Proceedings. xliii 



flint beds have been worked by our prehistoric ancestors, and 

 the same rude means of obtaining them are used now as in that 

 ancient period. The flint is of a remarkably fine compact 

 quahty, and found in large masses. Mr. Lovett showed, from 

 specimens he had had worked for him, how far the pi-esent 

 workers can go in imitating their ancient predecessors, pointing 

 out that they altogether failed to produce the surface-chipping 

 which is seen in the older work. He gave a most interesting 

 description of the tools now used, and the method of working. 



A short discussion followed, in which Mr. Bidwell and Dr. 

 Thompson took part. 



Sixth Evening Meeting. — Mr, Seebohm's Ijecture. — On October 

 19th (in place of the sixth Ordinary Meeting) a Lecture was 

 delivered in the Large Hall by Mr. Henry Seebohm, the dis- 

 tinguished traveller and ornithologist, " Ou the Migrations of 

 Birds." It is a diflScult task to summarise this most able and 

 interesting lecture, which was listened to with the closest atten- 

 tion and delight by an audience of about 600 persons. The 

 lecturer began by referring to the evident knowledge possessed 

 by the ancients of the movements of birds, as shown in the books 

 of Job and Jeremiah, and traced down the history of the subject 

 to the present day, especially dwelling on the vast amount of 

 close observation and study which has been given to it during 

 the past few years in England by a number of observers under 

 the direction of a committee of the British Association, and in 

 Heligoland by Mr. Gatke, who during a long residence in the 

 island has given it the closest attention. Mr. Seebohm then 

 referred to the causes of migration, summing up this part of 

 the subject by stating that search for food was in all cases 

 the motive power. The following summary of this part of 

 the paper is taken from an excellent report in the ' Croydon 

 Chronicle ' : — 



" Migration, it had been found, was not confined to one family 

 of birds, nor was it confined to either hemisphere of the world, 

 nor, indeed, to the whole of the individuals of a species ; for 

 there were many birds which were migratory in one part of their 

 range, and residents in another. For instance, the robin, the 

 blackbird, and the thrush, which remain with us during the 

 whole of the winter, yet are migratory in many parts of North 

 Germany, where the winters are too severe. There was one law 

 respecting this migration that might be laid down as being 

 without exception, and that was, that birds breeding in the 

 tropics were always residents, or their migrations were simply 

 confined Avithin the country in which they lived. Thus they 

 might breed upon the hills and winter in the valleys, but they 

 never left the country. Migratory and non-migratory birds could 



