94 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



from time to time were procured alive and turned out to enjoy a 

 state of comparative freedom. What this freedom was may be 

 inferred from the unprecedented fact that a pair of Gannets bred 

 there, and reared a young one which Mr. Booth was enabled to 

 watch through its various phases of plumage towards maturity, 

 taking note of its appearance almost daily. 



The museum building being ready, he had a fresh in- 

 centive to collect for the purpose of filling it. When at 

 home, he used to say that he held himself in readiness 

 to leave again by the next train for any place in the United 

 Kingdom, on receipt of a telegram from an acquaintance or 

 ally to the effect that a strange bird was awaiting his attention 

 in such-and-such a parish, and had eluded all attempts to 

 secure it. If he had reason to suspect that it was something 

 worth going for, he would start at once, and, in nine cases out 

 of ten, would return home with the prize, and a pocket-book full 

 of field-notes concerning it. It has been our privilege to see 

 many of these note-books, in which evidence of his power of 

 observation and keen enjoyment of sport was apparent on every 

 page. 



By some people, it is true, Mr. Booth has been regarded as a 

 ruthless destroyer of animal life ; as a man who would go any 

 distance to kill something ; and who would shoot every rare bird 

 he could come across. This character he did not deserve ; for 

 while he undoubtedly took infinite trouble, and spared no expense 

 to secure specimens of any bird not already in his collection ; yet 

 having secured them, and caused them to be well preserved and 

 mounted, he killed no more than he wanted, unless, as in the 

 case of game and wild fowl, he shot them in the legitimate 

 exercise of a sportsman's instinct, or to supply his own larder 

 and that of his friends. His moderation, therefore, in this res- 

 pect was much greater than some people were inclined to believe, 

 and the destruction of a rare or brightly-plumaged bird was 

 almost always compensated for by the excellent field notes which 

 he took care to write down when observing it, by the subsequent 

 publication of these notes for others' benefit, and by the 

 undoubted enjoyment and instruction which he afforded to the 

 public by admitting them unreservedly to view his collections. 



Nor was this the only good that resulted from the pursuit of 

 his hobby. Not only have hundreds of people been instructed 



