56 



8. From Mr. H. J. James— A Land Rail (Rallus pectoralis) prepared 



and mounted. 



9. From A. Finlay, Esq. — A young Salmonoid from Bagdad Creek. 



10. From W. C. Sharland, Esq — Sample of Coal from the River Der- 



"went, at Charlemont, New Norfolk (with a note) 



11. From Mrs. J. Allport — A coloured drawing of a fish (Cheironectes 



sp. ), found at South Bruni. 



12. From Dr. Haast, Director of Museum, Christchurch, New Zea- 



land — Skeleton of Moa (Dinornis giganteus, var. maximus) 

 prepared for articulating. 



[This invaluable presentation contains all the known bones of the 

 gigantic variety of the Moa. A few months ago some of the bones of 

 several varieties of this bird were sent for classification to the accom- 

 plished Naturalist of New Zealand to whom our Museum is so much 

 indebted. These have all been returned, and so carefully named and 

 labelled that, should further presentations of a similar character be 

 received, there will be little difficulty in making up deficiencies, so as 

 possibly in some cases to approach the formation of perfect skeletons. ] 



In reference to the fish, a drawing of which was presented by Mrs. 

 Allport, the Chairman observed that it belonged to the genus 

 Cheironectes, and was chiefly remarkable for its operculated gill opening, 

 by means of which a supply of water was kept in a labyrinth of vessels 

 for the purpose of occasionally wetting the gills, thus enabling the fish 

 when left by the tide to breathe atmospheric air while travelling over 

 the sand on its limblike pectoral fins. The only place in which the 

 Chairman had seen the present species living was in one of the bays 

 on S^uth Bruni. As to Mr. Finlay 's interesting presentation (No. 9) the 

 Chairman said that he had in the first instance been decidedly of 

 opinion that it must belong to one of the migratory salmonidte, but that 

 after a careful comparison with the smolts caught in the salt water of 

 the Derwent, he had come to the conclusion that there was a marked 

 difi"erence between the two fish. The Derwent smolts had in every 

 instance when placed in spirits, shown faint traces of the parr markings 

 so characteristic of the immature salmon and salmon trout, but Mr. 

 Finlay's specimen showed no such markings after immersion. It was 

 therefore, more than probable, that this specimen was one of the fry 

 of the silvery variety of the common trout now so well known in the 

 tideway of the Derwent, below New Norfolk, and which fish appear to 

 have assumed a mueh more salmon like appearance from their visits to, 

 and residence in, brackish water. From the manner in which the 

 present specimen was taken, it seemed clear that it was on its way to 

 the Jordan estuary, and it was more than probable that the parent fish 

 had been hanging about the tideway, and entered the Bagdad rivulet 

 to spawn, and that this fish with the others, captured at the same 

 time, were following out the partially migratory instinct of the parents. 

 The Chairman also called attention to the very marked difi"erence in 

 the quality of trout taken in different rivers, and even between fish from 

 the same rivers in different years, and suggested that a continued 

 study of the causes might lead to a mode of improving rivers which 

 now produced inferior fish. In the present season the trout from the 

 Lachlan were far better shaped and better fed than those of last year, 

 and this is probably to be accounted for by the presence of vast num- 

 bers of larvae of a small species of Ephemera, or jNIay fly — this season, 

 ■which were not noticed during the last. The splendid fish from the 

 Clyde clearly owe their quality to the weedy nature of the stream, as 

 the masses of weeds yielded enormous quantities of molluscs, crustaceans, 

 and insects, and also afforded shelter for crowds of minute fish and eel 

 fare, which, in their turn, supply the larger fish with food. It is 



