274 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Col. L. Howard Irby. 



It is with sincere regret for the loss of an old and valued friend and 

 a thoroughly good and trustworthy ornithologist that I venture to send 

 the accompanying notice to ' The Zoologist ' of the death, on the 14th 

 May last, of Col. Leonard Howard Irby, F.Z.S., F.L.S., &c. 



I first met him at Gibraltar in 1870, when he was still in the 

 service as a Major in the 74th Highlanders, and engaged in writing his 

 well-known 'Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar." From that 

 time until the date of his death I saw a great deal of him, and was 

 connected with him in various shootings, and in expeditions to all 

 parts of the British Islands in search of materials for the series of bird 

 groups at the Natural History Museum at South Kensington ; also of 

 British Lepidoptera for our own private collections. His knowledge of 

 birds was wonderful, while his quick sight and accurate shooting lasted 

 until the end. No one more thoroughly enjoyed a ramble over hill 

 and dale, and a good bird-hunt, than he did. Moreover, he did not 

 confine his energies to birds alone, but was a keen lepidopterist, and 

 devoted to the study of wild flowers. 



Born in 1836, Col. Irby was educated at Bugby School and at 

 Wimbledon ; he joined the 90th Light Infantry as ensign in 1854, and 

 at once proceeded to the Crimea, where he served until the end of the 

 war, including the siege of Sebastopol. During this period he managed 

 to collect, and write notes upon, Crimean birds, which soon attracted 

 attention ; so that his further notes on the birds of Oudh, written while 

 serving in the Indian Mutiny campaign, were gladly welcomed by the 

 leading ornithologists of the day. It is interesting to record that he 

 and Lord Wolseley, both in the 90th Light Infantry, together fought 

 their way, with their respective companies, into Lucknow at the time 

 of the memorable relief of that city. In 1864 Col. Irby was transferred 

 to the 74th Highlanders, in which regiment he served until his retire- 

 ment from the army, which took place, I think, in 1872. 



The ornithological works by which he will best be remembered, and 

 the accuracy of his knowledge of birds be appreciated, are the ' Orni- 

 thology of the Straits of Gibraltar,' first published in 1875, with a 

 second and enlarged edition in 1895, and his 'Key-List of British 

 Birds,' published in 1888. These may, I think, be looked upon as two 

 important standard and classical works on birds, and are probably to 

 be found on the bookshelves of every ornithologist of the present day. 

 His other minor papers, including one in ' The Ibis ' on the " Birds of 

 Santander," are perhaps not so well known ; but all are most inter- 

 esting and carefully written. 



