( 245 ) 

 OBITUARY. 



CAPTAIN JOHN DIGHTON GRAFTON-WIGNALL. 



Captain Grafton-Wignall was born on January 25th, 1888, 

 and entered Sandhurst from Clifton in 1906, passing out 14th. 

 In November, 1907, he went to India, first being attached 

 to the " Fighting Fifth " before joining the Punjabis. In 

 1915 he took part in the Chakdara expedition, while January, 

 1916, saw him in Mesopotamia, where, to the bitter regret 

 of all who knew him, he was killed in action just over a year 

 later. Possessed of many sterling quahties, he was a fine 

 boxer and shot and a capital cragsman ; once he saved a 

 friend's life at imminent risk to his own. But these things 

 have been written elsewhere, and here I must try to do hini 

 justice as an ornithologist. Jack WignaU, then, could he 

 have devoted more time to the subject, and had he in any 

 case published his experiences, would have been as notable 

 as a hall marked observer in ornithological circles generally, 

 as he was to his intimates. Actually, before reaching nine- 

 teen, he had closely studied such local species, amongst 

 others, as Buzzard, Peregrine, Raven, Chough, Woodlark. 

 Dartford Warbler and Water-Rail — a proud record for a 

 boy ; and even at that early age he was wonderful at identi- 

 fying with certainty among a host of commoner waders some 

 of the lesser-known sorts — a feat most of us, many years 

 older, have yet failed to emulate. Indeed I have seldom seen 

 a quicker eye for woodcraft. For he had that perfect sight 

 whiich enabled him to " pick up " a sitting Woodcock or a 

 clutch of shingle-laid eggs as quickly as (and he loas quick) 

 he could detect — and accurately name too — flying or at rest 

 some bird a great way off. A rare combination, and one to 

 be envied. Not until 1912 did he return home on leave, 

 which he profitably spent studying Eagles, Peregrines, Short - 

 eared Owls (finding a " nest " in what I believe was a hitherto 

 unrecorded locahty), Dartford Warblers, Cirl Buntings, 

 Grey Lag-Geese, Kentish Plovers, Stone-Curlews and so 

 forth. I did much field-work with him, learning not a little, 

 and shall always regard those happy days and his unflagging 

 friendship with unmitigated pleasure. To his many friends — 

 and to me especially — his loss is irreparable : ornithology, 

 has lost a very accurate, first-rate and indefatigable observer. 



J. W. B, 



