354 Obituary. 



with Mr. H. E. Dresser in the commencement of a serial 

 work on the ' Birds of Europe,' which, after the appearance 

 of fifteen parts issued in their joint names, was completed by 

 Mr. Dresser alone. This work, as many of our readers will 

 know, is also in quarto, with fine coloured plates, and is so 

 highly esteemed that when a copy occurs for sale by auction 

 it usually fetches from .€40 to £50. 



As the collection of African birds above mentioned 

 continued to grow in extent, it became evident to Sharpe 

 that the text-books on the subject were inadequate to 

 convey a proper idea of the richness of the African avifauna, 

 and accordingly we find him undertaking a new and revised 

 edition of E. L. Layard's well-known ' Birds of South Africa/ 

 an excellent little manual at the time that it was written 

 (1867), but not illustrated, and needing the incorporation of 

 a great many species which have only come to light after 

 its publication. The new edition by Sharpe, which was 

 issued in parts between 1875 and 1884, formed, when com- 

 plete, a royal octavo volume of 890 pages, with a dozen 

 beautifully coloured plates. Meanwhile in 1872 he had 

 quitted the library of the Zoological Society to enter upon 

 his official duties as a Senior Assistant in the Department of 

 Zoology at the British Museum, a post which he held until 

 1895. when he was promoted to be Assistant Keeper of the 

 Department. From the date of his appointment in 1872 he 

 seriously took in hand the preparation of the much needed 

 Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, and in two years 

 the first volume of it was completed and published by the 

 Trustees. Some idea of the magnitude of the undertaking 

 may be gained when it- is stated that this volume, the first 

 of twenty-seven, contained nearly 500 pages, with fourteen 

 coloured plates. Of the twenty-seven volumes of the great 

 Catalogue Sharpe himself wrote eleven whole volumes 

 besides portions of three others, and edited or assisted in 

 the preparation of the remainder, which were undertaken 

 by other specialists. Naturally the production of so long a 

 series extended over several years, and, as if that were not 

 work enough to occupy his daily thoughts, he found time 

 before and after official hours to write and publish several 



