Life and work
Ferguson-Lees spent his early years in Italy and France, but was educated in Bedford, England. He turned down the chance to study zoology at Oxford University in order to get married, and became a teacher for seven years. As a boy, he was taught about birds by Bernard Tucker. He was also a birdwatching#Twitching, twitcher, once driving through the night to see a dusky thrush at Hartlepool. In 1952 Max Nicholson persuaded him to become Assistant Editor of British Birds (magazine), British Birds, then two years later, Executive Editor. Ferguson-Lees was a member of the British Birds Rarities Committee from 1959 to 1963 and was responsible, with John Nelder and Nicholson, for debunking the Hastings Rarities - a series of rare birds, preserved by a taxidermy, taxidermist and provided with bogus histories.Nicholson & Ferguson-Lees, 1962. He has made a particular study of peregrine falcon, peregrines and dunnocks. He died on 11 January 2017. He had two sons and two daughters.Bibliography
* * Ferguson-Lees, James; Campbell, Bruce (editors, 1978-79). ''The Natural History of Britain and Northern Europe'' series. Hodder & Stoughton, London. "A complete survey of our natural history contained, for the first time, in five compact field guide, field guides", edited by Ferguson-Lees and Campbell, and authored by other naturalists: ** Denis Owen, Owen, Denis, ''Towns and Gardens'' (1978) ** Darlington, Arnold, ''Mountains and Moorlands'' (1978) ** Boatman, Derrick, ''Fields and Lowlands'' (1979) ** Barnes, Richard, ''Coasts and Estuaries'' (1979) ** Whitton, Brian, ''Rivers, Lakes and Marshes'' (1979) *Contributions
* ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'' by Roger Tory Peterson, Roger Peterson, Guy Mountfort, Philip Hollom, P. A. D. Hollom. William Collins (publisher), Collins, 1965 ** new edition of 1954 work; revised and enlarged in collaboration with Ferguson-Lees and D. Ian M. Wallace, D.I.M. Wallace. ** 1971 impression: ** 2004 edition:Articles
* Nicholson, E.M.; & Ferguson-Lees, I.J. (1962). The Hastings Rarities. ''British Birds'' (August 1962) 55(8): 281.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson-Lees, James 1929 births 2017 deaths British ornithological writers