ON THE EGG OF MANTELL’S KIWI. A487 
150 replies have been received, and of these 109 are in favour 
of the change, 39 are against it, and 2 are indifferent. 
The Committee therefore recommend that, commencing with 
the new Session in October 1914, the Meetings for Scientific 
Business shall be held on Tuesdays at 5.30 p.m., the usual 
refreshments being served from 5 to 5.30 p.M., and the Publi- 
cation Committee meeting at 5 P.M. 
Mr. D. Seru-Smuiru, F.Z.S., Curator of Birds, exhibited the 
egg of Mantell’s Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli), laid in the Gardens 
on April 12th. It weighed 113 oz., and measured 4:75 x 
2°75 inches. The bird that laid the egg weighed only 654 oz., 
considerably less than the weight of a domestic hen, which laid 
eges of only 27 oz. 
Dr. P. L. Sclater had recorded the laying of eggs by this species 
in the Gardens in 1853 and 1860, the weights of which were 
greater than that of the present specimen, one being 144 oz. and 
the other “‘ somewhat larger” (P. Z. S. 1853, p. 350, and 1860, 
p- 194), and Sir Walter Buller had recorded the weight of an 
egg taken in the wild state as 15 oz. 90 grs. (Trans. New Zealand 
Inst. 1892, p. 85). 
Mr. Sranitey Hirst, F.Z.S., reported on the Arachnida (other 
than Spiders) and Myriopoda obtained by the British Ornitho- 
logists’ Union and Wollaston Expeditions in Dutch New Guinea. 
The collection is only a small one, but contains two new species 
of Acari parasitic on mammals and three new species of 
millipedes. A new species of parasitic mite collected by Prof. 
F, Forster on various mammals in German New Guinea 1s also 
described. 
This paper has been published in the TRansacrions. 
May 5, 1914. 
Dr. Henry Wcopwarp, F.R.S., Vice-President, 
in the Chair. 
Surgeon G. Murray Luvicx, R.N., gave an interesting account 
of the manners and customs of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis 
adelic), which he had observed at the Cape Adare rookery while 
with Scott’s Antarctic Expedition. He described their mating 
habits, the making of their “nests,” hatching of the eggs, and 
rearing of the young, and illustrated his remarks with a series 
of lantern-slides prepared from his photographs. 
