British Association News. 339 
but, in this case, may be partly accounted for by the onslaught 
the various species of Turdidz were making on the berries 
of several Rowan, or Mountain Ash, trees in my garden at the 
time. It was in the plumage of a bird of the year, and ina 
very emaciated condition—the latter no doubt due to its 
imprisonment.—H. B. Bootu, Ben Rhydding. 
An overlooked occurrence in Yorkshire of the Surf 
Scoter (@demia perspicillata).—While hunting through some 
old records of the Scarborough Philosophical and Archeological 
Society, I came across the minutes of a meeting held in the 
Museum on November 16th, 1855, in which it is recorded that 
a Surf Scoter, which had been shot at Filey, was exhibited by 
Mr. Roberts. The late Alfred Roberts, who was at that time 
the Curator of the Scarborough Museum, was well-known in 
his day as a careful and painstaking observer, and a reliable 
ornithologist, and records from his lists of birds of the Scar- 
borough district have frequently been quoted in various orni- 
thological works, including ‘The Handbook of Yorkshire 
Verrebrates, 188% 3) and> The Birds of Yorkshire, 1907.’ 
None of these works make any mention of this bird, nor can 
T find any printed record which appears to refer to it until I 
turn to Theakston’s ‘Scarborough Guide,’ published in 1865. 
This contains lists of the flora and fauna of the district, and 
therein I find the following note:—‘ Anas perspicillata, the 
Surf Scoter. A rare bird very seldom seen on the Yorkshire 
coast. One preserved by Mr. Roberts.’ It seems probable 
that this record refers to the specimen exhibited at the Scar- 
borough Museum in 1855. This appears to have been the 
only Yorkshire occurrence of this species—W. J. CLARKE. 
nee 
BRITISH ASSO CIATION NEWS. 
Bournemouth will be the meeting place of the Association in 1917. 
Dr. E. Marion Delf read a paper on ‘ The Effect of Temperature on 
the Permeability of Protoplasm to Water.’ 
Close upon £1,000 was voted to the various committees by the British 
Association at Manchester, for the advancement of science. 
The members of the British Association made a visit to the Roman 
Camp at Ribchester, where a meeting was held to open the newly built 
Roman Museum. 
Sir Arthur J. Evans of Oxford will be the President of the British 
Association at Newcastle next year. He is the eldest son of the late Sir 
John Evans, and has made important archeological discoveries in Crete 
and also excavated the Palace of Knossus. 
There were 1,439 members attending the British Association namely :— 
Old Life Members, 242; New Life Members, 19; Old Annual Members, 
286; New Annual Members, 116; Associates, 483 ; Lady Members, 141 ; 
Student Members, 144; Foreigners, 8. 
Among the interesting reports presented by the British Association 
we notice those relating to ‘ The Belmullet Whaling Station’; ‘ The Age 
of Stone Circles’; ‘Excavations on Roman Sites in Great Britain ’ 
“Seismological Investigations,’ and ‘Nomenclator Animalium.’ 
1915 Oct. 1. 
