PROCEEDINGS OF SOaETIES. 15 



the balmy south ; the other already clad in winter's garb, jost arrived from the 

 frozen north. Where had that little Plectrophanc8 rested his weary wing? Wi^- 

 ther from Greenland, Spitzbergen, Iceland, or Norway became, neither food nor rest 

 had he ; but the geese could rest upon the water, and even find food amongst the 

 floating: Zostera. 



Dr. Kinahan made a few observations on Mr. Montgomery's paper, with which 

 he quite agreed, as he saw no greater difficulty in believing that l)ic Egyptian goose 

 was an occasional straggler to this country than in the case of those shurt-whiged 

 birds of Africa, and even America, which sometimes reach our shores. In addition to 

 those mentioned by Mr. Montgomery, he might recal to the memory of the members 

 the occurrence of the jay cuckoo, Cnculus glandarius, in the island of Omagh, and 

 the great cowcow, Coccyzus Americanns, on several occasions both here and in Eng- 

 land. Indeed, these birds could have no greater difficulty in reaching us'from Africa 

 than many of our annual summer migrants. As an instance of the manner in which 

 some of these latter are occasionally driven out of their course, he might mention t6 

 them an incident which fell under his own observation during his late voyage. On th« 

 22nd March, 1855, being at the time in latitude 40 S. longitude 38 E., a swallow (H. 

 rustica) flew on board during the evening, having first circled around the ship several 

 times through the dusk. The bird seemed tired out, but not excessively so, when 

 brought to him by the sailor who had captured it. It was plump, in good condition, 

 and most beautiful plumage — in fact, the most perfect moult he bad seen. Ue 

 placed the bird in the cabin, where it remained during that night and a great part of 

 the following day, feeding on the flies in the sky-fcght, but eventually made its way 

 out on deck, and after remaining hovering about the ship for some time, took its 

 departure in a northerly direction for a more congenial scene. Now, the bird evi- 

 dently had been driven out of its course ; for though a very careful look-out was kept, 

 no other land bird was seen, evidently proving there was not a regular migration 

 going on at that place — the nearest land, the Marion Islands or Crozets, being up- 

 wards of 400 miles away, and a most unlikely station for an insectivorous bird — so 

 that it is more than probable that the bird had been driven from the main lund, 

 which was distant 700 miles in nearest point, or probably 1,200 miles in that from 

 whence it is probable this bird was driven by the strong westerly gales which bad 

 been blowing for some time previous. Now, any one could understand how much 

 easier it would be for a bird like a duck or a goose to traverse an ocean, on which, 

 when tired, it could rest, and from whose treasure it could obtain sustenance, than 

 for a puny insectivorous feeder, no matter how great the power of the latter's flight. 

 Therefore, he thought it probable that these geese were bona fide stragglers to this 

 country, and that we owed their presence here to causes other than the interference 

 of man. 



After some further conversation, the chairman said, as the evening was not very far 

 advanced he would call on Dr. Kinahan for some remarks relative to native ferns, 

 although not in the notice paper. 



Dr. Kinahan rose and said — The few remarks I have to offer are in reference to 

 a matter which it had been my intention to have brought long ere this fully before 

 the society, had it not been for my departure from this country. They are more in 

 the way of queries than actual opinions, and are thrown out now in the hope that 

 some member may be able to take up the matter and clear up one of those doubtful 

 points, now that the season for thoroughly examining them is arrived. It is with 

 reference to the place which two of our British ferns should occupy in a natural 

 arrangement — the common moonwort (liot. lunaria) and the adder s tongue (Oph. 

 vulgare). Ferns, as you know, have been divided into two great classes, the annulate 

 and exannulate— the divisions founded on the absence or presence of a jointed ring 

 around the theca ; the annulate being placed at the head of the list, t.«., next to the 

 flowering plants ; the exannulate at the foot of the true ferns, as thongh they were 

 the link between ferns and the other forms of acotyledons ; now, it would appear 

 more natural to seek thb link among such genera as Trichomancs or Hymenopnyl- 

 lum ; but to pass this over, it seems as if we give this character of the presence or 

 absence of the ring too great a value ; for an examination would lead us to believe 

 that in all their other characters we find Botrychium and Ophioglossum more QOfi'l/ 

 a|>proacbiug the flowering plants than the aunolate ibros do— f»r instance, in ' 



