134 Field Naturalists' Club — Proceedings. [vo\''^xxxvi 



account of the showery weather no beetles seemed to be 

 frequenting it. He intended to give a little more detail when 

 printing the report, though the country traversed differed but 

 little from Warburton or the Dandenong Ranges. 



GENERAL BUSINESS. 



Mr. A. E. Keep asked whether the Club was doing anything 

 in support of the movement to make Macquarie Island a 

 sanctuary for sea elephants, seals, penguins, &c. 



Mr. J. A. Kershaw, F.E.S., said that the matter is in the 

 hands of the Commonwealth Government, and that at present 

 negotiations were in progress with the Tasmanian Govern- 

 ment for the transfer of the island. 



Mr. F. E. Wilson said that Mr. J. Hatch, the lessee of the 

 island from the Tasmanian Government, is working hard to 

 secure his rights. 



On the motion of Messrs. C. L. Barrett and J. Gabriel, a 

 resolution was carried expressing the opinion of the Club that 

 Macquarie Island should be set aside as a sanctuary for birds, 

 &c., and that no license to obtain penguin oil should be 

 allowed. 



The chairman announced that Mr. E. E. Pescott, F.L.S., 

 had offered to act as hon. secretary until the next annual 

 meeting. 



PAPER READ. 



Dr. C. Sutton read the conclusion of Messrs. G. Weindorfer 

 and G. Francis's paper on " Wild Life in Tasmania," which had 

 been held over from the previous meeting. 



This portion of the paper gave interesting accounts of the 

 Ring-tailed Opossum, Tasmanian Brush Opossum, Tiger Cat. 

 and Common Native Cat ; also some notes about the Sooty 

 Crow-Shrike or Black Jay. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



Mr. F. Wisewould asked what had become of the Starlings 

 this season. In his district (Pakenham Upper), where they 

 usually caused much destruction of fruit, the fruit had not 

 been touched. 



Mr. J. Gabriel said that Starlings will not touch fruit if they 

 can get caterpillars, which have been very plentiful lately. 



Messrs. G. A. Keartland and F. Chapman said that in their 

 districts (Preston and Balwyn) the Starlings were as destructive 

 to fruit as usual. 



Mr. F. G. A. Barnard said he was exhibiting a live specimen 

 of the large native Black Snail, found during the Loch Valley 

 excursion, and asked if any member could suggest a food plant 

 for it. He had tried thistles and lettuce leaves, but neither 



