THE 



^trtoriau Jt a t u r a 1 1 1 ♦ 



Vol. XVII. — No. 11. MARCH 7, 1901. No. 207. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the Club was held in the 

 Royal Society's Hall on Monday evening, nth February, 1901. 

 The president, Mr. J. Shephard, occupied the chair, and about 

 50 members and visitors were present. 



reports. 



A report of the excursion to Menzies' Creek on Saturday, 9th 

 February, was read by Mr. H. T. Tisdall, who said that the 

 locality proved very disappointing, little of interest being noticed. 

 However a freak of nature, which might be worth recording, was 

 a tree fern almost completely enveloped by the stems of a black- 

 wood, Acacia melanoxylon, no less than seventeen being counted, 

 varying from three to six inches in diameter. Insects of every 

 description were scarce. 



The hon. librarian acknowledged the receipt of the following 

 donations to the library : — " Report on the Utilization of Brown 

 Coal " and " Report on Mt. William Goldfield," &c, from Depart- 

 ment of Mines, Victoria ; " Annual Report Botanic Gardens and 

 Domain, New South Wales, 1899," from the Government Botanist, 

 Sydney ; " Annual Report Department of Agriculture, Queens- 

 land, 1 899-1 900," and Queensland Agricultural Journal, De- 

 cember, from the Department of Agriculture, Brisbane; "Pro- 

 ceedings Linnean Society of New South Wales," vol. xxv., part 3, 

 1900, from the Society; "Proceedings Royal Society of South 

 Australia," vol. xxiv., part 2, from the Society ; " Journal of 

 Mueller Botanic Society, Western Australia," from Mr. Alex. 

 Purdie, M.A. ; Nature Notes, December, from Selborne Society, 

 London; Science Gossip, December, and Knowledge, December, 

 from the proprietors. 



ELECTION OF MEMBERS. 



On a ballot being taken, Mr. St. Aloys D'Alton, C.E., 

 Dimboola, was elected a country member. 



PAPERS READ. 



1. By Mr. D. Le Souef, entitled "Among the Waterfowl of 

 Riverina." 



The author gave an interesting account of the nesting habits of 

 a number of birds, principally waders, found breeding in the 

 swamps near the Murray, and illustrated his remarks with a series 

 of about twenty lantern slides. 



Mr. E. H. Swan took the opportunity of showing a few lantern 



