464 Letters , Announcements, H$c. 
east as far at least as Russian Mantcliuria. M. Taczanowski 
sent also a pair of the fine grey Bullfinch—the male from 
the Ussuri, the female from the River Onon. The former 
has a clear tail, the female has the white patch strongly pro¬ 
nounced. The white tail-patch, therefore, can scarcely be 
accepted as a fixed character; and I should be rather inclined 
to suggest that P. cassini be a hybrid (strongly as I object to 
the idea in face of the Development theory) between two spe¬ 
cies, say P. coccinea and P. cineracea. Temminck, I see, 
says (Manuel, iii. p. 249, under “Pyrrhula vulgaris ”):— a On 
la trouve en Siberie, et jusqu’au Japon;” but in those days 
they had not, I believe, recognized the larger form to which 
De Selys-Longchamps subsequently gave the name P. coc¬ 
cinea. 
Yours, &c., 
Robert Swtniioe. 
XLYI.— Obituary. 
We regret to have to record the premature death, during the 
past year, of one of the original founders of our association. 
The Rev. William Henry Hawker, of Ashford Lodge, near 
Petersfield, vicar of the parish of Steep, in which his property' 
was situated, although not an actual contributor to these 
pages, was a personal friend of many of us, and an ardent 
supporter of natural science. 
Mr. Hawker was the fifth son of the late Admiral Hawker, 
and was born in Dec. 1827. He was educated at Rugby and 
Trinity College, Cambridge, and, after taking his degree, 
studied for the church at Wells. After taking Orders, he 
was for some years curate of Idsworth, near Horndean, in the 
south of Hampshire, and removed to Ashford on succeeding 
to that property in 1860. Mr. Hawker was owner of a con¬ 
siderable collection of British birds and insects; he was an 
ardent entomologist, and an excellent botanical collector. 
He made frequent excursions in various parts of Europe, par¬ 
ticularly in Norway, Switzerland, the Maritime Alps of Sa¬ 
voy, and the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. He was an 
