34.2 Obituary. 



leave^ with a large collection of birds, and wrote the ' Birds 

 of British Burmah^ ia two volumes. In 1886 he was 

 requested by Dr. W. H. Blanford, the Editor of the 

 ' Fauna of British India/ to undertake the portion dealing 

 with Birds. For this purpose he came to England in 1888, 

 again on two years' leave, and wrote the first two volumes, 

 comprising the Passeres. Unable to obtain an extension of 

 leave in order to complete the work, he returned to Burma 

 in 1890. While thus engaged, he also brought out a second 

 edition o£ ' The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds ' in three 

 volumes, Mr. A. 0. Hume having made over to him for that 

 purpose all his notes aud correspondence on the subject. 



In 1897 Mr, Gates returned to England, and in 1898 and 

 the succeeding year published the ' Game Birds of India ' in 

 two volumes. In 1898 the Trustees of the British Museum 

 engaged his services for the purpose of cataloguing the large 

 collection of Birds" Eggs in that Institution. He prepared 

 the manuscript of four volumes, treating of about 50,000 

 specimens. The first two volumes were printed under his 

 superintendence, but in 1902 he was compelled to abandon 

 the work, owing to severe illness, and the next two volumes 

 were completed, with additions to date, and printed under 

 the supervision of Captain Savile G. Reid. The work has 

 not yet been brought to a conclusion, but the fifth volume 

 is under preparation by Mr. W. R. Ogilvie- Grant, and will 

 shortly be published. 



In June 1898 Mr. Gates was elected to the post of 

 Secretary to the British Ornithologists' Union, and held 

 that position till May 1901. During this period he edited 

 a General Subject-Index to ' The Ibis,' 1859-1894, which 

 had been very carefully compiled by the late Mr. G. A. 

 Double day. 



Mr. Gates retired from the Service in March 1899 and 

 continued to reside in England from that date onwards. 



His fine collection of Burmese Birds and their eggs was 

 acquired by the Trustees of the British Museum ; it is 

 especially rich in examples of the Pheasants of the genus 

 Gennceus, and contains many type-specimens. 



