Colin Harrison, ornithologist, died on 15 November 2003 at the age of 77, after a period of ill health and increasing frailty. He will be best remembered for his contributions into understanding aspects of bird behaviour, the origin of Recent Palaearctic bird species, his books on European and North American birds nests and eggs, and for helping to revive interest in the study of avian fossils, a subject largely neglected since the end of the 19th century.
Unfortunately, Colin's work was not fully appreciated during his lifetime, but since his passing there has been a realization that he may have had one of the most fertile and inquisitive minds to have graced ornithology during the latter part of the 20th century. His knowledge of birds was immense, a factor which led many fellow workers to use him as a quick source of reference, or as a critical sounding board for their developing ideas. For all his interaction with colleagues, few can say they really knew him, for he was a private person who had a reluctant to talk about himself or his achievements. Although you would not have called him shy, there was always a hesitation to step readily into the limelight, preferring to act as a backroom boy rather than be the star of the show. Do not be misled into believing he was a shrinking violet, because his agile mind, encyclopaedic knowledge, coupled with his imposing stature (he was a bulky six footer) allowed him to command respect in any debating situation. Like many talented people, his interests stretched way beyond the bounds of birds, for they embraced all field of natural history, especially conservation in which he was particularly active. Outside wildlife, his interests encompassed the study of folklore, singing of folk songs and, in his younger and sprightlier days, Scandinavian and Polish folk dancing. It was at one of these dancing sessions in 1958 that Colin met Barbara Anne Newell, later to become his wife.
Colin was born in Tooting Bec (Earlsfield), an area of South West London, on 18 August 1926. He was one of five children born to a bus inspector Tom Oliver Harrison and his wife Ellen Elizabeth (né Robbins). He turned out to be an intelligent child and as a result gained a scholarship to the local grammar school. Like so many children of his era, his education was disrupted by the onset of World War II in 1939, which bought about the evacuation of his entire school to the relative safety of the Sussex town of Lewes. No matter how traumatic this event may have been, Colin obtained his matriculation in 1942. Apart from the wartime hostilities, it is difficult to find a reason why he did not continue to further educational studies, at least to degree level. It may have been a financial problem, but what can be said it was certainly nothing to do with his ability.
His first ventures into the workplace were relatively short affairs. He started by taking up a position at a government testing laboratory, before moving on to become a librarian with the Royal Geographical Society of London. On finding that the work of a librarian was too mundane, he decided to change tack and become a school teacher. Once he had obtained a diploma in education, he went on to teach at several schools in South West London. Within a short time Colin discovered that these institutions were full of pupils with little or no interest in being educated and, in consequence, became disenchanted with this new found vocation. It would have been no surprise to his friends at this period, therefore, that when the British Museum (Natural History) advertised for a curator to fill a vacant post in its Bird Room, he jumped at the opportunity to turn what had been his childhood passion for birds into a career.
Colin joined the Museum staff as an Experimental Officer in 1960, and progressed to the rank of Principal Scientific Officer by the time he retired in 1986. His first responsibility was for the extensive and much neglected egg collection. After a period of curating, however, he came to the conclusion there was not much scope for research in this area of ornithology, and slowly began to develop a serious interest in behaviour. This move was probably influenced, if not encouraged by his friend Derek Goodwin, who was a great exponent in this field of study. Colin went on to publish extensively in this field, obtaining his information from both wild and captive birds. Later, he was called upon to help Rachel Warren, a volunteer worker, who had been given the task of producing a type catalogue of specimens contained in the Bird Room. This work was eventually completed and was published in three part in the Museum's Zoological Bulletin in 1966, 1971 and 1973. Although Colin's involvement in producing the first part of the catalogue was not recognised, he was the controlling force behind its production. This may seem strange to outsiders, but not crediting staff by name was a common practise in the Museum at that period.
Around 1966, he was given the responsibility for organising and eventually leading a six-month collection trip to South West Australia, which was to be the fourth of the five expeditions sponsored by Harrold Hall. By the time he returned to London, he had decided to follow his burning ambition to further his education. This he achieved by using his Diploma in Education qualification to persuade Reading University to accept him as an external, part-time PhD student which was a rare happening in those days. His chosen topic on the variation and apparent evolution of feather patterning was submitted for examination in 1970. It was successfully defended, thus gaining Colin his doctorate. How he managed to keep focused on so many different issues never ceased to amaze his colleagues, but he always seemed to find time to take on new projects. I was surprised, however, when he agreed to help me sort out the fossil bird collection, especially when he was already heavily involved with the massive task of moving the Recent bird collections from London to their new storage at Tring. Why he did so is unclear, but he may have realised there was considerable scope for making important discoveries in the fossil field, particularly as the palaeontological collections had been largely neglected since Richard Lydekker's days in 1890s. Because of his other obligations in the Museum, namely the Tring move and his commitment to the egg curation programme, his work on fossils began slowly. It was not until Michael Walter joined the staff, in 1970, initially to help with the Tring transfer and later as Colin's assistant, that he found time to indulge himself in his new found interest. As time progressed his cooperation with me increased to such an extent that I began to seriously impinge on his curatorial duties within the egg collection. Fortunately for Colin, Michael proved to be an excellent and talented assistant with a great feel for the eggs and, as a result, decided to pass on to him the responsibility for the day to day running of the egg collection. This having been achieved, the research on fossils began in earnest. Most of the early work was produced in conjunction with me, and was mainly concerned with the reappraisal of the early tertiary avifaunas of Britain, but by the late 1970s his interest had started to veer towards the study of less ancient avifaunas and in the evolution of Recent Palaearctic species. This situation was mainly brought about by the numerous requests from archaeologists for the identification of specimens obtained from their excavations at “sub-fossil” sites.
Colin's ability to write papers quickly was awe inspiring, with the final total standing in excess of 273, of which 13 were books. This figure, however, does not include the innumerable articles he wrote for various editors of popular magazines. On such editor, namely John Gooders, commissioned him no fewer than 100 times to produce text for I.P.C.'s “Birds of the World” partwork between 1969 and 1971. It is easy to understand why Colin was used so often by the commercial world, for he could be relied upon to hand in his commissions on schedule, and in a form that was ready for the printers. His scientific publications covered many aspects of ornithology including such diverse topics as migration, eggs and nests, behaviour, biogeography, evolution, osteology and palaeontology. It is subjective which area of his research was the most significant in ornithological terms, but I would select the following as being most noteworthy: “An Atlas of the Birds of the Western Palaearctic” (1982), the two field guides on the nests and eggs of “British & European birds” (1975) and “North American birds” (1978), the “Reappraisal of the extinct tropicbird Prophaethon shrubsolei” (1976), and his various reviews on the British “sub-fossil” bird faunas. The two egg and nest guides were extensively revised in the late 1990s and incorporated the help of Peter Castell (European) in 1998, and Paul J. Baicich (North American) in 1997. It would be dishonest, however, not to mention that there has been criticism of some of the palaeonthological findings. Bill Bourne, in his tribute to Colin (British Birds, 2004), produced a most appropriate quotation as a riposte to those critiques concerning the description of fragmentary material “let them without sin cast the first stone”!
From the very early days in the Museum, Colin's reputation for clear, reasoned thinking and extensive knowledge of wildlife matters spread quickly to other organisations, this resulted in numerous requests for is services on all kinds of committees. Because of this and throughout his working life he held a multitude of positions on the following scientific bodies: British Ornithological Union, British Trust for Ornithology, International Council for Bird Protection, and the Otter, and Pheasant Trusts. By far the most important, but least known of these activities, involved the advisory work he undertook for the Nature Conservancy Council, at the time when it was formulating new government policies for the protection of wildlife in the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The importance of this involvement did not go unnoticed, and he received several letters of appreciation from government ministers. The first such letter was sent to him personally by James Callaghan, the then Home Secretary, who praised Colin for his efforts. This was followed by similar correspondence from J.E. Morton, Dennis Howel, Hector Munro and Niel Macfarlane. Perhaps the most appreciative, however, was the one received from Macfarlane which, on behalf of Michael Heseltine and Tom King, thanked him for his excellent service on birds committee, and his considerable work on the licensing panel. The letter went on to say how amazed they were at his work output, especially as it was extra to his normal job.
Colin's self-effacing nature, although commendable, did not enhance his reputation when it came to money matters. In fact it gained him the reputation for being more than careful, in some circles when money came into equation. Little did these people know however, that he was as generous with his money as he was with his time. To my knowledge he helped to fund a number of deserving students out of his own pocket, without any expectation of being reimbursed. It was gratifying, to discover that these students graciously acknowledged Colin's kindness in the form of letters which were read at his funeral address.
Away from all his professional activities, one could be excused for expecting to find a man of limited social graces, but it was far from being true. He was an extremely good company and mixed easily with personalities from all walks of life. Probably the most endearing memories I have of him, apart from our lively wildlife discussions, were of him in full voice singing the British and original renditions of North American folk songs to three very eminent American plaeornithologists Pierce Brodkorb, Joel Cracraft and Storrs Olson.
To sum up, Colin was a highly intelligent, and generous man, and socially very good company. He will be sorely missed by his wife Barbara, his close friends and scientific colleagues. It is possible that he may still have a contribution to make in the study of birds, for his thesis remains unappraised and unpublished. I feel sure there are some observational gems contained in this manuscript which will allow Colin's name to appear in print once again, albeit posthumously.