﻿Letters, 
  Extracts, 
  Xotices, 
  i\C. 
  479 
  

  

  Tvith 
  Lis 
  Avife. 
  Being 
  a 
  clever 
  fellow, 
  he 
  -was 
  quickly 
  taken 
  

   out 
  of 
  the 
  ranks, 
  and 
  rose 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  executive 
  engineer 
  in 
  the 
  

   Public 
  Works 
  Department 
  in 
  Burmah, 
  -where 
  Davison 
  him- 
  

   self 
  and 
  his 
  sister 
  (afterwards 
  Mrs. 
  Davidson) 
  were 
  bom. 
  

   After 
  the 
  father's 
  early 
  death, 
  Davison's 
  mother, 
  a 
  good, 
  

   sensible, 
  hard-working 
  woman, 
  settled, 
  at 
  Ootacamund, 
  in 
  

   India, 
  and, 
  with 
  the 
  assistance 
  of 
  friends, 
  started 
  a 
  boarding- 
  

   house. 
  Here 
  Davison 
  got 
  a 
  good 
  education 
  in 
  "Pope's 
  

   Academy," 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  sixteen 
  was 
  apprenticed 
  to 
  

   the 
  analytical 
  chemist 
  employed 
  in 
  the 
  Xilgiri 
  Cinchona 
  

   plantations. 
  Some 
  years 
  later 
  Dr. 
  King, 
  the 
  Superintendent 
  

   of 
  the 
  Botanical 
  Gardens, 
  Calcutta, 
  on 
  visiting 
  the 
  Cinchona 
  

   plantations, 
  discovered 
  Davison's 
  merits 
  as 
  an 
  intelligent 
  

   observer 
  of 
  animal-life, 
  and 
  recommended 
  him 
  to 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  O. 
  

   Hume, 
  C.B. 
  Mr. 
  Hume 
  engaged 
  Davison 
  as 
  his 
  collector, 
  

   and, 
  after 
  a 
  yeai'^s 
  preparatory 
  training 
  at 
  Simla, 
  sent 
  him 
  

   eveiy 
  year 
  for 
  six 
  or 
  seven 
  months 
  to 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  India 
  

   to 
  collect 
  birds. 
  Each 
  year 
  he 
  returned 
  with 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  

   his 
  labours, 
  which 
  were 
  carefully 
  gone 
  over 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Hume, 
  

   who 
  by 
  systematic 
  cross-examination 
  extracted 
  fi-om 
  Davison 
  

   all 
  he 
  had 
  leamt 
  and 
  seen, 
  for 
  although 
  Davison 
  was 
  a 
  close 
  

   observer 
  and 
  had 
  a 
  capital 
  memory, 
  he 
  had 
  not 
  the 
  gift 
  of 
  

   expressing 
  himself 
  very 
  clearly, 
  either 
  on 
  paper 
  or 
  in 
  con- 
  

   versation. 
  The 
  excellent 
  results 
  obtained 
  by 
  these 
  periodical 
  

   excursions 
  and 
  collections 
  are 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  ornithologists 
  

   fi'om 
  various 
  papers 
  in 
  ' 
  Stray 
  Feathers,^ 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  

   splendid 
  additions 
  thus 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  " 
  Hume 
  " 
  collec- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  birds. 
  

  

  In 
  1883 
  Davison 
  came 
  to 
  England 
  for 
  the 
  only 
  time 
  in 
  his 
  

   life, 
  and 
  then 
  returned 
  to 
  Ootacamund, 
  whence 
  he 
  wrote 
  

   to 
  the 
  Editor 
  of 
  this 
  Journal 
  in 
  Januaiy 
  1886 
  (see 
  ' 
  Ibis,^ 
  

   1886, 
  p. 
  203). 
  Shortly 
  afterwards 
  he 
  married 
  an 
  English 
  

   lady, 
  and 
  later 
  on 
  (at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  188") 
  accepted 
  the 
  post 
  of 
  

   Curator 
  of 
  the 
  Raffles 
  !Museum, 
  Singapore, 
  which 
  he 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  to 
  occupy 
  until 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  his 
  death. 
  During 
  this 
  

   period, 
  though 
  often 
  in 
  weak 
  health, 
  he 
  was 
  in 
  frequent 
  

   communication 
  with 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Society 
  of 
  London, 
  and 
  

  

  