734 Obituary. 



British Section of the Paris Exhibition of 1889. He also 

 represented New Zealand on the governing body of the 

 Imperial Institute, and served his native colony in other 

 similar appointments. 



Though devoted to every branch of natural history, and 

 also a good ethnologist, Sir Walter's special pursuit was 

 ornithology. He devoted himself from his earliest youth to 

 the study of the native birds of New Zealand, and published 

 his first essay on the subject at Dunedin in 1865. This led 

 the way to the preparation of his well-known ' History of the 

 Birds of New Zealand/ a quarto volume, admirably illustrated, 

 which was published in London in 1873. The stock of this 

 excellent work being quickly exhausted, the author set to 

 work to prepare a second edition in two volumes, containing 

 many additions and alterations, which was finished in 1888. 

 Meanwhile, however, he had also written an octavo c Manual' 

 of the Birds of the Colony, suitable for settlers and field - 

 naturalists, which was published at Wellington in 1882. 

 Finally, Sir Walter, after seventeen more years had elapsed, 

 resolved that it was expedient to summarize the additional 

 information that had been obtained on the subject during 

 that period in a Supplement, which we have fully described 

 in the last number of this journal (see above, p. 582). This 

 " Supplement" contains an account of all the birds known in 

 New Zealand up to the present time, and is illustrated by 

 five coloured plates drawn by Keulemans. 



Besides these important works, Sir Walter published many 

 papers in ' The Ibis,' the ' Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London,' and the ' Transactions of the New 

 Zealand Institute.' In acknowledgment of his scientific 

 work he was made a Doctor of Science in the University of 

 Cambridge, a Corresponding Member of the Zoological 

 Society, and a Member of the British Ornithologists' Union. 

 He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1879, and in 

 1886 was made K.C.M.G. But, not quite content with his 

 English honours, Sir Walter had an innocent pleasure in 

 obtaining distinctions from foreign countries. He became 

 a Knight Commander of the Crown of Italy, a Knight 



