Ornithological Congress. G27 



Frascati Restaurant, at which the Foreign Members were the 

 guests of the B. O. U. 



Saturday, being the last day of real work, was of necessity 

 a somewhat busy one. Proceedings were opened by 

 Mr. Bruce, who gave a very interesting account of the 

 Scottish Antarctic Expedition, illustrated by a beautiful 

 series of slides. 



In the Avicultural Section Mr. Seth-Smith read a most 

 interesting paper on this branch of ornithology, pointing out 

 how much may be accomplished by scientific aviculture in 

 solving many problems, especially in the direction of changes 

 of plumage, moult, pairing- and nesting-habits, polyandry, 

 and so forth. The lecture, which was largely attended, was 

 followed by a discussion on several points relating to the 

 subject, more especially as regards the importation of live 

 birds ; but, owing to lack of time, the Section rose without 

 passing any definite resolutions. 



In the Economic Section a paper by Herr Svetozar was 

 read in his absence by Dr. Penrose, the Secretary ; it dealt 

 with the Sparrow and its ravages, and an interesting dis- 

 cussion followed, raising doubts as to whether the Sparrow 

 was any practical use as an insect-destroyer. 



In the Migration Section, Dr. Helm read a paper on the 

 Autummal Migration of the Starling. 



The chief paper of note in Section I. was one by 

 Dr. Dwight on the " Significance of Sequence in Moults and 

 Plumages." Dr. Dwight is well known in America for his 

 very careful and accurate work on this subject, and his paper 

 on the plumages of the Passerine Birds of New York is one 

 that might well be imitated by some young and energetic 

 ornithologist in this country. How many of us know 

 exactly how and when the Sparrow moults? 



In the afternoon the concluding meeting was held. The 

 President stated that at a meeting of the Permanent 

 Committee it had been decided that the next Congress should 

 be held in Berlin, with Dr. Reichenow as President ; but that 

 if it was found impracticable to hold it in Berlin it should 

 be held in Brussels under the Presidentship of Dr. Dubois. 



