TJie birds tlien graclurilly get iliC AvcJi-lujo'^'n light plumage 

 of the Pavo rnyrijjeyutis he:i. 11' tLe Toiu.g bird is a male, 

 the plumage soon becomes racittled Avitli dark feathers, and 

 in auturnn many greenish and liluish feathers are visible. 

 In the second autumn the male comes into full colour, except 

 the long train, which comes a year later. 



'' As 1 four times lost my old breediug-cock, I had to 

 replace it as many times and got birds fr(;m different places, 

 and the oiispring from these coc'is never showf;d any variation 

 either as chicks or as adult lairds. If Pavo n'^gripemiis is not 

 a species it certainly is a vroudi.rfully constant variety. 



" I may add that the bill and legs of cliicks are of a 

 pale flesh-colour." 



Islr. ScLATFK called attention to the ""Act to amend the 

 Wild Birds' Protection Act, 1896," passed during the last 

 Session of Parliament, thereby the Secretary of State was 

 enabled, on applicatiori, for special reasons, to make an order 

 prohibiting the taking or Idlling of particular kinds of wild 

 birds during the whole year. Mr. Sclater suggested that 

 advantage should be taken of this power to render penal 

 throughout the year the destruction of such birds as the 

 Hoopoe and the Golden Ov'oli, which might be reasonably 

 expected to breed in some of southern counties of England 

 if they were not molested. 



l\Ir. Sclater gave a sh'' rt tic^ount of his 48-hours^ visit to 

 Spitsbergen in the Orienr -."^.s. ^ Garonne ^ in August last, 

 and mentioned, as souiC oi '- e nore interesting birds he had 

 noticed there, the Snow-Bn ;:i-ig, the Purple Sandjjiper, the 

 Ivory Gull, and Buffon^s Skua An example of the Spits- 

 bergen Ptarmigan {Lapopits hiinHeucuras:) had been shot by 

 one of the pai'ty while they Avere in Ice Fiord, but the bird 

 was stated to be rare tLcie. 



The Bev. A. H. Macphersj.n exhibited two interesting 

 hybrids of Lagopus scoticus auc Lyrnrus tetrix. 



