The late William Brodrick. 397 



longer pharmacopoeia than is therein contained. In 1875, a 

 second edition of this work appeared through the same publisher 

 (Mr Van Voorst), when, the original lithographic stones having 

 been destroyed, the plates were re-drawn by Mr Brodrick, with 

 some additions. Previously to this, however, namely, in 1865, 

 the same hand had produced a charming series of folio plates of 

 hawks, entitled "Falconers' Favourites," in which he gave 

 life-sized coloured figures of a famous Tiercel Comet, from 

 Lundy and Hurricane, the best Dutch passage falcon he ever 

 possessed, with other portraits of Goshawk and Sparrowhawk, 

 Hobby, and Merlin. Nor did Mr Brodrick's talent end here. A 

 life-long study of the habits and attitudes of birds of prey, in 

 motion and at rest, coupled with unusual skill as a taxidermist, 

 resulted in the production of some of the most remarkable groups 

 of stuffed birds with which we are acquainted. With the 

 exception of his friend, Mr John Hancock of Newcastle, no 

 amateur in this line has ever rivalled him in his best efforts. 

 His house was full of stuffed birds, and some of his finest cases, 

 having to be moved for want of room, were lent for exhibition 

 to the museums of Bath and Exeter, where we have often 

 admired them, and where, it is to be hoped, they will be allowed 

 to remain. Nor were the smaller kind of birds neglected. Of 

 Canaries especially Mr Brodrick was an excellent judge and 

 successful exhibitor, possessing the purest, and latterly almost 

 the only, representatives of that singular variety known as the 

 *' London Fancy." Like all admirers of this particular strain 

 of late years, he found them sterile and troublesome to breed 

 and rear, and towards the end they dwindled down to one or 

 two, and finally became extinct, for it is believed that there are 

 not now to be found any good representatives of this once 

 much-prized breed. It is curious that all young "London 

 Fancies," until their first moult, externally resemble young 

 "Lizards;" but, while the "Lizard" undergoes no material 

 cha?ige of colour or markings, the London canary changes from 

 the sober hue of a brown-spangled bird (like a linnet) to a 

 splendid deep uniform yellow, or equally fine buff or pale yellow 

 colour, with black wings and tail, and remains so until after the 

 second moult, when the wing and tail feathers become light 

 with black shafts. 



It is to be regretted that Mr Brodrick's shy and retiring 

 disposition prevented his talents from being more widely 



lY 



