122 Field Naturalists' Club— Proceedings. [^"^No^^' 



flowers. The financial result was not yet known, but it was 

 anticipated that there would be a small credit balance. Mr. 

 Barnard said he would like to move that a vote of thanks be 

 accorded to Mr. J. Gabriel and Mr. C. J. Gabriel for their very 

 valuable services in connection with the conversazione. The 

 motion was seconded by Mr. A. D. Hardy, and carried 

 unanimously. The chairman, in conveying the expression of the 

 meeting to Mr. Gabriel, said that the resolution did not mean 

 that others of the committee had not worked hard, but that 

 the Messrs. Gabriel had undertaken the arduous part of the 

 arrangement of the hall, on which the success of the meeting 

 so much depended, and had done it well. 



Mr. J. A. Leach, M.Sc, drew attention to " Bird Day," which 

 would be celebrated in the schools on the following Friday, 

 and invited the co-operation of any members willing to address 

 the children of any of the metropolitan schools on that day. 



PAPERS READ. 



1. By Mr. E. B. Nicholls, entitled " A Trip up the Bass 

 Valley." 



The author recounted the experiences of a four-days' outing 

 in the Bass Valley last Easter, for which he made Nyora his 

 headquarters. The district was found to have been almost 

 denuded of large timber, but a fair number of birds was seen, 

 and some interesting observations on the powers of mimicry 

 possessed by Lyre-birds were made in a patch of scrub at the 

 head of the valley towards Poowong. He also mentioned that 

 he believed examples of the rare Leadbeater's Phalanger had 

 been destroyed at recent dates by timber-getters in the dis- 

 trict, and that the Mutton-bird rookery at Cape Woolamai, 

 Phillip Island, was in danger of destruction owing to the visits 

 of " week-enders " from Wonthaggi, &c. 



Mr. J. Gabriel said he feared the rare marsupial referred to 

 by the author was now extinct. He had offered handsome 

 rewards for specimens without response. Mr. G. Coghill com- 

 plimented the author on his observations about the Lyre-birds, 

 and said that he had noted the presence of Lyre-birds in the 

 country back from Benalla. The chairman deplored the 

 clearing of the Gippsland country, and Mr. A. H. E. Mattingley, 

 C.M.Z.S., said the Lyre-bird must be considered the premier 

 mimic among the birds of the world. 



2. By Mr. F. G. A. Barnard, entitled " In the Western Lake 

 District." 



The author said that, up to the present, no notes about the 

 Colac and Camperdown districts had been given before the 

 Club, and, though perhaps the botany and entomology of the 

 district were somewhat uninteresting, the geology and physi- 



