Vol. XIII 



1914 



] Obituary Notice. 220 



and to add his tribute to the memory of a great ornithologist 

 and a warm and consistent friend. As an original member of 

 our Union, as editor of our journal, and as chairman of the British 

 Ornithologists' Club, Dr. Sclater was connected with all of us by 

 the closest of ties, and thus this notice must be considered as an 

 expression of the greatest regret and at the same time a token of 

 the greatest esteem put forward in the name of every member 

 of the B.O.U. 



" The subject of our notice was born on the 4th of November, 

 1829, at Tangier Park, in Hampshire, then the residence of his 

 father, Mr. WilUam Lutley Sclater, J. P. ; but his boyhood was 

 passed at Hoddington House, another estate in the same county, 

 also belonging to his father, to which the family moved in the 

 month of September, 1833. 



" In beautiful Hampshire, not far from the old home of Gilbert 

 White, Sclater acquired, at an early age, a love for outdoor life 

 and exercise and a special taste for the study of birds. At the 

 age of ten he was sent to a well-known school at Twyford, near 

 Winchester ; in 1842 he left for Winchester College, and in 1845 

 was elected Scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Being at 

 that time under sixteen years of age, he was not called into 

 residence until Easter, 1846. At the University his attention 

 was given principally to mathematics, though his spare time was 

 occupied by the study of birds, and of the excellent series of 

 natural history books then in the Radcliffe Library. 



" Hugh E. Strickland, the well-known ornithologist, who was 

 at that time resident in Oxford as Reader in Geology, became 

 interested in young Sclater, and it was at his house that he met 

 John Gould, shortly after his return from his great journey to 

 Australia. From Strickland he received his first instruction in 

 scientific ornithology. He began his collection of bird-skins at 

 Oxford, making British skins for himself, and bujnng foreign 

 specimens whenever he had the opportunity. 



" In December, 1849, he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 

 obtaining a first class in the mathematical school and a ' pass ' 

 in classics. At that time these were the only two recognized 

 subjects for study in the University, no sort of encouragement 

 being given to natural science. After taking his degree Sclater 

 remained in Oxford for two years, devoting his time principally 

 to natural history. He also gave much attention to modern 

 languages, studying them with masters at home and always 

 visiting the Continent in vacation-time, and thus soon made 

 himself familiar with French, German, and Italian. 



" At this period of his life he was often in Paris, studying at 

 the National Museum in the Jardin des Plantes. Here he made 

 the acquaintance of the great ornithologist. Prince Charles Bona- 

 parte, at whose house, in the Rue de Lille, he was a frequent 

 visitor. In 1851 he entered as a student at Lincoln's Inn, while 

 the winter of 1852-53 was devoted to travel in Italy and Sicily. 



" In December, 1855, Sclater was admitted Fellow of his college, 



