X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF PHILIP LUTLEY SCLATER. 



ISTotwithstaiiding tlie great bulk of his technical publications, he 

 has for four decades been prominent in the activities of scientific 

 London and a noteworthy figure in the midst of every important sci- 

 entific gathering. 



At the age of sixty-seven he is still productive and adding each 

 year a number of titles to the already remarkable assemblage of 

 papers which have been published under his name. 



It is the object of this bibliography to render thoroughly available 

 to American naturalists all the results of the work of this eminent 

 scholar, who has done for the ornithology of Central and South Amer- 

 ica what has been done by Nuttall, Wilson, Audubon, Baird, Allen, 

 Merriam, Ridgway, and their associates for that of the Northern 

 continent. 



Philip Lutley Sclater was born November 4, 1829, at "Tangier 

 Park," in Hampshire, the residence of his father, William Lutley 

 Sclater, Esq.; and his boyhood was passed chiefly at " Iloddington 

 House," another estate in the same county, belonging to his father, 

 who died there in 1885 at the age of ninety-seven. 



In beautiful Hampshire, close to the home of Gilbert White at 

 "Selborne," he acquired early in life a love for outdoor life and a 

 taste for the stud}^ of birds. 



At the age of ten, he was sent to a well-known school at Twyford, 

 near Winchester. In 1842 he went to Winchester College, and in 

 1845 was elected scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Being 

 at that time under sixteen years of age, he was not called into resi- 

 dence at the University until Easter, 1846. 



At Oxford his attention was given principallj^ to mathematics, 

 though his spare time was occupied by the study of birds and of the 

 excellent series of natural history books then in the Radcliffe Library. 



Hugh E. Strickland, the well-known ornithologist, who was at that 

 time resident in Oxford as reader in geology, became interested in 

 young Sclater and took him under his protection. At Strickland's 

 chambers he met John Gould, shortly after his return from his great 

 journey to Australia. From Strickland he received his first instruc- 

 tion in scientific ornithology. He began his collection of bird skins 

 at Oxford, making British skins for himself and buying foreign species 

 at a shilling apiece, whenever he could get to London for a run among 

 the bird shops. 



In December, 1849, he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 

 obtained his first class in the mathematical school and a " pass " in 

 classics. At that time these were the only two recognized subjects 

 for study in the university, no sort of encouragement being given to 

 natural history. 



After taking his degree he remained at his college in Oxford for 

 two years, devoting his time principally to natural history. He also 

 gave much attention to modern languages, studying with masters at 



