William Edwin Brooks 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 Russell Wallace, T. C. Jerdon and R. C. Tytler

Robert Christopher Tytler

Robert Christopher Tytler was a British soldier, naturalist and photographer. His second wife Harriet is well known for her work in documenting the monuments of Delhi and for her notes at the time of the 1857 revolt in India...

. 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

Allan Octavian Hume

Allan Octavian Hume was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement...

. His third son Allan Brooks

Allan Brooks

Allan Cyril Brooks was an ornithologist and bird artist who lived in Canada.He went to school in England and studied the bird life of the Northumberland moors. He interacted with Henry Seebohm and learnt egg-collection and butterfly collection from John Hancock...

, named after Hume, became an ornithologist and artist of repute. Brooks

He retired in 1881 and moved to Ontario. In 1887, W. E. Brooks moved his family from Milton, Ontario, to a new farm at Chilliwack, British Columbia. In 1891 he sold the Chilliwack place to return to a new Ontario farm at Mount Forest, in the heart of British Columbia.

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. Brooks' Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus subviridis) is named after him.

Publications

• 1894 A few observations on some species of Phylloscopus. Ibis 6(22), 261-268.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1875 On an apparently unnamed species of (Phoenicopterus). Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal January, 17-18.
• 1877 A few observations on some species of (Anthus) and (Budytes). Ibis, 4 1(2), 206-209.
• 1892 A few remarks on Mr. Oates's "Birds of British India". Ibis, 6 4(13), 59-62.
• 1881 Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 10(1,2&3), 169-171.
• 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.
• 1874 To the Editor. Stray Feathers. 2(6), 533.