4 
Frpsruary 7TH. 
About 40 were present, the President in the chair. The Secretary 
was absent through illness. 
The President alluded in suitable terms to the loss by death of 
one of the Vice-Presidents, Mr. H. F. Blanford, and proposed the 
following resolution :— 
““That we as members of the Folkestone Natural History 
and Microscopical Society, desire to convey to Mrs. Blanford and 
her family our sense of the great loss they have sustained in the 
death of Mr. Blanford, and our heartfelt sympathy with them in 
their bereavement. We also desire to add that we ourselves feel 
with deep regret that we have lost in him our most learned 
member and Vice-President, and we would recall the fact that he 
was President of the Microscopical Society at Folkestone from its 
foundation until it was amalgamated with the Natural History 
Society.” 
This was seconded by the Rev. W. Hall, who spoke of the great 
interest taken by Mr, Blanford in the Town Museum as well as 
in the work of this Society. The resolution was carried unani- 
mously, and on the motion of Mr. Walton it was also resolved :— 
‘“‘That the Secretary be requested to forward to Mrs. Blanford a 
copy of the above resolution. 
The President then read the following paper on 
THE BIRDS FREQUENTING OUR TOWN GARDENS. 
I will first give a portion of our time to the consideration of a 
few points about Birds in general, and then preceed to treat of 
some species in particular. What is a Bird? I suppose less 
mistakes would be made by the unlearned in deciding what is a 
bird and what is not than in any other of the great classes of the 
animal kingdom. I scarcely think that any bird could fail to be 
recognized as such, and bats are the only other animals that could 
deceive anybody. The one great distinguishing character of the class 
is that the body is clothed with feathers. Most of them have the 
power of flight developed in a high degree. They all lay eggs 
from which they produce their young. Their bill is hard and 
sheathed in horn ; and most of them build nests. But these latter 
characters are none of them possessed exclusively by birds ; but in 
the existing state of nature the clothing of feathers is their peculiar 
property, and distinguishes the class. In my last paper on Birds 
I dwelt rather on the anatomy of a feather, and shewed how 
beautifully it is adapted to its functions; lightness and strength 
being its most prominent characteristics. The midrib or stem is 
divided into tube and shaft. The tube is hollow with a little 
depression at its root where, it has grown from its papilla, and a 
