Vol. XXIIL— No. 1. MAY 10, 1906. No. 269 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the Club was held in the 

 Royal Society's Hall on Monday evening, 9th April, 1906. 



The president, Mr. F. G. A. Barnard, occupied the chair, and 

 about 80 members and visitors were present. 



REPORTS. 



A report of the excursion to Darebin Creek, Preston, on Satur- 

 day, 24th March, was given by the leaders, Messrs. G. A. Keart- 

 land and W. Stickland. The former said that birds were very 

 scarce on the day of the excursion, though at times he had noted 

 a great variety in the vicinity. One bird which he had frequently 

 noticed there seemed to be a dark variety of the Superb Warbler, 

 Malurus cyaneus, but whether identical with M. elizabethce, 

 Campbell, he was unable to say. Mr. Stickland said that pond 

 life was scarce, the visit having been made just after a heavy 

 fresh in the creek had occurred. A number of species of Oscillaria 

 were taken, among them Spirulina oscillarioides, interesting 

 from its inconceivably slender spiral filaments, which are only 

 about one twelve-thousandth part of an inch in diameter. The 

 most plentiful diatom was a short-stemmed Achnanthes, probably 

 A. subsessilis, K. The variety of animal life was poor ; almost 

 the only protozoan was apparently Thuricola operculata, Gruber, 

 with which was associated GotlMrnia imberbis, Ehr. The solitary 

 rotifer taken was Brachionus urceolaris. The creek, however, 

 would doubtless be worth visiting under more favourable condi- 

 tions. 



The president reported that the conversazione for the junior 

 members, held at the Club rooms on the previous Saturday 

 afternoon (7th April), to mark the termination of their financial 

 year, had been a great success. With the kind co-operation of 

 several senior members, a good display of choice Victorian birds, 

 insects, shells, dried plants, &c., had been made, in which the 

 juniors and their friends appeared greatly interested. He had 

 taken the opportunity of briefly calling attention to some points 

 in the history of the Club, and of offering suggestions and 

 encouragement for future work. He also stated that, in accord- 

 ance with a promise made some months ago to award a prize for 

 the best series of notes on the field excursions of the half-year, he 

 had presented Master Montaigne O'Dowd with a copy of *' Real 

 Things in Nature," by E. S. Holden, and expressed the opinion 

 that the Club had some promising future members in the ranks of 

 the juniors. 



