RICHARD BOWDLER SHARPE. 281 



Museum Trustees in 1895, when, on the recommendation 

 of the late Sir William Flower, then Director of the 

 Museum, he was promoted to the newly-created post of 

 Assistant-Keeper of the Vertebrate Section of the Depart- 

 ment of Zoology, a position which greatly extended the 

 sphere of his duties, since the section of which he thus 

 became the Head embraced the Mammals, Reptiles, and 

 Fishes, as well as the Birds, and he was thus brought 

 into closer official relations with those of his colleagues 

 who were in immediate charge of these groups. 



His astonishing powers of work were never more in 

 evidence than about the period when, in addition to his 

 multifarious duties in the Bird Room, involving among 

 other things constant personal attention to the many 

 inquiries addressed to him and to the numerous visitors 

 to the Department who daily go there seeking information, 

 he undertook the preparation of his " Hand-List of Birds," 

 giving the name of every known bird, while in his own 

 time he managed to edit Allen's " Naturalists' Library," 

 and to write and publish a number of books, including 

 his " Monograph of the Swallows," a " Monograph of the 

 Birds of Paradise," and a work on the Birds of the 

 Yarkand Mission ; based upon the collection and notes of 

 the late Ferdinand Stoliczka. He was also responsible 

 for the " Aves " portion of the "Zoological Record " — ■ 

 a task which was entrusted to him to the end. Further, 

 he delivered a course of lectures at the Royal Institution 

 on the " Geographical Distribution of Birds," and later 

 in the same year (1893) one on "Ancient and Modern 

 Birds." 



The International Congress of Zoology met at Leyden 

 in the year 1895. Sharpe went to this gathering, and 

 he was honoured by receiving an invitation to give his 

 lecture on the " Curiosities of Bird-Life " before the 

 Queen of Holland and her mother, the Queen-Regent. 



One of the most useful pieces of work which he accom- 

 plished as a Museum official is his " History of the Bird- 

 Collection in the British Museum," which was published 



