go THE NIDOLOGIST 
he vastly increased our knowledge of that group in 
particular. Indeed, at the time of his death there 
was probably no one who possessed the information 
about the Owls and the diurnal Raptores that Mr. 
Gurney did, and the collection he had built up at the 
Norwich Museum illustrating those birds was consid- 
ered by many to rival even what they had at -the 
British Museum. Taking the Owls and diurnal birds 
of prey together, this collection now numbers over 
four thousand seven hundred specimens. It contains 
no less than one hundred and twenty-four specimens 
of Strix flammea and its subspecies, while of /adco 
peregiinus and its near ally, /. melanogenys, there are 
Mr. Gurney was also very 
seventy-five specimens. 
fond of keeping many 
animalsand birds alive, 
and, according to Mr. 
Southwell, he had in 
his younger years a 
“large yard dedicated 
to the cause of Zoology, 
in which a row of cages 
was put up for birds of 
prey, of which he had 
much the best private 
collection then in ex- 
istence, though since 
surpassed by Lord Lil- 
ford’s. Although the 
birds never bred he ob- 
tained many eggs of 
the Goshawk, Kite, 
Yellow-billed Kite, 
Jackal Buzzard, Rough- 
legeed Buzzard, Mon- 
golian Buzzard, 
Wedge-tailed Eagle, 
Sociable Vulture, and 
others. This last 
named laid about a 
dozen eggs, most of 
which were very fine, 
though one or two 
were soft-shelled ; she 
began to lay in 1859, 
and always laid in Feb- 
ruary until 1868, when 
she changed her time 
to March.” Mr. South- 
well concludes his most 
entertaining biography 
of the subject of this 
sketch by saying, 
““Those who remem- 
ber Mr. Gurney in his 
prime will recognize 
his somewhat portly 
figure and prepossessing features, lit up with a kindly 
smile, so well transferred to canvas in the museum 
portrait; but the personal charm of manner, the culti- 
vated yet natural tones of voice, and the cheerful 
greeting can never be reproduced. Those who knew 
him intimately will recall with pleasure the infinite 
fund of quiet humor and flow of anecdote, the result 
of keen powers of observation of men and manners 
extending over many years—which made his compan- 
ionship so delightful, even when his bodily powers 
were failing—and feel that his loss has created a void 
never to be filled.” 
The son, the present Mr. J. H. Gurney, will doubt- 
less sustain handsomely his father’s enviable reputa- 
tion, and still further increase the usefulness of the 
Norwich Museum and the other enterprises he had so 
firmly on foot at the time of his death. In his Cata- 
THE LATE JOHN H. GURNEY. 
logue of the Birds of Prey he gives us much additional 
biographical matter relative to his father, as well as 
a list of his works. (See title above.) This is an ex- 
cellent little volume, and a very useful one. It is 
illustrated with maps of the world, giving the distri- 
bution of the Vulturide, Scops, etc., and has an excel— 
lent figure of the nest of Archibuteo ferrugineus in it, 
showing four young in the downy plumage. In 
speaking of the Supposed Occurrences of the Spotted 
Sandpiper in Yorkshire Mr. Gurney, Jr., says = 
‘‘There are thirty-one supposed occurrences of the 
Spotted Sandpiper in the British Isles, and there are 
very few birds around which so much misapprehen- 
sion has clustered. A good many of them are un- 
doubtedly cases of mis- 
taken identity, while 
some are foreign skins 
willfully or uninten- 
tionally palmed off as 
British-killed, and ad- 
mitted into collections 
where they would 
otherwise not have 
found a place.” This 
paper is well worth 
reading, and gives con- 
siderable information 
about our Common 
Spotted Sandpiper (7. 
macularius). The Or- 
nithological Notes front 
Norfolk is a good ex- 
ample, going to show 
how interesting a 
monthly Ornitholog- 
ical journal can be 
made and how impor- 
tant it is to keep such 
records. In hisaccount 
On the Recent Abun- 
dance of the Little Auk 
(Mergulus alle, Linn.) 
in Norfolk, the same 
author gives us a most 
remarkable chapter in 
bird-life, which was the 
result of ‘‘the Arctic 
weather which  pre- 
vailed during January, 
1895. which was the 
theme of every tongue 
at the time.” Among 
many extraordinary 
happenings in  En- 
gland’s Ornis, Little 
Auks were ‘‘ sprinkled 
broadcast over the 
northern part of Norfolk, nearest the coast,’ some- 
times far inland, and many hundreds of them were 
gathered up. (For complete titles of these papers see 
above.) In closing we desire to wish Mr. Gurney all 
- success in his conduction of the affairs of the Norwich 
Museum, and especially that he may succeed in ob- 
taining the list of Accepitres and Striges necessary to 
fill out his desédevata, and which are given in full in his 
Catalogue of the Birds of Prey. Re We San 
———_+>++—______ 
Mr. JoHN Murcarroyp, of New York, the taxider- 
mist, suggests that Nansen, the Norwegian, who is 
said to have discovered the North Pole, may bring 
back a Great Auk or two. What a pleasant sight it 
would be to see a /ive Great Auk in with the Swans in 
the Central Park ! 
