454 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
professional cares to distract him or to hinder the free enjoyment 
of almost all field sports to which in their proper season he was 
so much addicted. Of Irish descent (being the son of Mr. John 
Knox, of Castlerea), after graduating M.A. at Oxford, he spent 
much of his early life in the Co. Mayo fishing and Snipe-shooting; 
and although he took to soldiering nominally as a profession, and 
was for some time in the 2nd Life Guards, he retired upon being 
gazetted a captain; and, marrying Lady Jane Parsons, eldest 
daughter of Lord Rosse, settled down in the quiet enjoyment of 
country life in Sussex, first at Midhurst, next at Trotton, and 
eventually (on the death of his wife, who pre-deceased him) at 
Dale Park, near Arundel, where in the house of a married 
daughter he found all that loving attention and tender regard for 
his welfare which could cheer the heart of a father in his declining 
years. 
Mr. Knox did not profess to be a scientific naturalist in the 
strict acceptation of the term, but he was an excellent outdoor 
observer of the ways of animals, and was especially fond of birds. 
Indeed, his collection of Sussex birds, amongst which were many 
valuable rarities, was a feature in his country house which never 
failed to attract and interest his visitors, especially if he were in 
the humour to act the part of showman, and could be prevailed 
upon to give the history of some of the more remarkable speci- 
mens. He could tell a story capitally, and, being a wonderful 
mimic, would give some of his Irish experiences with professional 
fowlers or fishermen in a manner that was most amusing. A tall, 
spare man, clean shaved, and with a clear keen eye, there was that 
about him which seemed to claim attention and respect from all 
with whom he might converse. He was what might be called a 
good “all-round sportsman”; for hunting, shooting, hawking, 
deer-stalking, fishing, and especially salmon-fishing, were his 
delight. As a privileged friend of his Grace of Gordon, he was a 
frequent visitor in autumn to Speyside, where he made successful 
frays amongst Salmon, Deer, and Grouse, and jotted down those 
pleasant field-notes which were subsequently printed in his 
‘Autumns on the Spey.’ 
An incident of his early life may here be mentioned as showing 
the courage and calmness of which he was capable in a case of 
emergency. In 18338, when fishing on a loch with his uncle, 
Major Knox, and a keeper named Hamilton, the boat was capsized 
