686 Obituary. 



576. A short history of the British Ornithologists' Union. Ibis, 

 Jubilee Supplement Vol. 1909, pp. 19-64. 



577. Note on the Black -faced Love-bird (^Ayapornis niijrigenis). 

 Bull. B. O. C. XXV. p. 11. 



578. Picarife, fam. Galbulidfp, in Wytsmau's " Genera Avium," 

 10th part, pp. 1-7, 1 plate. Brussels, 1909. 4to. 



1910. 



579. Bevised list of the Birds of Jamaica in the "Handbook of 

 Jamaica for 1910," pp. 596-619. Kingston, Jamaica, 1910. 8vo. 



580. An Qgg of Pufflnus r/ravis from Tristan d'Acunha. Bull. 

 B. 0. C. xxvii. p. 22. 



1912. 



581. The Shoe-bill in the Regent's Park. Ibis, 1912, pp. 680-688, 1 tig. 



1913. 



582. Commentary on the new " Hand-list of British Birds." Ibis, 

 11)13, pp. 113-127. 



Thomas Ayres. 



We learn with regret from tlie ' Natal Witness ' of August 2, 

 of the death at Potchefstroom in the Transvaal^ on July 31 

 last, of jNIr. Thomas Ayres at the advanced age of 85 years. 



Mr. Ayres was born in England, but went to Natal with 

 his family when quite young. Developing a taste for natural 

 history, and especially for ornithology, he became known 

 to John Henry Gurney tlu'ougli Dr. Colenso, the Bishop 

 of Natal. 



As a result there appeared in the early volumes of the 

 ' Ibis/ from 1859 to 1861, a series of papers written by 

 Mr. Gurney containing excellent and valuable field-notes by 

 Mr. Ayres on the birds of Natal, collected chiefly in the 

 neighbourhood of Pinetown, a few miles out of Durban, 

 where Ayres then lived. 



Subsequently, about 1869, he moved into the Transvaal 

 and settled at Potchefstroom, and thence communicated to 

 * The Ibis,' through Mr. Gurney, another series of papers on 

 the "Birds of the Transvaal Republic,^' which extended 

 over the years 1869 to 1886. 



The collection of birds' skins on which these papers were 

 based were all sent to Mr. Gurney, and they are uow divided 



