722 Proceedings. 



The Slug. — Amateur gardeners who at this time of the year particu- 

 larly bewailed the ravages of slugs would be surpri<5ed to learn that there 

 was at least one species of slug which was a particular friend of the 

 gardener. A specimen was exhibited which, to use the semi-jocular 

 remark of ^Ir. Travers, was a "very useful beast indeed." It was a car- 

 nivorous slug, and fed on the blights which frequented tender plants, and 

 which were very difficult to get rid of by other means without injuring 

 the plants. Slugs of this sort would be a blessing to many sufferers from 

 bligbt-pests. 



Sir Walter BuUer said he had listened with interest to Sir James 

 Hector's account of the two specimens of kohoperoa on the table. Sir 

 James Hector was wrong, however, in supposing that the predatory 

 character of Euclynamys taitensis was a new discovery. Thirty years 

 ago he had himself found in the stomach of one of these birds a email 

 fledgling that had evidently been robbed from a nest. On another oc- 

 casion he had surprised one of these cuckoos carrying off in its beak a 

 tui's egg. He understood Sir James Hector to say that the bodies found 

 in the stomachs of the two birds now on the table were those of the grey 

 warbler — Gcrynone flaviventris — nestlings with wing-feathers just sprout- 

 ing. If so, this was very curious, because, as was well known, this little 

 bird performed the duty of foster parent to both the koheperoa and the 

 shining cuckoo, two species belonging to vei-y different genera. The 

 warbler built a pretty pensile nest, with the entrance near the top, 

 protected by a kind of porch. It would seem in this case that the pre- 

 datory cuckoo had devoured the rightful occupants before appropriating 

 the rest and depositing its egg. His impression was that the nestling 

 which the stomach of his bird contained was a very young tui. At any 

 rate, he was sure it was the young of a native bird, for at that time the 

 country had not become overrun as now with the introduced species 

 for which we had to thank the mistaken zeal of our acclimatisation 

 societies. 



Annual Meeting : 14th March, 1899. 



Sir W. L. Buller, Vice-president, in the chair. 

 Abstract op Annual Report. 



The Council regret having to report the loss by death of no less 

 than five valued members — viz. : the late Thomas Kirk, W. M. Ma.skell, 

 John Buchanan, C. Hulke, and Rev. W. Colenso. 



The balance-sheet showed that the receipts for the year, including the 

 balance carried forward from last year, amount to £194 6s. 5d., and the 

 expenditure to £95 4s. 9d., leaving a balance in hand of £99 Is. 8d., to 

 which has to be added the sum of £38 98. 8d. lodged in the bank at 

 interest as a Research Fut.d, making a total balance of £132 lis. 4d. 



Election op Officeks for 1899. — President — E. Tregear; 

 Vice-jyresidents — G. Y. Hudson, Sir James Hector; Council 

 — E. L. Mestayer, H. B. Kirk, G. Denton, M. Chapman, 

 E. F. Hawthorne, Sir W. Buller, B. M. Molineaux ; Secreta.ry 

 and Treasurer — E. B. Gore ; Auditor — T. King. 



The Chairman drew attention to the loss the Society had 

 sustained by the death of the late Eev. W. Colenso, and Sir 

 James Hector moved, That a record be made in the minutes 

 of the great services rendered by the deceased gentleman. 



In doing so he said the deceased had been an intimate friend of his 



