70 



success of the Society, and were especially a feature of the 

 past year. On these occasions the restraint of a formal 

 meeting is put aside, and nervousness or hesitation to ask a 

 question or offer an opinion disappears at an informal 

 gathering such as a field meeting. They were nine in 

 number, the average attendance of members and their 

 friends having been eighteen per meeting. The organisers 

 and leaders worked well, both in the selection of routes and — 

 what is perhaps of not less importance — the arrangements 

 for catering. The precedent established by Mr. R. Adkin 

 in providing a route map for the day's excursion is one well 

 deserving of imitation. 



A field meeting is always looked forward to by the 

 naturalist as a day of enjoyment such as few but lovers of 

 nature ever experience. The comparing of notes with 

 others of kindred tastes, and the profit derived from the 

 ideas and observations of his elders, cannot fail to be of 

 great value to the younger naturalist. In this connection 

 one realises what an inestimable boon it is to the naturalist, 

 who in later life takes up any particular branch in the study 

 of natural history, to have had the advantage of an early life 

 spent in the country. 



The study of botany is an excellent training for ento- 

 mologists. 



Field botany and botanical exhibits at the meetings have 

 been prominent features in the work of the Society during 

 the past year, thanks to the fostering help of that veteran 

 botanist, Mr. E. Step, and these have in a great measure 

 made up for the paucity of insect captures at our various 

 excursions. In the experience of an old collector, 1902 was 

 the worst collecting year for over twenty years, — due, no 

 doubt, to the coldness and lateness of the seasons, in conse- 

 quence of which many species have deferred emergence 

 until the present year, when it is anticipated that, given a 

 good spring, many species will be abundant that were scarce 

 last year. 



In conformity with the custom which has obtained with 

 my predecessors I will enumerate the additions to the 

 British fauna during the past year. 



Lepidoptera. — One species new to the British list : 

 Coleophora milvipennis (Zeller), reared by Mr. W. C, Boyd 

 from cases on leaves of blackthorn taken near Danbury, 

 Essex, and recorded by Mr. C. G. Barrett, F.E.S. 

 ("E. M. M.," 1902, p. 79). 



