282 BRITISH BIRDS. 



in 1906. It is marked with that thoroughness and 

 mastery of detail which distinguishes all his work in 

 which he was keenly interested. While he was writing 

 the " History " he threw himself into the subject to 

 the exclusion of almost all his other literary work, and 

 at the close of his days he was as fond of this production 

 as of anything he had done. The " History " is full of 

 interesting matter, and the biographies of ornithologists 

 are based on a knowledge derived in many cases from 

 personal acquaintance, which he alone possessed. 



Another of his achievements, which he used to recall 

 with satisfaction, was his founding of the British Ornitho- 

 logists' Club in 1892. He was proud, and legitimately 

 so, of the fact that the Club, which owes its origin to his 

 advocacy and effort, has developed into one of the most 

 important centres of ornithological activity in the world, 

 while at the same time the scheme of the Club and the 

 amenities surrounding it, which are largely the creation 

 of Sharpe, have made the meetings of the Club among 

 the most sociable and enjoyable scientific reunions in 

 London. 



At the Paris Ornithological Congress of 1900, at which 

 he was present, he was nominated President of the 

 ensuing Congress, which was held with great success in 

 London in 1905. Sharpe, of course, presided over the 

 gathering, which was largely attended by ornithologists 

 from the Colonies and foreign countries, and in his 

 presidential address he gave an interesting account of the 

 origin and progress of the Bird Collection in the British 

 Museum. The Congress is to meet this year in Berlin, 

 under the presidency of Professor Reichenow, and it is sad 

 to think that the familiar figure of our friend, always one 

 of the most popular figures at these international 

 assemblies, will not be there to initiate his successor into 

 the Presidential Chair. 



The world-wide distinction which Bowdler Sharpe 

 enjoyed as an ornithologist must, in the fitness of things, 

 always entitle him to a prominent place in the Temple of 



