19 1 8.] Letters^ Extracts, and Notes. 175 



The late Lieut. G. V. Webster. 



Sir, — The English Mail has brought me the sad news of 

 tlie loss of a very valued friend in Mr. Godfrey Vassell 

 Webster, Grenadier Guards, who was killed on the Western 

 front on the 4th of August. No doubt you will publish an 

 official biography in ' The Ibis/ but as one of his seconders 

 when he was elected to the Union this year, may I give my 

 tribute to a good soldier, a good friend, and a good naturalist. 



I have known Webster since he was a small boy (and 

 I was not much older myself), and while on leave 

 recently in England was able to see something of him, so 

 far as his military duties allowed ; we spent some days 

 together shooting or collecting in East Sussex, and I had 

 ample opportunity of learning that the boyish naturalist 

 had grown into a first-rate observer; his knowledge of 

 English birds was considerable, both as regards their 

 plumages, habits, and racial forms, and as a taxidermist 

 he must have been almost without equal for his age. Of his 

 personal attributes there is no need to write ; they are known 

 and admired by all who knew him. 



Yours truly, 



Ludhiana, Punjab, HuGH Whistler. 



27 September, 1917. 



Australian Parrots. 



SiR^ — In the last number of 'The Ibis' was a very 

 interesting letter from the Marquis of Tavistock regarding 

 Australian Parrots as he knows them in captivity. I value 

 such criticisms as they assist the rectification of erroneous 

 ideas on both sides, and therefore put on record the facts as 

 disclosed by the examination of bird-skins concerning his 

 remarks. 



"No mention is made of the striking difference in the 

 colour of the eye in male and female Roseate and Leadbeater's 

 Cockatoos." If there be any difference in colour in the 

 male and female it is not constant in nature /or the species 



