September 2, 1922] 



NA TURE 



3i9 



possibilities of the resonance theory it seems easy 

 by its use to account for the main facts of audition, 

 none of which seem in conflict with the theory. 

 This, of course, does not suffice to establish the 

 hypothesis, as it is conceivable that some other 



might be equally successful. But, pending the 

 advent of such a rival, perhaps the disciples of 

 Helmholtz may be pardoned for what others might 

 style their inexplicable interest in an old and unproved 

 theory. 



The Lesser Whitethroat's Fanfare. 



(To J. S. H.) 



THOUGH lyrics mingled with tattoos 

 Of melodrama savour, 

 The Lesser Whitethroat dares to use 

 Both avenues to favour. 

 Behind a screen 

 Of leaves unseen 

 He'll croon with tenderest passion, 

 Then loudly reel 

 A clarion peal 

 Of notes in fanfare fashion : 

 , PP-) Chi ddy-choo-ee cheo ,-W ee jo-choo-ee chey , 

 Wee'-chiddy-wee chey ,-Choo-i ddy , Choo-ee ! 

 Then changing time, 

 And reckless of rhyme : 



(Vivace, ff.) JIP-JIP-JIP-JIP, 



JIP-JIP-JIP-JIP, 

 JIP-JIP ! 



But can we give this Warbler praise 



When art he compromises, — 

 In secret hums his native lays, 

 And flash-notes advertises ? 

 Sing, Warbler, sing ! 

 These cries you fling 

 Too soon all tune will smother ; 

 And then you'll flit 

 A ribald Tit, 

 And Whitethroats lose their brother ! 



W. Garstang. 



Obituary. 



W. H. Hudson. 



THE death of Mr. William Henry Hudson at his 

 residence in London on August 18, in his eighty- 

 first year, removes from our midst a remarkable 

 personality, a great writer of English prose, and a keen 

 interpreter of Nature. 



Mr. Hudson's father emigrated to the Argentine in 

 the early part of the last century and settled on the 

 pampas, and it was there that his childhood and early 

 life was spent. We get a vivid idea of the conditions 

 under which he grew to manhood in the pages of 

 " Far Away and Long Ago," a volume of autobio- 

 graphical recollections which he published in 1918 — 

 the vast treeless plains, the solitary estancia with a few 

 trees around it, the semi-savage gauchos, and above 

 all the teeming bird life along the strand of a lonely 

 mere. 



In his early days Mr. Hudson entered into corre- 

 spondence with the late Dr. P. L. Sclater and sent him 

 collections of birds and mammals. Accounts of these, 

 first appearing in the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society, formed the foundation of a joint work, " Argen- 

 tine Ornithology." published in two volumes in 1888- 

 1889, to which Mr. Hudson contributed the notes and 

 observations on the habits of the birds, while Dr. 

 Sclater was responsible for the technical descriptions and 

 general arrangement. This work was recently re- 

 issued by Mr. Hudson alone, but without the technical 

 descriptions, under the title of " Birds of La Plata." 

 Two other volumes, well known to lovers of good 

 writing dealing with South American Natural History, 

 were " The Naturalist in La Plata," 1892, and " Idle 

 Days in Patagonia," 1893. 



About this time Mr. Hudson came to England and 



began a long series of works dealing with the study of 

 Nature in England. " Birds of a Village," " Nature in 

 Downland," " Hampshire Days," " The Land's End," 

 and the more strictly ornithological " British Birds," 

 " Birds and Man," and " Birds in London," followed 

 one another in quick succession. Though always in 

 feeble health and of a delicate constitution, he tramped 

 over southern England from the New Forest to Pen- 

 zance throughout the summer, spending the winter 

 partly in London and partly at Penzance, where he made 

 his second home. 



Recognition of his talent came late to him. In his 

 early days in England he was unable to earn a liveli- 

 hood with his pen and he was awarded in 1901 a Civil 

 List Pension of 150/. in " recognition of the originality 

 of his writings on natural history." This he resigned 

 in August last year on the ground that he needed it 

 no longer. " Publishers," he told an intimate friend, 

 " threw money at him with both hands." 



A man of extremely sensitive temperament, Hudson 

 could not endure to take the life of any animal or bird, 

 and was an ardent supporter of the Society for the 

 Protection of Birds, to which he devoted much of his 

 energy during recent years. He was thus out of sym- 

 pathy with any form of collecting. He had, however, 

 a wonderful power of observation, and his sense of 

 hearing was extremely acute. His writing is simple, 

 lucid, and descriptive, and he never gave to his observa- 

 tions on bird or animal psychology that anthropo- 

 morphic tendency which so often characterises the 

 writers of popular works on natural history subjects. 

 Though he can never be reckoned among the ranks of 

 scientific ornithologists, his writings will undoubtedly 

 endure as monuments of accurate observation and of 

 limpid, lucid, English prose. 



NO. 2757, VOL. I 10] 



