THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 259 



THE 228th ORDINARY MEETING. 

 February i3rH, 1904. 



This mcetiii.s; was held in the Technical Institute, Stratford, at 6.30 o'clock, 

 the President, i\Ir. F. \\\ Rudler, F.G.S., in tlic chair. 



As stated in the programme, this was a supplemental meeting in mid-month, 

 arranged for jNIr. F.nock's lecture, which he had kindly offered to deliver to the 

 ■Club. 



New Member. — ]\Ir. E. A. Bowles. ;M.A., l-'.L .S. , F.E.S., was elected a 

 ^lember. 



Stoat in Winter Dress. — Tlie Rev. A. Bertram Hutton exhibited a stoat 

 or ermine in winter dress, remarking tliat as the subject of protective colouring 

 was before the meeting that evening he thought that this specimen would be an 

 appropriate object of interest. It is generally admitted that the stoat changes its 

 colour to white in severe winter weather, in order that its coat may harmonise 

 with the snow, and it may thus escape detection. It is thought that the white 

 coat may come in two ways. It may change with the shedding of the hair — the 

 new hair coming white ; or, what is probably far more common in the British 

 Isles, the actual brown hairs turn white when the snow falls. It is said that the 

 •change can be marked 48 hours after it has began to snow. The specimen 

 shown came from the Lake District, from a Iceeper living near Esthwaite. Since 

 then Mr. Hutton had received three more from Scotland, the last being all white, 

 and killed as late as March 2b. 



Professor Aleldola, referring to this exhibit, said that he had formerly inclined 

 to the opinion that the white colour in tlie winter stoat was the direct result of 

 temperature, bnt he was now willing to accept the principle of Protective 

 •Colouring in this and similar cases. 



[See the discussion on the change of colour in stoats in severe winters in the 



Journal of Proceedings E.F.C., i, pp. xi. and xii., and note by ^Nlr. Christy, 



IVans. E.F.C., I, p. 67. The late Air. English presented to our Museum a 



beautiful specimen of a white stoat from Epping Forest [/on/. Proc. iv., 



p. xcix ), and another Essex specimen is in the Museum. — Ed.] 



Protective Colouring among Birds. — ]Mr. Hutton also showed some 

 photographs and lantern slides illustrating this subject, the details of which are 

 given in the " Notes " pages. 



Peregrine Falcon. — And jNIr. Hutton exhibited the Peregrine described 

 .among the " Notes," the bird being very skilfully set up by himself. 



Hippopotamus tooth at Ilford. — The Secretary exhibited a fine Molar 

 Tooth of Hippopatamus which had been dug up in Ilford Cemetery, about six 

 ifeet down, probably from a stratum ot brick-earth. The sj^ecimen had been 

 presented to the Museum by Master E. H. Wiseman, of Forest Gate. 



Rare Essex Books. — Mr. John Avery exhibited two very rare Essex books 

 which he had recently acquired, viz., Gough's History of Fleshy, and one of 

 •Charles Clarke's publications, the History of Great Tothain, the author's own 

 copy, with MS. notes. 



" King's Oak Inn," Epping Forest. — ]\Ir. Avery presented to the Club, 

 for the Forest Museum, an old print of the original " King's Oak Inn," at High 

 Beach. 



Lecture. — ^Nlr. Fred Enoch, F.L.S., F.E.S., then delivered a lecture on 

 "" Nature's Protection of Insect-Life," which Mas illustrated by about 60 lantern 



