70 THE /^/>S 



founded in the late " nineties." He was accustomed to 

 call by a most uncomplimentary name those monthly 

 meetings and dinners which have done so much to 

 advance the study of ornithology and to promote good 

 fellowship among its votaries. 



One of the original " Ibises " and the first of them to 

 die, in November, 1859, at the early age of thirty-six 

 years, was Newton's friend, John Wolley. Shortly before 

 his death he requested that his zoological collection, the 

 formation of which had latterly been his chief occupation, 

 should be handed over to Newton, and this wish was 

 fully carried out by his father. The coUectons were sent, 

 in February, 1860, from Beeston to Newton's home at 

 Elveden. 



There were twenty-four enormous packages, which 

 weighed altogether one ton and filled a railway truck 

 — ^not a single breakage ! After consulting on the 

 subject with P. L. Sclater, I came to the conclusion that 

 I should be most advantageously serving the interest of 

 Ornithology by publishing from Mr. Wolley's note-books 

 a complete catalogue of the contents of his egg-cabinet. 

 Mr. Wolley's life had been one of so active a nature, and 

 his death was, until a few weeks before it took place, so 

 entirely unexpected, that he had had but few opportuni- 

 ties of making known to the world the results of his 

 labours. To prevent those results from being lost to 

 science was my main object ; and it appeared to me that 

 this would be effectually attained by the publication of a 

 Catalogue such as the present, which should embrace as 

 far as possible all the information he had gathered, which 

 is extracted from letters to his friends, from fi-agmentary 

 diaries, or from detached memorandums, as well as that 

 which was contained in his " Egg-book " — this latter 

 being the principal record of his experience, and having 

 been, with some few exceptions, most carefully kept for 

 many years. 



In order to make the catalogue more complete 



