616 Ohiiuary. [Ibis, 



ill managing the Dobroyde nurserj' on his father's estate, 

 and lie was also interested in a sugar-growing scheme in. 

 Queensland. 



In 1874 he was appointed Curator of the Australian 

 Museum in Sydney in succession to Dr. Pittard. This post 

 he held until 1895, when he was compelled to relinquish 

 it through ill-health, to the great disappointment of his 

 friends. 



He paid a visit to England in 1883 as Commissioner for 

 New South Wales and Tasmania at the great International 

 Fisheries Exhibition held in London, and while here the 

 University of Edinburgh conferred upon him the degree 

 of LL.D. 



From his earliest youth Ramsay was an enthusiastic lover 

 of natural history, and between 1863 and 1868 he sent to 

 * The Ibis ' a series of five papers, containing '' Notes on 

 the Birds breeding in the neighbourhood of Sydney, New 

 South Wales." This was followed by many other letters 

 and papers up to the year 1879. 



About this time, "with a view to the advancement of 

 science in Australia, he, together with Sir William Macleay 

 and several others, founded the Linnean Society of New 

 South Wales, and from 1880 onwards he contributed a 

 number of papers to its Proceedings on the birds of New 

 Guinea, the Solomon Islands and other Pacific groups. 



In 1888 Dr. Ramsay published his 'Tabular List of the 

 Birds of Australia/ a most valuable work, and used for some 

 years by all the writers and field-workers on Australian 

 birds. Another important publication was his ' Catalogue of 

 the Australian Birds in the Australian Museum,' of which 

 four parts, dealing with the Accipitres, Striges, Psittaci, and 

 Picariee respectively, were published between the years 1876 

 and 1894. Of this work, a second edition was published 

 later in conjunction with Mr. North. Dr. Ramsay named 

 and described many new Australian birds such as Atrichornis 

 rufescens, Orthonyx spaldhif/i, Scenopceetes dentirostris, and 

 Ailuroedus maculosus, and was during the period of his 



