Letters, Extracts, Notices, fyc. 395 



especial interest in the ornithology of South Africa, as is 

 shown by his numerous papers in our pages on collections 

 made, almost entirely at his instigation, by Mr. Ay res in 

 Natal and the Transvaal country, and by his editing in 1872 

 1 The Birds of Damara Land ' from the papers of his friend 

 Charles John Andersson. Gurney's own communications to 

 ' The Ibis ' reach, if we have counted them rightly, the num- 

 ber of one hundred and forty, the latest being in our last num- 

 ber {supra, p. 262) ; and though some of them are admittedly 

 of slight importance, it is observable of all that they deal 

 with facts and not with fancies. As he never wrote for 

 writing's sake, and related what he had to state in the simple 

 and precise terms which prove the true man of science, his 

 contributions may have sometimes seemed dull compared 

 with the brilliant essays and daring speculations that this 

 Journal occasionally contains from other pens; but no atten- 

 tive reader can fail to discern the solid foundation on which 

 Gurney's work rests, and the probability, if not the certainty, 

 of its being consulted and found useful when theoretical 

 treatises have passed out of mind. 



The secret of this foundation is the accuracy of the in- 

 formation he possessed ; and it is undeniable that in his 

 knowledge of the Accipitres and Striges he stood alone. A 

 great part of his information regarding the first of these 

 groups he fortunately contributed to ( The Ibis ' between 

 1875 and 1882, in a series of "Notes" on the first volume 

 of the c Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum/ and on 

 its conclusion he brought out ' A List of the Diurnal Birds 

 of Prey, with references and annotations ' (cf. Ibis, 1884, 

 p. 456), which is indispensable to all students of these birds. 

 This was his last important work, for though he contem- 

 plated a companion work on the Nocturnal Birds of Prey, 

 it is believed that not a word of it was written. Indeed, for 

 the last few years the state of his health forbade his often 

 visiting the Museum at Norwich, where alone he could carry 

 on the examination of specimens necessary for the execution 

 of such a work. Some twenty years ago he was affected by a 

 disease believed to be incurable, though its fatal effects might 



