35 



Society who may honour me with a visit to the Dover 

 Museum. 



After the reading of the paper, 



The President said he had great pleasure in proposing a 

 vote of thanks to Mr. Gordon for his interesting paper on 

 the ornithology of the district ; and in doing so he could not 

 help corapliinentiag Mr. Gordon on the very creditable 

 manner in which the Dover Museum, under his charge, was 

 kept. He advised any of the members of the Society who 

 had a little time to spare to pay it a visit, and they would 

 be much gratified. In reference to the meeting of to-day 

 there could be but one opinion — it was one of a very plea- 

 sant character. (Hear, hear.) In one of the local papers 

 (the Telegraph ) the editor had given a notice of their meet- 

 ing to-day ; but a correspondent of the paper had made 

 some remarks which were calculated to act rather prejudi- 

 cially towards this Society ; he alluded to what was termed 

 their " raid" upon the poor (>vlll2cks/ or guillemots at the MoilSjAti/'C* 

 cliffs in St. Margaret's I3ay. Hj scarcely requireJ to tell 

 them that the East Kent Natural History Society did not 

 go out to destroy but to observe. They did not wish to 

 destroy every flower that bloomed, but to see, and to take 

 just such as was necessary for the prosecution of their study 

 in this branch of science. To-day he counted no less than 

 fifty willocks, but they took or destroyed none of them i 

 they found only one egg, ami that they took away. It was 

 not an organized Society like the present that attempted to do 

 the injury complained of ; it was the number of persons going 

 out from Dover with guns destroying tiiese poor harmless 

 willocks. The m>irnbei-s well knew that there was a deter- 

 mination in the willock as in other birds and tril)es to go on 

 laying eggs until they bring up a progeny ; therefore, by 

 simply taking the eggs they did no damage ; but it was 

 different in the case of taking the young bird, when the old 

 bird wailed for the loss of its young. He knew it was the 

 practice of some gentlemen to give large amounts for the 



