XU MEMOIR OF THE LATE 



the autumn he was in the habit of shooting along the shore in the early 

 mornings ])rior to coming up to town, and the various species of ' Gralla- 

 tores ' which at that season visit Belfast Lough were constantly acquired 

 and identified from Bewick upon coming to the office ; and I well recol- 

 lect the interest taken in a very rare species killed one morning, the de- 

 scription of which was given to me, and the bird to have been brought 

 the next day for preservation, when judge of the vexation of both of us 

 at the miserable fate of the much-prized species, it having been plucked 

 and cooked ere my friend's return in the evening! During this time my 

 collection was going on, and W. T. began to have a few species preserved, 

 which he had himself procured ; I had previously given him lessons in 

 the manual operations necessary for stuffing birds, but he never liked 

 the trouble, especially the soiling his fingers, and I well recollect his first 

 visit to a bird preserver in Belfast, to have stuffed a very fine heron 

 w^hich he shot ; the bird being unwieldy from its great length of neck and 

 legs, he did not like carrying it through the streets in the day-time (I 

 may observe that in youth he was naturally shy, and did not like to at- 

 tract personal notice), so we deferred our visit till evening, when we 

 started with the bird for Nicholl's, who then lived in Xorth Street ; it was 

 carried by my friend, holding it by the legs, and in order to prevent the 

 head coming in contact Avitli the ground, it had to be held so high, that 

 even under gas light it became a most conspicuous object, and in passing 

 along the streets attracted universal attention, and even remark, to the 

 very great anno3'ance of poor T., and I am sorry to add to my great de- 

 light, suggesting that probably the amazement of the spectators Avas 

 causedby the length of legs of both parties, viz., T. and the heron. That 

 excursion was a standing joke in the office for many a day, and always 

 taken by T. with the most imperturbable good nature." 



LETTER II. 



West Hoboken, N. J., 



Fehruary 9, 1853. 



"Our various sporting and ornithological pursuits then went on for 

 .several years, up to the summer of 1826, when my friend made a tour 

 upon the Continent ; he was at that time so conversant with the birds of 

 his own country that he made notes in regard to various species met with 

 abroad, some of which are adverted to in his w^ork on the ' Birds of Ire- 

 land.' I think I was at this time a member of our Natural History So- 

 ciety, which I well recollect urging him to join, without at that time suc- 

 cess ; he had not yet become enthusiastic enough in the pursuit, and was, 

 as I remarked before, rather shy and diffident. From this time, for seve- 

 ral years, he hunted regularly a good deal with me, seldom missing a day 

 when the hounds were out ; these were favourable opportunities for mak- 

 ing ornithological observations, and our notes were frequently comjjared 

 in the evenings as to the birds seen by either or both during the day ; he 

 had great power of sight, and nothing escaped his keen observation. As 

 an instance of his power of vision, I may mention that he could distin- 

 guish the pole erected on the top of Uevis mountain, above Belfast, when 

 leaving Lurgan on horseback to return home. About this time he dis- 

 played a considerable inclination for planting trees, and had a most cor- 

 rect taste for landscape gardening. He was well acquainted with the 

 forms and peculiar habits of growth of all our forest trees, both indigen- 



