THE 



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Vol. XII.— No. 11. FEBRUARY, 1896. No. 147. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 

 The ordinary montlily meeting was held at the Royal Society's 

 Hall on Monday evening, loth February, 1896. Mr. J. 

 Shephard, a vice-president, occupied the chair, and some 70 

 members and visitors were present. 



REPORTS. 



The hon. librarian reported the receipt of the following dona- 

 tions to the library : — " Australian Fungi," by D. M'Alpine 

 (reprints from Hew South Wa'es Agricultural Gazette, vol. vi., 

 parts II and 12), from the author; "Proceedings Linnean 

 Society of New South Wales " (second series), vol. x., part 3 and 

 supplement, from the Society ; " Records of Australian Museum," 

 vol. ii., part 7, from the Museum ; " Journal of Bombay Natural 

 History Society," vol. ix., part 5, and vol. x., part i, from the 

 Society. 



The hon. secretary reported that a meeting for practical work 

 was held on Monday evening, 20th January, under the direction 

 of Mr. O. A. Sayce, who dealt with " Killing and Fixing Agents 

 for Microscopic Work." In spite of the great heat of the weather 

 there was a satisfactory attendance. 



PAPERS. 



1. By Mr. R. Hall, entitled "Notes on the Habits of Victorian 

 Wood Swallows." 



The author remarked that seldom have the Wood Swallows 

 been seen in such numbers around Melbourne as during the 

 present dry season, and that he had taken the opportunity to 

 make a few notes on the habits and nidification of the rarer 

 species, Artamus superciliosus and A. personatus. 



2. By Mr. H. R C. Ashworth, entitled " The Flight of the 

 Albatross." 



The author stated that the observations made by him on the 

 m.ovements of soaring Albatrosses tended to support the theory 

 that they take advantage of the difference in velocity between 

 the higher and lower strata of the air to gain a continual increase 

 in relative velocity sufficient to overcome the resistance to their 

 motion. By always ascending against the wind and descending 

 with it, moving in a plane inclined to leeward, they are enabled 

 to soar for hours together without any movement of the wings 



