6o2 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



it came. The incident, was forgotten, the vohime completed and 

 Gates returned to India. The revise proofs ^vere sent to him by 

 Blanford for correction and passed, but the long forgotten joke 

 unfortunately remained unnoticed ! Thus it happened that a 

 Wagtail was described as having an impossible note, which has 

 long been a puzzle to ornithologists — a warning to all practical 

 jokers. 



His other well-known works included a second edition of 

 " ITimie's JSfests and Eggs of Indian Birds'" and a '■' MomuoI of the 

 Game Birds of India.'" He also wrote the first and second 

 volumes of the " Catalogue of the Collections of Bird/s Egc/s in 

 the British Museum," and was joint author with Capt. vSavile 

 G. Reed of tlie third and fourth volumes of the same work. 



Mr. Gates was an accurate observer in the field and his fine 

 collection of Burmese Birds and their eggs no^v forms part of the 

 National Collection. 



In the last years of his life he was deeply interested in that 

 most difficult group of Kalij and Silver Pheasants which are in- 

 cluded in the genus Oennams and he formed a fine collection of 

 these birds which was transferred to the Natural History Museum 

 shortly before his death. His views on this difficult group of birds 

 A^'ere much at variance with those of other ornithologists, and 

 probably many of the individuals which he regarded as represent- 

 ing species or sub-species should really be considered as hybrids, 

 which undoubtedly occur among wild birds of this group. His 

 collection, however, contained many types and tlie Trustees of the 

 British Museum were fortunate in acquiring it. 



Mr. Gates was elected a member of the British Ornithologists' 

 Union in 1884 and acted as Secretary from 1898 to 1900 : he also 

 joined the British GrnitholOgists' Club in 1893, soon, after its 

 commencement. He was a Fellow of the Zoological Society of 

 London. &c., and a popular member of the Savage Club. 



W. R. G. G 



