*^ 1912 J Brewster, //i ikfe?«oriam: Henry Augustus Purdie. 7 



herst) was kept, and where E. A. Samuels had his cabinets of birds' 

 eggs. Thither Ruthven Deane and I went rather frequently in 

 early youth, taking eggs to exchange with Mr. Samuels, for whose 

 memory there will always remain a warm place in both our hearts, 

 for he was very kind and helpful to us, — as to all lads having 

 tastes similar to his own and craving the ornithological lore and 

 guidance which he was ever ready to impart. I was there one 

 hot day in early summer when Henry Purdie came into the room, 

 and we were introduced. He was then about twenty-five years 

 old and, as I clearly remember, slight and graceful of figure, almost 

 if not quite as bald as in later years, and very neatly dressed. We 

 saw one another occasionally in the same place during the next 

 few years, but it was not until 1869 that I began to know him at 

 all well. Not long after that, our acquaintance ripened into a 

 friendship which, without mar or interruption of any kind, con- 

 tinued up to the very end of his life. About the same time he 

 established similarly close and lasting relations with Ruthven 

 Deane, and somewhat less intimate yet very friendly ones with 

 Henry W. Henshaw, Harry B. Bailey and W. E. D. Scott. These 

 afRliations drew him with ever-increasing frequency to Cambridge, 

 particularly between the years 1870 and 1882, a period of great 

 ornithological activity and enthusiasm in and about the University 

 city, especially memorable for the founding of the Nuttall Orni- 

 thological Club in 1873, and for the publication of its 'Bulletin' 

 which began in 1876. Mr. Purdie took deep interest and had 

 large share in the organization and early development of this Club. 

 He was its President from March 20, 1875, to February 12, 1876; 

 its Vice-President from 1873 to March 20, 1875; its Secretary 

 from February 12, 1876, to December 1, 1885; its Corresponding 

 Secretary from December 3, 1877, to December 9, 1878; a member 

 of its Council from January 23, 1893, to December 7, 1896. There 

 were few of its earlier meetings at which he failed to contribute 

 something in the way of original field notes or of trenchant yet 

 kindly criticism of those furnished by other members. Sometimes 

 he would bring specimens of rare birds or eggs to show, or would 

 read passages from ornithological books or pamphlets which few, 

 if any, of us had ever seen or heard of, and which he had unearthed 

 in one or another of the Boston libraries. He had then, as well as 



