.1. VII. 



igoS 



J Australasian Ornithfllogists Vniou. 12^ 



The Hon. secretary explained that he accepted the post 

 provisionally until 'someone else could be found to carry on the 

 office. He had worked laboriously for the last 7 years in the 

 interests of the A.O.U., and now desired a respite to enable him to 

 indulge in study and literary work, which he had perforce been 

 unable to attend to owing to the inroads into his spare time 

 arising from the quantity of work to be transacted for the 

 Union. 



Vice- Presidential Address. — In the absence of the president, 

 Mr. D. Le Souef, C.M.Z.S., who was unable to be present owing 

 to his attendance as a delegate of the Union at the Seventh 

 International Zoological Congress (U.S.A.), the vice-president, 

 Mr. A. J. Campbell, had prepared an address dealing with the 

 history of bird protection in Europe, which was read by the 

 chairman. The genesis of bird protection was lucidly outlined, 

 and the necessity of a model Bird Protection Bill was emphasised. 

 The paper terminated with the suggestion that a conference of 

 inter-State delegates should be held next year during the annual 

 session of the A.O.U. in Melbourne to consider a model bill for 

 the protection of Australasian avifauna. 



Papers. — Mr. A. H. E. Mattingley contributed a paper on the 

 Herodiones of Australia, illustrated with unique photographs 

 depicting the destruction of Plumed Egrets by those vandals, 

 the plume-hunters. It was pointed out that the protection of 

 Egrets was not sought for on entirely sentimental grounds, but 

 the solid worth of these birds when computed in £ s. d. 

 demanded an intelligent investigation of the value these feathered 

 friends are to the community, and how deeply they are wrapped 

 up with our domestic economy. The Egrets and Herons devour 

 large numbers of land snails, which are the intermediate host 

 of the liver fluke, a parasite that is so harmful to sheep. The 

 depredations of these obnoxious parasites cause untold losses to 

 squatters and pastoralists, owing to the demise of the sheep 

 and the deterioriation of their wool. If the statistics of the losses 

 so caused were compiled it would probably total several million 

 pounds sterling, when computed with the losses caused by the 

 land-boring crustaceae and the ravages of grasshoppers. It was 

 pointed out that the Egrets and Herons " police " the irrigation 

 channels and destroy the earth-boring yabbies that cause so 

 much waste of water. The White-fronted Heron annually 

 destroys myriads of grasshoppers, thereby saving the grass for 

 the stock. 



Mr. Robert Hall, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S., contributed a series of 

 useful and instructive notes on a collection of bird-skins from 

 North-VVest Australia, principally from the country about the 

 Townsend, Kightly, Stewart, and Robinson Rivers, and the 

 Obogama district. The collection was made by Mr. J. P. 

 Rogers, A.O.U. 



