55 



Mr. Nicholson also drew the attention of the members to 

 the nearest ally of the Reed Warbler, viz., the marsh warbler, 

 Acrocephalus palustris, which Mr. Seebohm says, in his his- 

 tory of British birds, must now be admitted to be a regular, 

 though local summer visitor to the south of England. The 

 two species differ considerably in their song, habits, eggs, and 

 distribution; the prepared skins are almost impossible to 

 distinguish, unless just after the moult, when the rump of the 

 Reed Warbler is russet-brown, and the same part in the Marsh 

 Warbler is olive-brown. Mr. Nicholson was at some trouble 

 a few years ago to snare a number, with the result that he 

 is pretty certain that it does not occur in Cheshire, though 

 it would be well for those who have the opportunity to be 

 on the look-out for the species. 



" On Lagena crenata," by Dr. Alcock, President. 



The publication of the important Report on Foraminifera 

 obtained from dredgings off Dublin, by Mr. Joseph Wright, 

 and the fact that my specimen of Lagena crenata has been 

 honoured by having a place assigned to it among the beau- 

 tiful illustrations to the Report, has induced me to exhibit 

 my specimen of this comparatively rare variety to the 

 meeting. 



The reason for its admission was that the Dublin dredg- 

 ings yielded only one specimen, which was unfortunately 

 less perfectly developed than the Dog's Bay example, and 

 this, being also from the Irish coast, was admitted in ordei 

 to show the perfect form of the variety. 



Lagena crenata occurs as a fossil in the Middle Tertiaries 

 of Bordeaux and Malaga, and was first recorded and 

 described as recent by Messrs. Parker and Jones in tlie 

 Philosophical Transactions of 1865. They describe it as 

 "decanter-shaped, neck long and coiled; body gradually 

 widening and smooth at the base, which for half its radius 



