of his charges was daily expected by his master. Place
was found, though at some distance from the house,
for the erection of large and commodious aviaries, the
tenants of which frequently testified to the suitability
of their lodging by matrimonial alliances, and possibly
there have been few establishments of the kind in which
the captives have to such an extent been tempted to
solace their imprisonment by indulging in the tender
passion. After a time, too, a large piece of water in
the park, with a wide border of shrubbery and turf, was
securely fenced in, and in this enclosure was maintained,
safe from the depredations of the well-known foxes of
Northamptonshire, one of the finest collections of living
Water-fowl—and especially of the Crane-family—that
has ever been formed. But this was not all: round
the house might be seen no small number of Birds
enjoying almost absolute freedom, from the mighty
Lammergeyer to the Little Owl, dear to Pallas Athena,
of which last several pairs nested in the hollow trees of
the gardens and park. Indoors were a few especial
favourites, of constitution too delicate to be exposed to
the weather, and among them the Torillo, whose deep
note in the silent hours of the night would surprise the
unwary visitor, who had not thought the somewhat
meek-looking “ Button-Quail ” capable of uttering such
a terrible sound. Of late years the aviaries at Lilford,
with its beautiful gardens, became an object of great
public attraction, and access to them being readily
given, on at least one day in the week, the population of
the neighbouring towns and villages availed itself largely
of this privilege—a privilege that year by year, through
the increase of his bodily infirmities, the owner of all
became less and less capable of enjoying. Yet whenever,
and as often as, he could, he would be drawn in
his wheeled chair to one after the other of the cages or
pens, taking the closest interest in the individual
history of each denizen, and shewing that personal
knowledge of each that only belongs to those who have
a natural love of living animals.
In the earlier years of his presiding over the British
Ornithologists’ Union, and when that body was comparatively
small in number, not only was Lord Lilford
the friend of almost each member, but all were welcome
at “ The Den,” as he termed some rooms he occupied
in London, and especially on the evenings of the Scientific
Meetings of the Zoological Society, when most of the
ornithologists present would adjourn to No. 6 Tenterden
Street, and there talk over their achievements and
their prospects, and generally cultivate one another’s
friendship. That these gatherings greatly promoted
the harmonious feeling which then prevailed among
British ornithologists is unquestionable, and their discontinuance,
owing chiefly to his inability to be present,
was much to be regretted. Lor several years he was
compelled to pass the winter at Bournemouth, and after
that he was never able to leave Lilford; but wherever
he was he exhibited the same patience under his affliction
and the same kindly consideration for his friends