478 Obituary. 



1867, pp. 344, 821, and 'The Ibis/ 1867, pp. 335 et seqq. 

 Though he never had an opportunity of visiting Anjuan or 

 any of the Comoros, yet he contributed largely to our know- 

 ledge of their avifaunas by inducing Mr. Bewsher to visit 

 them and collect. His notes on them will be found in 

 P. Z. S. 1877, p. 295. 



To summarize his work while officially resident in Mau- 

 ritius, not fewer than 27 new species of living birds 

 were brought to our knowledge by him from the Mascarene 

 Islands, Madagascar, and the Comoros; but he was wholly 

 indifferent as to who described them, so long as this was 

 properly done. No less thau 10 of these were from the 

 Seychelles. Fifteen of his discoveries were named by his 

 brother, Dr. Hartlaub, and others. In his Presidential 

 Address to the Norfolk Naturalists' Society (1888), Sir 

 Edward gave an admirable popular summary of the avifauna 

 of the Mascarenes, with picturesque descriptions o£ the extinct 

 species, so far as can be ascertained, and vivid sketches of 

 the physical character of the islands. The address is replete 

 with warnings that like causes are bringing about, though in 

 a slower degree, like results in our own island, and he points 

 out how the danger may possibly be averted. It is much to 

 be regretted that this address has not been republished in 

 some more permanent form. 



In Jamaica his official duties were incessant and harassing, 

 while his health, already severely tried in Mauritius, began 

 to be seriously affected by the climate. He had little or no 

 time for researches, and could but rarely leave his post. 

 Nevertheless he did what he could. He made an almost 

 complete collection of the birds of the island, and the " List 

 of the Birds of Jamaica,^' published in the ' Handbook of 

 Jamaica,^ 1881, p. 103, adds not a little to the standard 

 work of Gosse. 



Newton's investigations of the extinct fauna of the Mas- 

 carenes claim special notice. It is not easy to state precisely 

 what we owe him in the way of discovery of extinct species. 

 To his care and encouragement was largely owing the success 

 of Mr. Clarke in the original researches in the Mare aux 

 Songes, where the srreat find of Dodo-remains was efiected. 



