Hugh Whistler

Hugh Whistler (28 September 1889 - 7 July 1943), F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. was an English ornithologist who worked in India. He wrote one of the first field guides to Indian birds and documented the distributions of in numerous notes in several journals apart from describing several new subspecies.

Life and career

Whistler was born in Mablethorpe to Major Fuller Whistler and educated at Aldenham School. He served with the Indian police in the Punjab province from 1909 to 1926. On 2 October 1925 he married Margaret Joan Ashton daughter of Thomas Gair Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde and Eva Margaret James, on 2 October 1925. He died on 7 July 1943 leaving behind a daughter Benedicta (now deceased) and son Ralfe.

Ornithology

Whistler studied and collected birds and on retiring to England he continued his researches into Indian ornithology. He published extensively in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, making notes on the occurrence and on the distributions of various geographic plumage variations. He also published a ten part introduction to the study of birds in India. He also make collecting trips to Spain and Albania, often in the company of Claud Buchanan Ticehurst. Whistler's publications include the Popular Handbook of Indian Birds (1928). Two more editions of this publication were produced and the last was produced after his death. In this work he foresaw the value of popularizing observation based ornithology:

The day is now over in which it was necessary to collect large series of skins and eggs in India. Enough general collecting has been done; concentration on filling in the gaps in our knowledge is now needed. Those who wish to help in the work should first familiarise themselves with what has been accomplished and learn what remains to be done. With some species the distribution of the different races still needs to be worked out and this implies careful collecting in certain areas. Of other species we still need to know the plumage changes; for this specimens collected at certain times of the year are required. In other species the down and juvenile plumages are unknown. But the greatest need of all is accurate observations on status and migration. In this all can help. Keep full notes for a year on the birds of your station, noting those that are resident and the times of arrival and departure, comparative abundance and scarcity of all the migratory kinds; and you will have made a contribution to ornithology that will in the measure of its accuracy and fullness be a help to every other worker.

Whistler lived at Battle, East Sussex during his retirement, where he was a Justice of the Peace. He joined the British Ornithologists' Union in 1913 and in 1940 served as its as Vice-President. He visited Kashmir with Admiral Lynes and wanted to produce an account of the birds of Punjab and Kashmir, however this was not completed. The Whistler Prize of Sussex University, awarded to the best essay on natural history or archaeology, is named after him. His collection of 17,000 bird skins is now at the Natural History Museum.

Writings

• Whistler, Hugh (1919). "Wagtails at roost (30 March 1919)". Bird Notes 2 (6): 101–103. http://www.archive.org/stream/birdnotes23fore#page/101/mode/1up/. 
• Whistler, Hugh (1919). The Norfolk Plover in India. 2. pp. 164–166. http://www.archive.org/stream/birdnotes23fore#page/164/mode/1up/. 
• Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular Handbook of Indian Birds (4 ed.). Gurney and Jackson. http://www.archive.org/details/popularhandbooko033226mbp. 
• Whistler, Hugh (1905). "Birds noticed during a short visit to Suffolk". The Avicultural magazine 3 (5): 165–168. http://www.archive.org/stream/aviculturalm319041905avic#page/165/mode/1up/. 
• Whistler, H (1928) The study of Indian birds. Part I. The origin of birds. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 33(1):166-176.
• Whistler, H (1929) The study of Indian birds, part II. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 33(2):311-325.
• Whistler, H (1929) The study of Indian birds. Part III. Some external characteristics of birds. The beak. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 33(4):776-792.
• Whistler, H (1930) The study of Indian birds, Part IV. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(1):27-39.
• Whistler, H (1930) The study of Indian birds. Part V. Some external characteristics of a bird. The foot. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(2):276-290.
• Whistler, H (1930) The study of Indian birds. Part VI. Some external characteristics of a bird. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(3):720-735.
• Whistler, H (1931) The study of Indian birds. Part VII. The Reproduction of birds. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(1):89-103.
• Whistler, H (1931) The study of Indian birds. Part VIII. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(2):312-324.
• Whistler, H (1932) The study of Indian birds. Part IX. The reproduction of birds. The egg. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(3):635-644.
• Whistler, H (1932) The study of Indian birds. Part X. Migration. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(4):848-860.

References

• Obituary. Ibis 1943:524-532
• Palmer, T. S. 1947. Obituary. Auk 64:161