66 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



Explorations of the past summer, explaining by maps and 

 diagrams : (1.) The Course of Proceedings of the "Alert" and 

 "Discovery," up to the last news received from the ships ; (2.) 

 The Voyage of H.M.S. "Valorous;" (3.) The Voyage of 

 Captain Allen Young's yacht '' Pandora ; " (4.) The Voyage 

 of the Swedish Expedition in the " Proven," under the com- 

 mand of M. ISTordenskjold, to the Yenesei Pdver; (5.) The 

 Cruises of some of the Walrus Hunters in the Spitzbergen and 

 Kara Seas ; (6.) The Eoute of the English Whalers. 

 . On the motion of the President, the thanks of the Meeting 

 were awarded to Dr Brown for his address. 



II. Dr J. A. Smith exhibited, in illustration of Dr Brown's 

 address, a number of rocks (sandstone, syenite, basalt, etc.) 

 from the Arctic regions, and minerals (mica slate, v^ith 

 garnets, felspar and quartz crystals, white zeolite, aptatite, 

 Healandite, amber-coloured carbonate of lime, etc.), brought 

 in 1866, from Godhavn, Disco Island, North Greenland, by 

 Dr T. Graham Kerr, now of Ballarat, Australia. 



111.— Ornithological Notes. By John Alex. Smith, M.D. 



(specimens exhibited.)" 



1. Pernis apivorus — Honey Buzzard. — A fine specimen 

 of an old male, shot at Kilberry, Argyleshire, on the 20th 

 September. The proventriculus and stomach contained a 

 number of wasps, not the larvse, but the perfect insect. This 

 season has been especially a fine one in the West Highlands, 

 fruit abundant, and wasps have indeed been abundant 

 everywhere. In this old bird shows the lighter tints of the 

 head, and especially of the neck (which is light buff), are 

 very distinct. The young birds are darker in colour. Mr J. 

 Keddie informs me he had once an opportunity of examining 

 some young birds almost from the nest, and they were of a 

 nearly uniform dark-brown colour. The bird is one of our 

 well-known, rather rare, occasional summer or autumn visitors. 



2. Buteo lagopus — Eough-legged Buzzard. — This bird is 

 also one of our occasional autumn or winter visitors, oc- 

 curring, however, much more frequently than the Honey 



