/\.OTU ANNUAL REPORT, I9OI. 1 29 



the appearance of the Bearded Reedhns^;- at Hornsea, as recorded 

 by Mr. McLean in 'The Naturalist.' It is hoped that these 

 birds will not share the same fate as the Great Crested Grebes, 

 in the same locality, which are harried and persecuted 

 continually. It may also not be uninteresting" to record the 

 death of a .Montagu's Harrier, which was unfortunately caug'ht 

 in a trap at Beckley on April 26th. This bird has come into the 

 possession of Mr. Fortune. It has been most gratifying to note 

 this year the increase in the numbers of martins and thrushes. 

 Turtle doves also appear to be considerably on the increase in 

 the county. During the nesting season it has been pitiable to 

 note the great destruction of birds' eggs. In some districts, 

 almost every other nest was found to have the eggs destroyed, 

 by either rooks, squirrels, rats, or mice. Without doubt the 

 abnormally dry season has been to a g^reat extent accountable 

 for this. The absence of heavy storms and nig'ht frosts ha;s 

 proved exceptionally favourable for game birds, and they are 

 much more plentiful than they have been for man}' years. The 

 gradual disappearance of mange amongst foxes must be a 

 matter of congratulation to fox hunters. There is, however, 

 still a considerable amount of the disease prevalent in some 

 districts. It has been a favourable breeding season for these 

 animals, and the enormous number of rabbits must have caused 

 the parent foxes to have very little anxiety in providing food for 

 their young. Hares are more plentiful than they have been for 

 a great nuniber of years. It is very pleasing to note the gradual 

 increase of the badg-er in the county. Otters also appear to be 

 becoming more numerous. 



Concholog-ical Section. — Mr. J. E. Crowther, the secre- 

 tary, reports that owing to the extreme dryness of the summer 

 the work of this section has not been so successful as might have 

 been the case had the climatic conditions been otherwise. The 

 section is deeply indebted to its President, Mr. J. W. Taylor, 

 F.L.S., for his frequent attendance at the meetings, and 

 to Mr. W. Denison Roebuck, F.L.S., who has reported 

 for the section on one or two occasions when none of 

 the sectional officers have been present. The meeting- at 

 Brough was well attended and was fairly successful, as 

 altogether 33 species were noted, only six of these being 

 aquatic species. The most interesting find of the day was in the 

 form of a couple of specimens of Limax cinereo-niger in Brant- 

 ingham Dale. The Wykeham excursion was led by Mr. VV 

 Gyngell, who reported the most notable species as Cyclosioma 

 elegans, Helix fiisca, and Pupa ringejis. The total number of 

 species were 25, being made up of six slugs, 17 land-shells, and 

 two freshwater. At the Wetherby meeting Mr. Roebuck 

 reported that the extreme heat, and especially dryness, militated 

 so much against the collection of land mollusca that only three 

 species were noted during the excursion, Ilclix (ispcrsa being 



