MAY, 1869. 



The monthly evening meeting of the Fellows was held on Tuesday, tho 

 11th May, M. Allport, Esq., in the chair. 

 The following returns for the past month were laid on the table : — 



1. Visitors to Museum, 781. 



2. Ditto to Gardens, 1,567. 



3. Plants, &c., received at gardens. 



4. Ditto, sent from gardens. 



5. Time of leafing, flowering, and fruiting of a few standard plants in 



gardens. 



6. Books and periodicals received. 



7. Presentations to Museum. 

 Meteorological Returns. 



1. Hobart Town, from F. Abbott, Esq., table and summary for April. 



2. Swansea, from Dr. Story, table for April. 



3. Westbury, from F. Belstead, Esq., table for April. 



4. Sydney, from Gr. E. Smalley, Esq., Government Observer, table for 



February. 



5. New Zealand, from the Government Observer, tables for January 



and February. 



The presentations were as follow ; — 



1. From Mrs. C. Meredith, a Coot {Fiilica Australis). 



2. From Hon. C. Meredith, Esq., two specimens of " Silver Fish" from 



Prosser's Bay. 



3. A Kingfisher {Alcyone azurea) donor unknown. 



4. From T. Stephens, Esq., a Kingfisher {Halcyon sanctus)^ from South- 



port. 



5. From E. D. Swan, Esq., nest and eggs of Epthiayiura alhifrons^ found 



at Cornelian Bay. 



6. From Dr. Storey, Swansea, skeletons of Eagle Hawk, Crane, Bandi- 



coot, &c. 



7. From Mr. A. J. Taylor, New Norfolk, a copper Coin of French 



Eepublic. 



8. From Mr. Rollings, Sorell, a Jade Chisel from New Zealand. Flint 



Implement used by Tasmanian Aborigines for skinning Kangaroo, 

 &c. 



9. From M. Allport, Esq., Gelatinous tube of Salpa, and small Crus- 



tacean found within it. From Adventure Bay. 



10. Ditto, found at sea on the voyage from England, presented by Miss 



S. P. Edwards. 



11. From the Hon. R. Officer, Esq., M.H.A., a set of Maps of Geological 



Survey of Victoria, 1 vol. bound. 



Mr. Stephens called attention to a specimen of Kingfisher (presentation 

 No. 4), which he had brought from Recherche Bay, where it was shot by 

 Mr. Colbs, and remarked that it was not included by Gould among tho 

 birds of Tasmania. 



Mr. Swan remarked that he had for some time been aware of tho 

 existence of a second species of Kingfisher in Tasmania, and on examining 

 the bird referred to by Mr. Stephens, had no doubt as to its being a speci- 

 men of the sacred Halcyon {Halcyon sanctns), whose habitat had hitherto 

 been supposed to be confined to the Australian Continent. 



With regard to presentation No. 5 (Nest and Eggs of Epthianura 

 albifrons) the same gentleman observed that it was interesting, as proving 



