X PROCEEDINGS, MAY. 



manner, and when I tell you the fat is 9d. per gallon, and it takes 

 120 birds to make one, you will see what rightful destruction is done 

 for a miserable return. It is perfectly legitimate to take the birds for 

 caring and keeping for food, but as there are too many for this they must 

 destroy them in a wholesale way for fat ; and this is done by one or 

 two men only, the majority of the folks there and all the half-castes 

 are against the fatting process. I was requested when there to see 

 if anything could be done to have a stop put to it." This extract speaks 

 for itself, and the points to be urged on the Government are : — The 

 enormous destruction for a disproportionate, and as Mr. Atkinson says, 

 a very miserable return, and the undoubted fact that the mutton birds 

 will in a few years be driven way from these breeding haunts altogether, 

 and the mears of getting a living resorted to by the islanders entirely 

 cut from under their feet. — I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient 

 servant, W. V. Legge, Tasmania, Member of Committee for Preserva- 

 tion of Plants and Animals. 



Mr. Berxard Shaw said that perhaps Colonel Legge probably was 

 not aware that there was a law to prevent the destruction of young 

 mutton birds. This prohibited the taking of birds until they were fit 

 for human food, and was instituted especially to prevent their wholesale 

 destruction. This was the first season that the regulation had been in 

 force, and he hoped that it would have a salutary effect. The constable 

 who had charge of the islands was only recently appointed, and it 

 would be his duty to see that the Act was carried out. 



Mr. Thomas Stephens hoped that the Act would be carried out 

 efficiently. It was a subject which could scarcely be discussed without 

 preparation. The birds formed the staple food of a half-caste popula- 

 tion of the Straits, and they should be either compelled to restrain 

 themselves in the wanton destruction of the mutton birds, or else be 

 removed to another place. The natives could not be made farmers all 

 at once, but their condition was being greatly improved. He regretted 

 the absence of Bishop Montgomery, who had made himself acquainted 

 ■with the condition of the half-castes in the Straits thoroughly. At 

 certain seasons of the year the natives of the islands assembled to snare 

 the birds. This had been going on for at least 50 years, and there did 

 not appear to be any appreciable dinninution in their numbers. He 

 thought that if the law was a good one it might be very strictly 

 enforced, as there were too many laws on the Statute Book of Tas- 

 mania already which were allowed to rest dormant. 



Mr. Shaw said that there were four matters to be dealt with. The 

 first was the destruction of the young birds, the next the taking of the 

 eggs, the next the destruction of the birds by fire, and lastly, the 

 injury done to the birds by the presence of cattle and sheep. He read 

 the regulations in force upon the subject, which provided against 

 the destruction of the birds as stated in the paper of Colonel Legge. 

 These regulations were issued on the 12th December last. 



PRESENTATIONS. 



The Secretary called attention to a number of donations which had 

 been sent to the Museum. Mr. W. A. Weymouth forw^arded 85 

 specimens of mosses comprising 68 species. The Rev. F. R. M. Wilson 

 sent in a number of specimens of lichens, vt^hich were like the mosses, 

 mounted and classified. Mr. Omant presented samples of rocks from the 

 West Coast, consisting of calcite and limestone, and which were said to 

 be valuable for flux, analysis of which has already been published. 

 A specimen of stone found near the Russell Falls was submitted by the 

 Secretary to Mr. A. Montgomery, the Government Geologist, who said 

 that on examination of it he found that it was not kaolin but pretty 



