280 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
Mr. Ernest E. T. Seton read a paper entitled “ Outlines of 
Ornithology,” in which, after outlining the general anatomy 
of birds, he gave pretty full descriptions of a number of birds. 
found mainly in the Canadian Northwest. 
Mr. Boyle had observed the American cuckoo hovering 
about other birds’ nests, and asked if it laid its eggs in them ;. 
referred to the fact telegraphe from Australia to the British 
Association in Montreal of the discovery that the ornitho- 
rhynchus lays eggs; and said that the projection on the bill of 
the female hornbill seemed intended to prevent her from get- 
ting out of the nest when imprisoned by the male. 
Mr. McDougall had found near Winnipeg four different 
kinds of eggs in one nest; did not think the prairie lark so 
musical as the English lark; and referred to the sandhill 
crane as difficult to approach and swift in running, with a 
flavour like the wild turkey, although a different species. 
In reply, Mr. Seton said there were two species of cuckoo 
in Canada—the black-bill and the yellow-bill—the former 
being regular in rearing its young like other birds, but the 
other very irregular; that the meadow lark has different 
songs in different seasons ; and that the horny projection on 
the bill of the female hornbill is in breeding time only. 
TWENTY-THIRD ORDINARY MEETING. 
The Twenty-Third Ordinary Meeting was held on 18th 
April, 1885, the President in the Chair. 
The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed. 
The following list of donations and exchanges was read : 
—_— 
. Transactions, No. 1, 1879-80, of the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club. 
. Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington, Vol. 7, 1885. 
. From the New York State Library, Albany, Library Reports, 65th and 
66th, 1882, 1883 ; Reports of the New York State Museum of Natural 
History, 28th, 33rd to 37th; Documents relating to the Colonial His- 
tory of the State of New York, Vol. XIV. 
4. The Opportunities of the Medical Profession and their Demands, by W. H. 
Bailey, M.D. 
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