78 Proceedings. 
Africa, but on their passage northward in the spring they 
spread out like a fan, some going eastward to Siberia, others 
turning westward over Europe. 
The Rose-coloured Pastor and some other birds winter in 
India and spread westward in summer, so that eastward and 
westward bound species will sometimes meet in the spring and 
autumn as they fly in opposite directions, and a stray bird 
‘becoming confused may join the wrong train of migrants. 
Hence an eastern species, like the Nightingale already referred 
to, has been met with far away from its usual summer quarters. 
The Arctic regions are favourable summer resorts for birds 
from the abundance of mosquito larve for them to feed upon, 
and the absence of such enemies as snakes and monkeys. It 
seems likely that bird-life may have originated at one of the 
poles. The presence of Penguins in the southern hemisphere, 
which have such limited powers of locomotion, suggests the 
South Pole as the original scene of bird-life, in the days when 
damp warmth prevailed. A relic of habits acquired in the 
Polar regions may be traced in Ducks and other species which 
are night feeders. 
Elaborate speculations on the dispersal and subsequent return 
and further dispersal of species, as the Arctic Regions have 
varied in temperature, were made by the late Mr. Henry 
Seebohm. 
Mzetin¢, held at Reigate, 9th of December, 1898. 
Mr. F. Curtis lectured on 
A VoyaGE IN Potar Smas. 
The lecture was illustrated by a splendid series of lantern- 
slides. 
