Febkuaky 7th. 



About 40 were present, the President in the chair. The Secretary 

 was absent through illness. 



The President alluded in suitable terms to the loss by death of 

 one of the Vice-Presidents, Mr. H. F. Blanford, and proposed the 

 following resolution : — 



" That we as members of the Folkestone Natural History 

 and Microscopical Society, desire to convey to Mrs. Blanford and 

 her family our sense of the great loss they have sustained in the 

 death of Mr. Blanford, and our heartfelt sympathy with them in 

 their bereavement. We also desire to add that we ourselves feel 

 with deep regret that we have lost in him our most learned 

 member and Vice-President, and we would recall the fact that he 

 was President of the Microscopical Society at Folkestone from its 

 foundation until it was amalgamated with the Natural History 

 Society." 



This was seconded by the Kev. W. Hall, who spoke of the great 

 interest taken by Mr, Blanford in the Town Museum as well as 

 in the work of this Society. The resolution was carried unani- 

 mously, and on the motion of Mr. Walton it was also resolved : — 



" That the Secretary be requested to forward to Mrs. Blanford a 

 copy of the above resolution. 



The President then read the following paper on 



THE BIEDS FKEQUENTING OUR TOWN GARDENS. 



I will first give a portion of our time to the consideration of a 

 few points about Birds in general, and then proceed to treat of 

 some species in particular. What is a Bird ? I suppose less 

 mistakes would be made by the unlearned in deciding what is a 

 bird and what is not than in any other of the great classes of the 

 animal kingdom. I scarcely think that any bird could fail to be 

 recognized as such, and bats are the only other animals that could 

 deceive anybody. The one great distinyuishing character of the class 

 is that the body is clothed with feathers. Most of them have the 

 power of flight developed in a high degree. They all lay eggs 

 from which they produce their young. Their bill is hard and 

 sheathed in horn ; and most of them build nests. But these latter 

 characters are none of them possessed exclusively by birds ; but in 

 the existing state of nature the clothing of feathers is their peculiar 

 property, and distinguishes the class. In my last paper on Birds 

 I dwelt rather on the anatomy of a feather, and shewed how 

 beautifully it is adapted to its functions ; lightness and strength 

 being its most prominent characteristics. The midrib or stem is 

 divided into tube and shaft. The tube is hollow with a little 

 depression at its root where it has grown from its papilla, and a 



