iqoi] Winter Soirees. 185 



These are about average measurements, and this extreme shallow- 

 ness is only rendered safe by the heavy limbs on which the nests 

 are built, the least diameter of the supporting limb among the 

 eight nests I examined this year being /^ inch. The eggs, 4 in 

 number, closely resemble some sets of the Yellow Warbler, but 

 the spots are more brownish. 



Near London I found two more nests this year, which were 

 both made by the same birds, but for some unexplained cause the 

 first was never occupied. The second yielded me a set of four 

 eggs, larger, more creamy, and handsomer than those from our 

 western trip, of which I have two sets. All these were taken 

 with thenest attachedtothe limb as placed by the birds. Of the eight 

 nests found this year four were in basswood, two in maple, and 

 two in oak. 



To show how much an acquaintance with the birds affects 

 one's ability to find their nests I may mention that of three species 

 whose nests I never found before, I took three sets of each, viz., 

 the Cerulean Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Sharpshinned 

 Hawk ; in fact, the latter bird rather bewildered the three active 

 oologists of London, who had searched a great deal without find- 

 ing any nests in previous years, but this year we took between us 

 six sets, comprising 27 eggs, the most distant nest being less 

 than four miles from the city limits. 



• WINTER SOIREES. 



The inaugural meeting of the winter lectures took place on 

 the I ith December in the large Assembly Hall of the Normal 

 School. The proceedings were opened by the delivery of an 

 Address of Welcome by Mr. J. H. Putman, the Science Master of 

 the Normal School. This was followed by the Inaugural Address 

 of the President, Dr. H. M. Ami, F.R.S.C, etc. An interesting 

 feature of the evening was the presentation of a fine portrait of the 

 late Elkanah Billings to the Government of Canada for deposition 

 in the museum of the Geological Survey Department. This por- 

 trait was painted by Mr. C. E. Moss, from a painting in the posses- 

 sion of the Natural History Society of Montreal, and was received. 



