14 THE BIRDS OF ESSEX. 



From first to last, Henry Doubleday led an exceedingly quiet and 

 retired life. Before 1848, when his father died and the entire manage- 

 ment of the business at Epping devolved upon him, he made many 

 collecting expeditions, which were, however, chiefly confined to the 

 Eastern Counties. After that time, he became treasurer, both to the 

 Local Turnpike Trust and to the Epping Poor Law Union, and both 

 duty and inclination kept him constantly at home. Between 1846 

 and 1873, he only twice slept away from his own house. A brief 

 visit to Paris in 1843 was the only occasion on which he ever left 

 England. A " Note on the Habits of the Hawfinch " in Jardine's 

 Magazine of Zoology in 1837 (i., p. 448) was probably his first 

 published contribution to science. His first entomological note 

 appeared in 1841 {Entomologist, i., p. 102). It described his suc- 

 cess in capturing moths at Sallow-blossom, then an entirely novel 

 proceeding. In 1842 {Entomologist, i., 407 and Zoologist, i., p. 201) 

 he introduced the now very familiar plan of " sugaring " for moths. 

 The credit of having introduced " sugaring " to the notice of ento- 

 mologists was claimed (43. ii., 32) by the late Mr. J. L. English, 

 who for many years acted as Doubleday's assistant ; but there is, 

 to say the least, good reason to think that it rightly belongs to 

 Doubleday (50. ii. 69). During the whole of his life he frequently 

 contributed observations on the habits of mammals, birds, and insects 

 to the scientific magazines of the day. The Entomologist and the 

 Zoologist, both conducted by his intimate friend, the late Edward 

 Newman, received most of these notes, but others are to be found 

 in the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London, of which 

 he was an original (1833) and life-long member. Many notes, too, 

 supplied by him were made use of by Yarrell in his standard History 

 of British Birds (1837 — 1843). 



Through the kindness of the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, of Carlisle, 

 I have been favoured with the opportunity of perusing at leisure no 

 less than one hundred and one most interesting letters (10) upon 

 natural history subjects written by Henry Doubleday to Dr. Heysham, 

 of Carlisle, between August 30, 1831, and February 9, 1846, 

 after which the correspondence seems to have dropped. These 

 letters, which are the property of Mr. J. G. Mounsey, naturally throw 

 considerable light upon his private opinions and upon the passing 

 events of his life at this period. The correspondence seems to have 

 been arranged by Edward Doubleday when, for some reason, he had 

 paid a visit to Heysham at Carlisle. The first few letters are written 

 in strict Quaker phraseology, "thee" and "thou" being always used 

 in place of "you," but this peculiarity soon afterwards disappears 



