 He was also a 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, 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 taxidermist and provided with bogus histories.