MEMOIR OF THE LATE HENltY SEEBOHM. 11 



a single work of the many he published, namely, his ' British 

 Birds,' in four royal octavo volumes, to be assured of this ; for it 

 abounds in original observations which have thrown much light 

 on the geographical distribution, migration, and nesting haunts 

 of many of the rarer species concerning which previous writers, 

 from their own knowledge, had comparatively little to relate. 

 Indeed, as regards several of these, we are indebted to him for 

 the discovery of their breeding-places, and for original descriptions 

 of their nests, eggs, and young. His extensive collection of bird- 

 skins and eggs, so many of which were obtained by himself, 

 furnished the most ample materials for his descriptions, and 

 enabled him to correct the misapprehensions of some of his 

 fellow-workers, and to supplement their remarks with valuable 

 observations of his own. That his teaching in some respects 

 was not universally acceptable, or implicitly followed, is perhaps 

 not to be wondered at, for he held peculiar views on the subject 

 of classification and nomenclature — views which, though often 

 striking in their novelty, will scarcely stand the test of serious 

 criticism (c/. Zool. 1890, p. 230). For this reason, so far at least 

 as classification is concerned, it may be safely predicted that his 

 reputation will not depend upon this portion of his work. 



Nor can we believe that certain fanciful theories of his — for 

 example, that concerning the original dispersal of the Charadriidce 

 from the shores of the Polar Sea, during the Glacial Epoch {cf. 

 Zool. 1886, p. 43) — will find general acceptance.* 



We do not propose, however, in this place to oifer any detailed 

 criticism of his work, for which the space at disposal would be 

 wholly insufficient. We desire rather to call to mind the extent 

 of his labours in the cause of ornithology, and to show how much 

 we are indebted to him for the amount of useful information 

 which he has disseminated by his writings, and for his encourage- 

 ment of research by collectors in little-known parts of the world. 



Born at Bradford, in Yorkshire, in 1832, of an old Quaker 

 family, Henry Seebohm was educated at the Friends' School at 

 York, where his early love of Nature was shown by the creditable 

 collections which he there formed of birds and birds' eggs. As 

 he grew up, he became filled with a desire to travel, and though for 

 many years engaged in business in Sheffield, as a manufacturer 



* See also ' Zoologist,' 1888, p. 1 ( J8. 



