936 Obituary. [Ibis, 



2. Birds met with above 5000 feet are the exception and 



not the rule, 



3. That nocturnal flio-ht need not be higher than diurnal, 



and that, in fact, it is not. 



4. That the bulk of migratory flight is conducted below 



3000 feet whether by day or night. 



5. That under nornuil conditions, different s[)ecies travel 



at different altitudes, some A^ery low and some 

 invariably high, but that during abnormal weather 

 conditions, all birds are apt to fly low. 



6. That during migratory flight, birds prefer to descend to 



below cloud level, though this is not always the ca^se. 

 Exceptions probably occur when gaps occur in a cloud- 

 bank, or where islands of land continue to be visible 

 beyond or above the cloud area. 



XXXV. — Obituary. 



Claude G. Finch-Davies. 



We learn with great regret of the sudden death of Lieut. 

 Finoh-Davies of the 1st South African Mounted Riflemen, 

 which occurred at the Castle at Capetown on the 3rd of 

 August last, and was due to a sudden attack of angina 

 pectoris. He was only 46 years of age, and his death is a 

 great loss to South African ornithology. 



Mr. Davies in early life joined the Cape Mounted Rifles, 

 and spent the early years of his service in Pondoland and 

 East Griqualand. When the Union of South Africa was 

 formed, Ids regiment became the South African Mounted 

 Riflemen, and with it he saw a good deal of war service during 

 the late war, obtaining his commission as a Lieutenant in 

 1915. His wife was a daughter of Capt. Finch of Capetown, 

 and after his marriage in 1916 he assumed the additional 

 name of Finch. His wife and three children survive him. 



Lieut. Finch-Davies joined the South African Orni- 

 thologists' Union in 1907 and the B.O. U. in the following 



