Report of the Oxshott Field Meeting held on May 19th, 



1900. 



By W. J. Lucas. Read on J^me i^th, 1900. 



Cool, ungenial easterly winds preceded the first field meeting of 

 the Society for 1900; and, though the morning of May 19th itself 

 was bright, the wind was still keen in exposed situations. By the 

 time, however, that the majority of the party reached Oxshott station 

 it had fallen considerably, but its fall was accompanied by a practical 

 disappearance of the bright sunshine of the morning. Of our party, 

 twenty-four in all, a few made straight — at least, as straight as might 

 be — for the Black Pond, the usual goal of a visitor to the Oxshott 

 Woods, but a goal not always reached, as some of our party found 

 out by experience. The majority, however, made their way towards 

 the covers, which extend in the direction of Claygate. 



Soon after passing the picturesque little group of silver birches at 

 the foot of the sandy slope leading from the station, in a spot where 

 birds are very numerous, and where the voice of the nightingale is 

 usually to be heard at this season of the year, Mr. Turner discovered 

 a nest of the whitethroat {Sylvia rtifa) — the only nest of any con- 

 sequence, I believe, that was found during the day. 



Near this spot the Bagshot sand gives out, and the London clay 

 comes to the surface, the change of soil being at once evidenced by 

 the change in the vegetation. Firs, birches, and heather disappear, 

 while oak, wild rose, and a herbaceous undergrowth take their place. 



In a copse on our left, which had recently been cleared of the 

 underwood, a purple mist that lay on the ground, on closer attention 

 and by the sense of smell was found to be a profusion of wild hyacinths 

 in full blossom. On our right was a field in which cowslips grow in 

 large numbers. In fact, through the covers and along the bridle- 

 path that leads to Abrook Common wild flowers were plentiful, but 

 the same cannot be said of the insects, of which scarcely one was 

 seen. 



Those who formed the van of the party were somewhat dismayed 

 at finding that the bridle-path they had been following so long ended 

 abruptly in a large and muddy pond, whose slimy depths were 

 hidden by a snowy carpet of white buttercups in full bloom. How- 

 ever, by a flanking movement to the right the difficulty was circum- 

 vented, and our party debouched on the level furze-clad expanse of 

 Abrook Common. 



Once the common was crossed the clay was left behind, and with 

 the Bagshot sand we entered the region of birch, fir, and heather, 

 amongst which the lepidopterists found a little, though certainly very 

 little, to occupy their attention. 



