XXVIU 



Dr. BowDLER Sharpe exhibited one of the volumes of 

 original paintings of Woodpeckers, executed by the late 

 Mr. Edward Hargitt. The total number of coloured figures 

 was 1368, and on this stupendous task Mr. Hargitt had been 

 engaged for more than fourteen years. The pictures, — said 

 Dr. Sharpe, — as will be seen by the volume exhibited, repre- 

 sent the males, females, and young birds, as well as all the 

 intermediate plumages and variations, which jMr. Hargitt 

 had been able to paint from the specimens in liis own collec- 

 tion and those in the public museums and private collec- 

 tions of the world. Considering that for many years he had 

 suffered from indifferent health, and was engaged through- 

 out the time on his own professional work, it was really a 

 wonderful example of human energy to have produced such a 

 series of beautiful paintings of Woodpeckers. Nearly 100 

 typical specimens were illustrated in the series, and many 

 of them were of great interest, as not having been figured in 

 any public work. 



The MS. letterpress, which had been entirely written out 

 by Miss Hargitt, contained 1489 original descriptions, all of 

 them carefully copied from tiie works in which they had ap- 

 peared. Tbe work, as completed, formed 14 stout 8vo volumes. 



Dr. Sharpe had been carufully through the collection of 

 Woodpecicers left by his lati3 friend and he found that this 

 collection was one of very great importance, containing 3538 

 specimens, representing 289 species, with 22 types. 



The collection contained examples of several species not in 

 the British ^Museum nor in any other collection, and there 

 could be no doul^t that in ^^Ir. Hargitt^s series would be found 

 the material for a complcre ^Jonogrcipii of the Picidre, which 

 could be rendered still more perfect by a study of the 

 fourteen volumes of paintings of Woodpeckers which had been 

 executed by Mr. Hargitt. These volumes also contained a 

 number of original observations and corrections to Mv. Har- 

 gitt^s work in tlie ' Cataloi'ue of Birds.'' In conclusion. 

 Dr. Sharpe expressed a hope that this beautiful collection 

 would find a resting-place iu some public or private museum, 

 where it would be fully appr jciated, so that the ori^^inal work 



