpson first made the acquaintance 

 of Alfred Newton, Avho had just come up as an under- 

 graduate to Magdalene College, Cambridge. The similarity 

 of their tastes soon made them firm friends, though Newton 

 did not then accompany Simpson in any of his excur- 

 sions. His principal comrade at this time was a brother 

 Johnian named James E. Law, who had shared in his birds'- 

 nesting experiences at Uppingham, and who ultimately 

 married his eldest sister. When the May term was over, 

 these two naturalists, reinforced by two other Johnians, 

 conceived the idea of going by sea from London to 

 Newcastle. From this town Simpson and Law made 

 a short tour in Northumberland, the programme in- 

 eluding a complete day at the Fame Islands on the 15th 

 of June. Permission was obtained from the authorities 

 on the spot, and the adventurers were rewarded with a fine 

 series of eggs, running into hundreds. Sandwich Terns 

 were particularly plentiful in those days, but the eggs of the 



