1920 J Fisher, In Memoriam: Lyman Belding. 33 



IN MEMORIAM: LYMAN BELDING 



BY A. K. FISHER. 

 Plate III. 



Lyman Belding, the Nestor of California ornithologists, died 

 at his home in Stockton, California, at an early hour on the morning 

 of November 22, 1917, at the age of eighty-eight years and five 

 months. Death came as the result of general weakening of the 

 system, the failing of strength and vitality due to the inroads of 

 advanced age. The yellowing of the leaf, as he would say, ad- 

 vanced to a point wherein the stem no longer kept its hold on the 

 tree of life. At the time of his death he was the oldest ornithologist 

 in America and, with a few exceptions, in the world. 



It was shortly after Mr. Belding took charge of collecting data 

 on bird migration in the district comprising the Pacific coast 

 States for the committee of the American Ornithologists' Union, in 

 1883, that the writer, also a member of the committee, first corre- 

 sponded with him. Eight years later, in September, 1891, after 

 the Death Valley Expedition, sent out by the Biological Survey 

 to study life in the deserts of Nevada and California, had disbanded, 

 the two met in San Francisco, and there started a long and endear- 

 ing friendship. 



The first impression of Mr. Belding was that of a man of reserve 

 tinged with diffidence; but with the mellowing effect of congenial 

 companionship, this quiet, unassuming gentleman without effort 

 entertained his hearers on widely varied subjects of travel, natural 

 history, adventure, music, sports with rod and gun, and the general 

 affairs of State and current events. With this well rounded equip- 

 ment, coupled with his genial and lovable nature, there is little 

 wonder that he was so popular and so eagerly sought after by old 

 and young, especially when found in the outing season in his 

 favorite haunts in the Sierras. It always has been a source of 

 much regret to the writer that circumstances prevented him from 

 joining Mr. Belding in his mountain rambling during the period 

 when he was still active with rod and gun. 



