Obituary . 351 
the Little Ouse, on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk. 
He was just in time to find some of the Harriers breeding, 
and notably Montagu’s Harrier, which then nested 
regularly in Feltwell Fen in company with the Short-eared 
Owl. 
The year 1848 was in many ways a memorable one. It 
was in that year that Simpson first made the acquaintance 
of Alfred Newton, who had just come up as an under¬ 
graduate to Magdalene College, Cambridge. The similarity 
of their tastes soon made them firm friends, though Newton 
did not then accompany Simpson in any of his excur¬ 
sions. His principal comrade at this time was a brother 
Johnian named James E. Law, who had shared in his birds’- 
nesting experiences at Uppingham, and who ultimately 
married his eldest sister. When the May term was over, 
Simpson and Law made a short tour in Northumberland, 
the programme including a complete day at the Fame 
Islands on the 15th of June. Sandwich Terns were particu¬ 
larly plentiful in those days, but the eggs of the few Roseate 
Terns visible were only doubtfully identified. The same 
party had a delightful day on Cheviot a little later, when 
they found that the Merlin and Dunlin had already hatched 
off ; but a complete clutch of the Golden Plover was 
secured from the flat and hassockv summit of the mountain. 
On the 7th July following, Simpson, who was then visiting 
his relations in Cumberland, secured a nest of the Dotterel, 
with its complement of three eggs, on the summit of 
Robinson Fell near Buttermere. 
Simpson took his B.A. degree in January 1850, and 
forthwith went to reside in London, where he was called to 
the Bar in 1853. Those years were not prolific in ornitho¬ 
logical pursuits, although during a short fishing-trip to the 
north-west of Ireland, in May 1853, he and his old College 
chum James Law had the good fortune to secure nests of 
the Sea-Eagle and Peregrine Falcon from the cliffs of Horn 
Head in Donegal. 
He again took up ornithology seriously in the spring 
of 1855, and this time at the instance of Alfred - Newton, 
