William Edwin Brooks

William Edwin Brooks (July 30, 1828 near Dublin, Ireland – January 18, 1899 in Mount Forest, Ontario) was a civil engineer in India and an ornithologist. He went to India in 1856 as a civil engineer with the railways and stayed on until 1881.

After retirement he moved out of India and settled in Ontario, Canada. He was an honorary member of the British Ornithological Union. He corresponded with Alfred Russel Wallace, Thomas C. Jerdon and Robert Christopher Tytler. His vast collection of bird specimens is at the British Museum and during his career in India, he corresponded actively with other ornithologists in the region, notably Allan Octavian Hume. He also corresponded with ornithologists in Britain, including Henry Eeles Dresser, and sent many specimens to Dresser to distribute and trade with other ornithologists on his behalf.[1] His third son Allan Brooks, named after Hume, became an ornithologist and artist of repute.

He retired in 1881 and moved to Ontario. In 1887, Brooks moved his family from Milton, Ontario, to a new farm at Chilliwack, British Columbia. In 1891, he sold the Chilliwack property to return to Ontario where he bought a farm in Mount Forest.

Brooks was admired by later workers for his careful observations and notes on the vocalizations of warblers. He was among the first to suggest that each species of warbler had a distinctive call.[2] Phylloscopus subviridis, first described by Brooks (in the genus Reguloides)[3] is referred to as Brooks' leaf warbler.[4]

Publications
  • 1871 Notes on the ornithology of Cashmir. Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 1871, 209–210.
  • 1871 Description of a new species of (Abrornis). Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 1871, 248–249.
  • 1872 The swans of India. Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 187(2), 63–64.
  • 1872 On a new Indian (Sylvia). Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 1872, 66.
  • 1872 On a new species of (Reguloides). Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 1872, 148–150.
  • 1872 On the Imperial Eagles of India. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1872, 502–504.
  • 1872 On a new species of (Phylloscopus). Ibis, 3 2, 22–23.
  • 1872 On the breeding of (Reguloides superciliosus, Reguloides proregulus, Reguloides occipitalis) and (Phylloscopus tytleri). Ibis, 3 2, 24–31.
  • 1873 Notes on the ornithology of Cashmir. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 41(2), 73–86.
  • 1873 On two undescribed Cashmir birds. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 41, 327–329.
  • 1873 On an undescribed species of (Lophophanes). Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 42(2), 57.
  • 1873 Notes upon some of the Indian and European Eagles. No. II. Stray Feathers. 1(5), 325–331.
  • 1873 Notes on some of the Indian Pipits. Stray Feathers. 1(5), 358–360.
  • 1873 Notes on the Skylarks of India. Stray Feathers. 1(6), 484–487.
  • 1873 Notes upon some of the Indian and European Eagles. Stray Feathers. 1(2,3&4), 290–294.
  • 1873 Notes upon some of the Indian and European Eagles, No. III. Stray Feathers. 1(6), 463–464.
  • 1873 Notes on (Aquila naevioides, A. fulvescens) and (A. vindhiana). Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal Nov, 173–174.
  • 1873 Notes on the Certhiinae of India. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 42(2), 255–257.
  • 1874 Some ornithological notes and corrections. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 42(2), 239–253.
  • 1874 Notes on the (Certhiinae) of India. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 42(2), 255–257.
  • 1874 To the Editor. Stray Feathers. 2(6), 533.
  • 1875 Notes upon a collection of birds made between Mussoori and Gangaotri in May 1874. Stray Feathers. 3(1,2&3), 224–257.
  • 1875 On (Curruca affinis) and (Curruca garrula). Stray Feathers. 3(4), 272–273.
  • 1875 Additional notes on birds collected between Mussoori and Gangaotri in May 1874. Stray Feathers. 3(4), 275–278.
  • 1875 Notes on a new (Dumeticola), and on (Tribura luteoventris), Hodgson, and (Dumeticola affinis), Hodgson. Stray Feathers. 3(4), 284–287.
  • 1875 On (Drymoips inornatus), Sykes, and (Drymoipus longicaudatus), Tickell. Stray Feathers. 3(4), 295–296.
  • 1875 Notes on "The Spotted Eagle," (Aquila naevia). Stray Feathers. 3(4), 304–313.
  • 1875 On an apparently unnamed species of (Phoenicopterus). Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal January, 17–18.
  • 1876 Ornithological notes and corrections. Stray Feathers. 4(4,5&6), 268–278.
  • 1876 Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 4(1,2&3), 229–230.
  • 1877 Observations on (Falco hendersoni), Hume. Stray Feathers. 5(1), 48–50.
  • 1877 Ornithological notes. Stray Feathers. 5(5&6), 469–472.
  • 1877 A few observations on some species of (Anthus) and (Budytes). Ibis, 4 1(2), 206–209.
  • 1878 On an overlooked species of (Reguloides). Stray Feathers. 7(1–2), 128–136.
  • 1878 Observations on (Motacilla alba), Linn., and other Wagtails. Stray Feathers. 7(1–2), 136–142.
  • 1878 Further notes on (Reguloides superciliosus) and (Reguloides humei). Stray Feathers. 7(3,4&5), 236–238.
  • 1878 Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 7(3,4&5), 468.
  • 1879 Further observations on (Reguloides superciliosus) and (Reguloides humii), also on (Reguloides subviridis) and (Calliope yeatmani), Tristram. Stray Feathers. 7(6), 475–478.
  • 1879 A few notes on (Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus), Swinhoe, and (Phylloscopus viridanus), Blyth. Stray Feathers. 7(6), 508–510.
  • 1879 Note on (Horornis fulviventer), Hodgson. Stray Feathers. 8(2–5), 379–380.
  • 1879 Further observations on (Phylloscopus viridanus) & (plumbeitarsus), also on (Reguloides humii). Stray Feathers. 8(2–5), 385.
  • 1879 Description of another new (Reguloides). Stray Feathers. 8(2–5), 389–393.
  • 1879 Ornithological observations in Sikhim, the Punjab, and Sind. Stray Feathers. 8(6), 464–489.
  • 1880 A few remarks on (Schoenicola platyura). Stray Feathers. 9(1,2&3), 209–212.
  • with Oates, Eugene W 1880): On a new species of (Tribura) (Dumeticola). Stray Feathers. 9(1,2&3), 220–224.
  • 1880 Additional note on (Alseonax cinereo-alba) or (latirostris) and (Alseonax terricolor). Stray Feathers. 9(1,2&3), 225–226.
  • 1880 Note on (Tribura mandellii). Stray Feathers. 9(4), 240–241.
  • 1880 On an undescribed species of (Phylloscopus). Stray Feathers. 9(4), 272–273.
  • 1881 (Dumeticola brunneipectus), Blyth. Stray Feathers. 9(5&6), 445.
  • 1881 Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 10(1,2&3), 169–171.
  • 1892 A few remarks on Mr. Oates's "Birds of British India". Ibis, 6 4(13), 59–62.
  • 1894 A few observations on some species of Phylloscopus. Ibis 6(22), 261–268.

Notes
  1. McGhie, Henry (2017). Henry Dresser and Victorian Ornithology: birds, books and business. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 1784994138.
  2. Alexander, HG (1955). "Field notes on some Asian leaf warblers". British Birds. 48: 293–299.
  3. Brooks, W.E. (1872). "On a new species of reguloides". Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: 148–150.
  4. Baker, E.C. Stuart (1920). "Hand-list of the "Birds of India". Part II". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 27 (3): 448–491.

References
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