OCCASIONAL NOTES. 63 
DeatH or tHE Marquis oF TwrrsppaLe.—By the death of the 
Marquis of Tweeddale, which occurred at Chiselhurst on December 29th, 
zoological science has sustained a sad loss. Having only succeeded to the 
peerage on the death of his father so recently as October, 1876, his lord- 
ship was perhaps better known to naturalists as Viscount Walden, under 
which name he published numerous valuable contributions to Ornithology 
in the ‘ Transactions’ and ‘ Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society, in the 
‘This,’ the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural Society,’ and other journals 
devoted to Natural History.- Amongst his later publications may be 
specially mentioned his contributions to the Ornithology of the Philippines, 
which have appeared at intervals in the ‘ Transactions’ above mentioned. 
Having passed some time in India, where he acquired his taste for 
Ornithology, and possessing a considerable knowledge of the Asiatic avi- 
fauna, his lordship had been occupied for some time before his death in 
investigating the Ornithology of the Philippines, until then comparatively 
little known. Friends and agents in this group of islands furnished him 
at intervals with large collections of bird-skins, and these he described in a 
series of \aluable papers, illustrated with coloured plates of the new and 
rare species. It was no secret amongst ornithologists, we believe, that for 
some years past Lord Tweeddale had been engaged in collecting materials 
for a history of the birds of India, for which undertaking Jerdon’s valuable 
work had paved the way, and furnished, as it were, the skeleton or ground- 
work; and, unless we are mistaken, considerable progress had been made 
with the MS. at the time of his lordship’s lamented decease. As another 
instance of his devotion to the cause of his favourite science, we may mention 
the warm interest which he took in the publication of Mr. Dresser’s ‘ Birds 
of Europe,’ and the important aid which he furnished to that work in 
preparing a considerable portion of the synonymy. His valuable zoological 
library and large collections of birds at Chiselhurst were always available 
for inspection by his naturalist friends, to whom he was ever ready to impart 
information when required. Working thus energetically himself, and 
assisting and encouraging others to work also, Lord T'weeddale, as President 
of the Zoological Society, was emphatically “the right man in the right 
place.” He was a Fellow of the Royal and Linnean Societies, and a dis- 
tinguished member of the British Ornithologists’ Union, to whose quarterly 
journal, ‘ The Ibis,’ he contributed many valuable articles. His loss will 
be much felt by a large circle of naturalists and men of science, to say 
nothing of the numerous private friends by whom he was surrounded. 
His death, at the age of fifty-five, was occasioned, we are informed, by a 
combined attack of bronchitis and congestion of the lungs. 
