Howard Saunders (16 September 1835 – 20 October 1907) was a British businessman, who later in life became a noted
ornithologist, specialising in
gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
s and
terns
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of ...
.
Life and work
Saunders was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
on 16 September 1835. He received his early education at
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...
and
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards.
Name
The name Rotting ...
. He entered business as a
merchant banker, which allowed him to travel widely. From 1855 to 1862 he travelled in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
.
After 1862 Saunders devoted himself to the study of the
birds of Spain. He published several articles on the subject in ''
The Ibis
''Ibis'' (formerly ''The Ibis''), subtitled ''the International Journal of Avian Science'', is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the British Ornithologists' Union. It was established in 1859. Topics covered include ecology, conservation, be ...
'', having visited the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
in 1883 and 1884. He also published articles on the
birds of Switzerland in 1891, and an account of ''The Distribution of
Birds in France'' in 1893. He was the co-editor with
P. L. Sclater for ''The Ibis'' in 1883–1886 and 1895–1900.
Saunders was an expert on
gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
s and
tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...
s. Among other duties, he wrote about the gull specimens from the
Challenger expedition
The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, .
The expedition, initiated by Wi ...
of 1872–1876.
Saunders served as secretary of the
British Ornithologists' Union from 1901 to 1907, and first secretary and treasurer of the
British Ornithologists' Club
The British Ornithologists' Club (BOC) aims to promote discussion between members and others interested in ornithology, and to facilitate the dissemination of scientific information concerned with ornithology. The BOC has a special interest in avi ...
. He was also an active member of the
Zoological
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and dis ...
,
Linnean and
Royal Geographical Societies.
Ornithological publications
In 1869 his first article on the birds of Spain was published in ''
The Ibis
''Ibis'' (formerly ''The Ibis''), subtitled ''the International Journal of Avian Science'', is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the British Ornithologists' Union. It was established in 1859. Topics covered include ecology, conservation, be ...
''.
In 1872 he described a new species of
green woodpecker, the
Iberian green woodpecker, that inhibits the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
. He called it ''Gecinus sharpii'' (now ''Picus sharpii''), after the name of its discoverer,
Richard Bowdler Sharpe
Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English zoologist and ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his career he published several mo ...
(1847-1909).
In 1889 the first edition of the ''Illustrated Manual of British Birds'' was published. It was issued in twenty parts in 1888 and 1889.
[See e.g. th]
catalogue description
of the first edition in HathiTrust Digital Library
HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...
. In ''
The Zoologist
''The Zoologist'' was a monthly natural history magazine established in 1843 by Edward Newman and published in London. Newman acted as editor-in-chief until his death in 1876, when he was succeeded, first by James Edmund Harting (1876–1896) ...
'' of 1888 appeared a 'notice' about parts i-iv.
[notice]
in ''The Zoologist
''The Zoologist'' was a monthly natural history magazine established in 1843 by Edward Newman and published in London. Newman acted as editor-in-chief until his death in 1876, when he was succeeded, first by James Edmund Harting (1876–1896) ...
'' 1888, p. 317f.
Ten years later a second edition appeared. The third edition was published twenty years after the death of Saunders and was revised and enlarged by
William Eagle Clarke
Dr William Eagle Clarke FLS FRSE PBOU I.S.O LL.D. (16 March 1853 – 10 May 1938) was a British ornithologist.
Life
Clarke was born in Leeds where his father William Clarke was a solicitor and educated at the Grammar School and at Yorkshire ...
.
Legacy
Two species of birds have been named after him:
*
Saunders's gull
*
Saunders's tern
Bibliography
*
*
[The journal publications between 1872 and 1878 are collected in a volume entitled ''Ornithology'' ( and digitally available at ]Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
().[This article first describes the Iberian green woodpecker ''(Picus sharpei)''.]
*
* ; also published as
* Third and fourth (1885) editions of
Yarrell's ''
A History of British Birds
''A History of British Birds'' is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, ''Land Birds'', appeared in 1797. Volume 2, ''Water Birds'', appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821. The text in ''Lan ...
''
*
[The full title of the ''Illustrated Manual of British Birds'' was: "An Illustrated Manual of British Birds. By Howard Saunders, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., editor of the third and fourth volumes of "Yarrell's History of British Birds," fourth edition. With illustrations of nearly every species." It was often shortly called "Saunders's ''Manual''"][See e.g]
review of 3rd ed. in ''British Birds''
/ref>[For the importance and popularity of the work see also:
][The following digital copies of Saunders 1889 are online available:
]
copy
in Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL);
copy
in HathiTrust Digital Library
HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...
; see als
this copy
in HathiTrust Digital Library.
**
**
*
References
Sources
*
* Mullens and Swann - ''A Bibliography of British Ornithology''
Ibis Jubilee Supplement
*
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Howard
1835 births
1907 deaths
English ornithologists
English bankers
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
Fellows of the Zoological Society of London
19th-century English businesspeople