Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/176

152 tained on dull days by letting each bird in a consignment bite his fingers; every cock pinched, but every hen drew blood: a pleasant experience truly, but fully confirmed by the scarred condition of this enthusiastic naturalist's fingers!

Kind, genial, generous, it was impossible for a man like Mr. Abrahams to keep his knowledge to himself. Any of his friends who really wished to learn could benefit by his experience; he would not merely answer a question, but would compel the enquirer to discover the answer to it for himself. If asked how he could tell the sexes of two birds exactly alike in plumage, he would take his net, catch a pair, hold them close together, and ask you if you could not see a difference; if you hesitated, he would point out that, having nothing else to guide it, a bird must be guided (as we generally are in the case of the human species) by the face. Thus he led up to the ascertained constant character, and when it was mastered, he would say, "Right! Now you will never forget it."

Mr. Abrahams died from peritonitis, following an operation, at the age of 62, on Friday, March 8th, leaving a blank which will not be easily filled. A.G.B.