168 jeIesident's addbess. 



intense pleasure to thousands of persons, and valuable instruction 

 to others, by enabling them to observe the habits of birds, which 

 would have been attracted and drawn to this neighbourhood in- 

 stead of being as now banished from it. It is very questionable 

 even now that such low-lying land, not much above the sea level, 

 will ever be effectually and profitably drained; in the mean- 

 time the plants and birds are destroyed or banished for many 

 generations. 



Arriving through the fields at Cleadon House the members 

 were courteously entertained and shewn through the grounds so 

 frequently visited during the lifetime of our former President, 

 by his nephew Mr. H. C. Abbs. The water- works of the Sunder- 

 land Company were, through the kind arrangement of Mr. Yint, 

 thrown open for the inspection of members who, not having seen 

 this district before, were gratified by this sight only a few miles 

 from home. They then followed the old bridle-road through 

 Fardingslake to Marsden, and sat down, few in number, to a 

 comfortable tea in Marsden Grotto, the scene of many a large 

 and happy gathering of the Club, but this locality, like many 

 others in our neighbourhood, now seems doomed to destruction 

 by the stern necessities of our advanced civilization. It is 

 greatly to be regretted that a coast of such unique interest to 

 geologists, and to others in search of the picturesque and roman- 

 tic, should pass away without some attempt being made to record 

 its former beauty in the pages of our Club's Transactions. After 

 tea the members hastened through the pelting storm to the near- 

 est railway station, but though the weather had not been most 

 favourable all felt the better for this hurried visit to Marsden. 



One Evening Meeting only has been held this winter jointly 



of the Field Club and ]S"atural History Society, viz., on the 14th 



March. It was well attended, and the following papers were 



read : — 



Notice of Salmon Trout in the Ouseburn duriug the Spawning Season, by 

 R. Y. Green. 



Notice of a New Lichen, Lecanora albo-lutescens (Nyl.), found in North- 

 umberland, by the Rev. W. Johnson. 



A Short Accoixut of the Club's Visit to the Bass Rock, July, 1880. 



