716 Obituary. [Ibis, 



Mr. Hudsoirs two otlier works on tl)e natural history oE 

 South America, ' The Naturalist in La Plata,' 1892, and 

 'Idle Days in Patagonia/ 1893, are familiar alike to natu- 

 ralist and all lovers of good literature. In the meantime 

 Mr. Hudson settled in England and commenced a long series 

 of volumes dealing with the study of nature chiefly of the 

 southern counties : ' Birds in a Village,' ' Nature in Down- 

 land,' 'The Land's End,' '.British Birds,' and 'Birds in 

 London ' followed one another in rapid succession. Perhaps 

 the most charming of all his works is the autobiographical 

 ' Ear Away and Long Ago/ in which lie tells us ol his boy- 

 hood on the pampas, and draws a delightful picture of the 

 patriarchal life of a Spanish American estancia and the wild 

 life of the gauchos, the half-bred horsemen of the plains. 



The charm of Mr. Hudson's writing lies in its directness 

 and simplicity. He drew no deductions, nor did he import 

 into his descriptions of what he saw, anthropomorphic expla- 

 nations or suggestions as is so frequently done by descriptive 

 writers on natural history. Though always in delicate 

 health he was al)le to tramp for long days across the downs 

 and woodlands of the southern counties from the New 

 Forest to Penzance. His nature was exceedingly sensitive, 

 and lie shrank from causing the death of a single living- 

 creature. In consequence of this he severed his connection 

 with the B, O. U., of which he was a member from 1893 to 

 1908. 



It was only after many years of struggle that po})ular 

 recognition of his wonderful gift of English prose came to 

 him, and in 1901 his health and slender means made him 

 grateful for a small Civil Service Pension. Later on, in his 

 own piirase to a friend, publishers " threw money at him 

 with both hands," and he resigned his pension last year. 



Though he could never be reckoned among the ranks of 

 the scientific ornithologists, his work as an interpreter 

 of nature and as a master of the finest type of English })rose 

 will endure for many a long year, 



