1 8 Field Naturalists*' Cluh — Proceedings. [vJ.^'xjofni 



PAPERS READ. 



1. By Mr. G. A. Keartland, entitled " Bird Life on Fraser 

 Island, Gippsland Lakes." 



In describing some of the 70 species of birds noted during 

 a visit to Fraser Island, near Lakes' Entrance, Gippsland Lakes, 

 in October last, the author contrasted the confiding demeanour 

 that was there displayed by the feathered tribe, where shooting 

 and other interference were strictly prohibited, with the 

 extreme shyness and the paucity of birds in equally-favoured 

 spots where unrestricted licence to wreck and destroy pre- 

 vailed. Various opinions, he said, had been advanced to account 

 for the disappearance of the native birds from spots where, 

 years ago, they were to be met with in large numbers, but 

 whether the cause was due to the greater accentuation of the 

 struggle for existence by the naturalization of the Starling, 

 the Sparrow, the Minah, the Goldfinch, &c., the depredations 

 of the fox and the cat, or the indiscriminate destruction wrought 

 by man, the fact remained that our insectivorous birds, which 

 formerly rendered valuable service to the agriculturist, are 

 now seldom or never seen. 



The paper, though a short one, was highly entertaining and 

 instructive, and engendered the wish that the action of Mr. 

 J. H. Syme in affording a sanctuary to our feathered friends 

 in an area over which he exercised control might be followed 

 by others, with undoubted benefits to themselves and the 

 State. 



2. By Messrs. F. Pitcher and J. Stickland, entitled "Some 

 October Days at Marys viUe." 



In a paper detailing their daily rambles to spots of interest 

 in and around Marys ville during a short sojourn in that 

 locality in October last, the authors endeavoured to convey 

 an idea of the luxuriance and variety of the vegetation that 

 confronted them at every turn, and the many delightful views 

 that were continually unfolding to their inspection. 



Herbarium specimens of many of the flowers met with were 

 displayed, and a large number of photographs of the beauty 

 spots visited were shown. 



In the discussion that followed, the insufficiency of notice- 

 boards conveying information to tourists as to directions and 

 distances to beauty spots was commented upon, and the 

 opinion expressed that the same regard for the wants and the 

 comfort of visitors was not displayed in Victoria as in New 

 South Wales, where the authorities left nothing undone in the 

 way of assistance to strangers. The great value of the Govern- 

 ment tourist plan of the district was, however, cordially 

 acknowledged. 



