Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Arthur Butler (4 July 1843 – 16 April 1916) was an English

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer. He is commemorated in the scientific specific name for the

Omani owl The Omani owl (''Strix butleri'') is an owl of the genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'' found in shrubland and rocky areas of Oman, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. It was discovered in 2013. After the distinctive Omani owl was discovered, a simila ...

, ''Strix butleri''.

Life

Butler was born at

Coton House Coton House is a late 18th-century country house at Churchover, near Rugby, Warwickshire in England. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The Manor of Coton was held before the Dissolution of the Monasteries by the monks of Coombe Abbey. ...

Churchover Churchover is a small village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Parish The population of the parish in the 2001 census was 230, increasing to 251 at the 2011 census. It is located around 4 miles (7 km) north of Rugby, Warwickshir ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

and studied at Eton. He was the third son of Charles Lennox Butler, and a grandson of the 13th Lord Dunboyne. Butler joined the army at the age of 21, and served in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

with the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot. He retired in 1884 as a lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Irish Rifles. He married Clara Francis Butler in 1872 and had three sons, Charles Edward, Harry Francis, and Arthur Lennox. His son Arthur Lennox Butler was also an ornithologist, and had four

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of reptiles named in his honor, including the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

ous snake, '' Chilorhinophis butleri''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Butler, A. L.", p. 44). Butler was a keen bird collector and taxidermist. His collections were acquired by the Natural History Museum in part directly and also through the collections of

Allan Octavian Hume Allan Octavian Hume, Order of the Bath, CB Indian Civil Service, ICS (4 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a British political reformer, ornithologist, civil servant and botanist who worked in British Raj, British India and was the founding spirit ...

, Lord Rothschild and others.Warr, Frances E. (1997). ''Manuscripts and Drawings in the Ornithology and Rothschild Libraries of The Natural History Museum at Tring''. London: British Ornithologists' Club. 100 pp. . Butler was found dead in his garden at Winsford Hall Stokesby nr Great Yarmouth 16 April 1916. A coroners court held at Winsford Hall returned a verdict of “Suicide during temporary insanity”, Butler was 72 years old.

References

External links

A catalogue of the birds of Sind, Cutch, Kaʹthiaʹwaʹr, North Gujarat, and Mount Aboo (1879)
Butler, Edward Arthur Butler, Edward Arthur Butler, Edward Arthur

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

19th-century British biologists 19th-century English people British people in colonial India 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Warwickshire {{UK-ornithologist-stub