IX PEOCEEDINGS OF THE 



Mr. Hopkinson said that this was a diflBcult question to give an opinion upon. 

 Geologists were not agreed as to the origin of these beds of phosphate of lime — 

 whether their nodules were partially or entirely coprolitic, or were merely con- 

 cretions formed round decaying sponges and other decomposing animal matter. 



2. Notes on the Size and Growth of Trees at Watford. By the 

 President. 



The following trees were mentioned by Dr. Brett: — 1. The Grimston or 

 Oxhey Oak, supposed to have been planted about the year 1750, on the 28th 

 November, 1876, measured 20 feet in circumference at the base, loft. 4 ins. at 

 3 feet from the ground, and 12 ft. 10 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 2. An (Jak 

 at Wiggenhall from an acorn of the Panshanger Oak sown in 1826, on the 2«th 

 November, 1876, measured 7 ft. 11 ins. in circumference at the base, 5 ft. o ins. 

 at 3 feet from the ground, and 5 ft. 2 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 3. " The 

 Royal Oak," planted at Wiggenhall on the 9th November, 1841, 3 inches high 

 when planted, had attained the height of 33 feet on the 9th November, 1876, and 

 measured 4 ft. 9 ins. in circumference at the base, 3 ft. 6 ins. at 3 feet from the 

 ground, and 3 ft. 4 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 4. A IFtllingtonia gigantea at 

 the Stanboroughs, planted by Mr. Cottrell on the 9th February, 1859, then 

 under 2 feet high, grew 4 inches in 1859, 12 in 1860, 16 in 1861, and 27 in 1862, 

 and on the 27th March, 1877, had attained the height of 32 ft. 6 ins. 5. A 

 WelHvgtonia gigantea, planted at Cliff Villa by Mr. Savill on the day the Prince 

 of Wales was married — 10th March, 1863 — then 3 feet high, on the 8th December, 

 1876, was 32 ft. 6 ins. in height, and 4 ft. 10 ins. in circumference at the base, 

 3 ft. 3 ins. at 3 feet from the ground, and 2 ft. 4 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 



3. A Letter from the Rev. R. H. Webb, M.A., to the Secretary', 

 on the Fertilisation of Aucuba Japonica ( Vide p. 239). 



4. Note on the Appearance of the Clouded Yellow Butterfly 

 {Colias Edusa). By Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. ( Vide p. 239). 



The Secretary said that he had heard of another of these butterflies having 

 been seen. The Rev. C. M. Perkins, whom he met at St. Albaus lust Sunday, 

 told him that he had seen one that afternoon. 



5. Notes on the Owl. By the President {Vide p. 240). 



6. Notes on the Otter and Badger in Hertfordshire. By the 

 President ( Vide p. 236). 



The Secretary read, from the ' Zoologist ' — the number for the 

 current month — a note, by Mr. George Rooper, F.Z.S., on a 

 cuckoo laying in a swallow's nest, and remarked that although it 

 was mentioned there as being the first known occurrence of the 

 kind, this Society had previously published in its ' Transactions ' 

 a note by Dr. Brett, read last year at the June meeting, in which 

 he recorded the hatching of a cuckoo in a swallow's nest at 

 Wiggenhall in 1874. 



Numerous interesting objects, illustrative of the Natural History 

 of the neighbourhood, were exhibited, including the following: — 



An old worn-out watering-pot with the nest of a robin built in it, 

 in which four young ones were hatched ; the nest of a chaffinch ; 

 the nest of a gold-crested wren which was found suspended from 

 the bough of a cedar tree ; the nest of a wren which was built in 

 an elder; the nest of a long-tailed tit injured by the brown owl ; 

 a gold-crested wren (called here the "bee bird"); a wliite 

 owl; and a long-eared owl, exhibited by Mr. Jonathan King. 

 Two green woodpeckers — called in Hertfordshire " whetiles " 



