128 Allen, Richard Bawdier Sharpe. [ADril 



of birds, and his list of titles reveals few papers bearing upon their 

 internal structure. His 'Review of Recent Attempts to Classify 

 Birds,' presented at the Second Ornithological Congress at Buda- 

 pest in 1891, was based almost wholly on second-hand knowledge 

 of their internal anatomy, and hence his system of classification 

 then j^ropounded was necessarily eclectic and unchecked by per- 

 sonal knowledge of the relative weight and bearing of alleged ana- 

 tomical characters. Although adopted by him in the 'Handlist,' 

 it has not escaped much unfavorable criticism. 



Dr. Sharpe was a man of warm social instincts, which led to his 

 taking an active interest in several literary clubs of London, and 

 made him the moving spirit in the founding of the British Ornithol- 

 ogists' Club in 1902, of which he became the editor of its 'Bulletin.' 

 He was a constant attendant at its meetings, and was present, in 

 apparently his usual health and good spirits, at the last meeting 

 of the Club preceding his death, held December 16, 1909. In 

 returning to his home he was seized with a chill, "and next day 

 took to his bed, pneumonia and other com])lications supervened, 

 and the end came early on the morning of the 25th." 



Although of robust constitution, he suffered in his later years 

 from impaired health, due to excessive application for so long a 

 period to official and literary work. He was a prominent partici- 

 pant in the meetings of the International Ornithological Congress, 

 being Chairman of Section A (Zoology and Comparative Anatomy) 

 at the Second Congress (Budapest, 1891), and President of the 

 Fourth Congress, held in London, in 1905. He was, of course, 

 elected to Honorary Membership in all of the principal ornitho- 

 logical societies of the world, and was one of the first ornithologists 

 thus honored by the American Ornithologists' Union, at its first 

 meeting in 1883. 



"Sharpe was a man of remarkably wide and varied sympathies 

 and interests. He was above all intensely human, and enjoyed 

 life to the full. His keen sense of humour, his overflowing good 

 nature, his love of pure fun, almost boyish to the last, his buoyant 

 spirits, all combined to give him an irrepressible optimism that 

 must have often stood him in good stead in the stern battle of life 

 in which he had to take his full share, fighting against heavy odds 



