I40 



IN .MEMORIAL ALFRED ROBERTS. 



in length, and therefore not more than two-thirds grown, it could 

 not have been a very aged individual. 



From the position in which it lay, as well as from its having been 

 partially eviscerated, there was some excuse for the confused sketch 

 of the ' Greenland Whale " which appeared in the Illustrated Lofidon 

 A^e7vs of the i6th inst. 



The last I heard of the Whale was that it had been sold by 

 auction for thirty guineas, the purchasers being Messrs. Caley & 

 Fulton, of Hull, who were at that time trying to get it afloat for 

 removal to the metropolis of the Humber. 



XOTE—ORXITHOLOG F. 

 Great Grey Shrike near Harrogate.— On January 12th I saw a 



beautiful specimen of Laniiis excubitor on Harlow Heath, Harrogate. I watched 

 the bird for a long time, it allowing a near approach, and I could easily have shot 

 it had my gun been with me. — RiLEY FORTUNE, Harrogate, March 8th, 1887. 



ALFRED ROBERTS. 

 ' On the 6th of February last, at King Street, Scarborough, Alfred 

 Roberts, in the 75th year of his age.' 



This announcement was received by everyone who knew liim, with 

 regret ; he was widely known in the scientific world as a first-rate 

 naturahst. Born at Brigg, in Lincolnshire, where he began life as a 

 cabinetmaker, by hard work he rose to 'oe Curator of the Scar- 

 borough Museum, which post he held for many years with great credit. 

 He died after forty years of residence in Scarborough, leaving many 

 friends but no enemies. ]\Ir. Roberts was a true type of nature's 

 gentleman — upright, kindly-hearted, and ever ready to help or give 

 instruction, which he always did in the most unassuming manner. 

 He was a true lover of nature in all its branches, showing equal 

 interest in the setting of a butterfly or mounting the lordly eagle. 

 He was a first-class taxidennist, and one whom many and noted men 

 were glad to call friend ; in former days a constant visitor at Walton 

 Hall, where he was always received by ' The Squire ' with ever}' mark 

 of friendship : and many were the hours that Waterton spent in the 

 little red house in King Street, talking on subjects which were dear 

 to the hearts of both ; and I don't think anyone ever spent half an 

 hour with him without coming away feeling that he had added to 

 his knowledge of natural history. After three years of illness he 

 has passed away, leaving in Scarborough a gap which will take some 

 filling in the hearts of his friends : a gap which never will be filled. 

 As one of the latter I am proud to subscribe these few lines to his 

 memory. — J. Whitaker, Rainworth. Notts. 



Naturalist, 



