MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR XXxl 
came the old mister.” Thereafter, a queen wasp 
was always known as “ the old mister.”’ 
Though Mr. Foster-Melliar is chiefly known be- 
cause of his work ‘‘The Book of the Rose” (one 
admirer has kindly called it “the classic work on 
Roses’’), roses were by no means his first or only 
love. His first love was natural history, and his 
greatest love was shooting. A very early letter of 
his, when about eight years old, says:—‘‘ My dear 
Mama, I thank you for your kind note. But I wish 
you were come back again, as I have got a golden- 
crested wren’s nest with eight eggs in it to show you 
when you do.” And nearly every letter, whether 
from Streatham, Uppingham or Oxford, contains 
some reference to birds, beasts, insects or flowers. 
His knowledge of natural history has been described 
as ‘‘ first-class.” However that may be, the writer 
remembers well how greatly he was impressed—on a 
strange rare bird being taken to him to identify—by 
his saying at once and without the least hesita- 
tion, ‘‘ Oh, that’s Oedicnemus crepitans”’ (the Stone 
Curlew). Shortly before he died, the Town Council 
of Ipswich had elected him as a member of the 
Committee of the Ipswich Museum. 
His delicacy as a boy often prevented him from 
the bird-nesting expeditions that he loved, but 
he quite outgrew his weakness, and was a great 
cricketer in his young days. He used to play regu- 
larly for the Uppingham Rovers, and was at one 
time Captain of the Suffolk County eleven. His 
round-arm bowling (then a new-fangled idea) was 
apt to be deadly, while his batting was distinguished 
by hard-hitting. The scene of many of his triumphs 
was on the pretty little ground at Stowmarket, and 
