310 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



THE CEYLON NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



Second General Meeting. 



THE Second General Meeting of the Society was held on Friday, Jime 

 7, 1912, at 9 P.M., in the Colombo Museum. In the unavoidable 

 absence of the President, Dr. Andreas Nell was voted to the Chair. 



Mr. A. H. Pertwee read a Paper on " The Fresh- water Fishes of 

 Ceylon."* 



In the absence of Mr. E. E. Green, Dr. J. Pearson read a Note on 

 " A Remarkable Mimetic Spider, "f and also a Note on a collection of 

 butterfly transfers made by Mr. Gilbert of Ratnapura. J 



Dr. J. Pearson also exhibited a set of Naturalists' collecting apparatus 

 sent by Messrs. Lawrence & Mayo of Madras. 



Third General Meeting. 



The Third General Meeting of the Society was held on Wednesday, 

 October 9, 1912, at 5.30 p.m., when Mr. A. H. Pertwee presided. 



The following resolution, proposed by Mr. F. M. Mackwood and seconded 

 by Mr. Julius, was carried : " That the members of the Ceylon Natural 

 History Society congratulate Sir Hugh Clifford, K.C.M.G., upon his 

 appointment as Governor of the Gold Coast, and desire to place on record 

 their appreciation of his services as the first President of the Society." 



Mr. F. M. Mackwood was iinanimously elected President of the 

 Society in succession to Sir Hugh Clifford, K.C.M.G. 



Capt. J. A. Legge read a Paper on " The Ceylon Pearl Banks. "§ 



Mr. E. E. Green read a Paper on " Some Suggestions for Members of 

 the Ceylon Natural History Society. ''|| 



Mr. John Hagenbeck read a Paper on " Ostrich Farming in Ceylon." 

 He gave the history of the bird, and where the different species could be 

 fovmd. For a long time he had the idea of having an ostrich farm in 

 Ceylon, but was afraid that the climate would not be favoiarable. Since 

 then, however, it had been proved beyond question that the climate 

 was favourable to the laying of eggs in Ceylon. ' In the absence of the 

 real incubators, he was trying fowl incubators for the hatching of the 

 eggs which had already come. He had received several letters from 

 Africa promising help. Whether the undertaking could be made a 

 payiag concern and a successful one, only time could tell. But so far 

 everything seemed to point to success. An ostrich hen took twenty-four 

 days to hatch an egg. An ostrich laid from 80 to 100 eggs per aunimi, 

 and in. six weeks 9 eggs. Two specimens of ostrich eggs laid in Bombay 

 were produced for inspection. 



An interesting discussion followed Mr. Hagenbeek's remarks. 



Two Notes by Mr. H. F. Fernando on " Nest, Young, and Parent 

 Bird of the Indian Tailor Bird," and The White-browed Fantail Fly- 

 catcher, "•jj Specimens of these were shown. 



* Printed in full on p. 243 of the present number of Spolia Zeylanica. 

 t Printed in full in Spolia-Zeylanica, Vol. VIII., Part XXX., p. 92. 

 X Printed as a Note on p. 298 of the present number of Spolia Zeylanica. 

 § Printed in full on p. 195 of the present niunber of Spolia Zeylanica. 

 II Printed in full on p. 285 of the present number of Spolia Zeylanica. 

 Tf Printed in full as Notes on pp. 300 and 302 of the present number of Spolia 

 Zeylanica. 



