Royal Physical Society. 53 



many years. A collector informed Dr Smith he had tried in vain to get 

 specimens from all the bird-catchers for the last two or three years. 



Dr Smith also exhibited a Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, recently 

 killed in the estuary of the Tay. 



Richard Burdon Sanderson, Esq., Warwick House, Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne, was elected a non-resident member. 



The office-bearers for the session were unanimously elected as follows : — 



Presidents. — Robert Chambers, Esq. ; William H. Lowe, M.D. ; J. 

 H. Balfour, M.D,, Professor of Botany, University of Edinburgh. 



Council. — Patrick Dalmahoy, Esq., W.S. ; Hugh Miller, LL.D. ; Ro- 

 bert K. Greville, LL.D. ; Rev. John Fleming, D.D., Professor of Na- 

 tural Science, New College, Edinburgh ; William Rhind, Esq. ; M. Fors- 

 ter Heddle, M.D. 



Secretary. — John Alexander Smith, M.D. 



Assistant Secretary. — George Lawson, Esq. 



Treasurer.— William Oliphant, Esq. 



Honorary Librarian. — Robert F. Logan, Esq. 



Library Committee.' — John L. Stewart, Esq. ; Alexander Bryson, Esq. ; 

 Andrew Murray, Esq. 



Wednesday, January 23. William H. Lowe, M.D., President, in 

 the Chair. 



The followingDonations to the Library were presented, and thanks voted 

 to thedonors : — 1. Proceedings of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophi- 

 cal Society, No. IX., 1854-55 ; from the Society. 2. Essay on Meteorites, 

 by R. P. Greg, Esq. ; from Dr M. F. Heddle. 



1. Note on the Late Stay of Sivallows in 1855. By Robert F. Logan, Esq. 



The late stay of the swallow tribe in this country during the past 

 autumn had, Mr Logan stated, considering the earliness and severity of 

 the winter, been somewhat remarkable. It was well known that the ordi- 

 nary period of the departure of the red-fronted or chimney swallow (Hir- 

 undo rustic a) was the end of September or beginning of October, and that 

 of the house martin (Hirundo urbica) about the same time, or a few days 

 later ; but last autumn numbers remained during October, and towards 

 the end of the month a small flock of martins were to be seen every morn- 

 ing, briskly hawking for insects, over the village of Duddingston. He 

 saw some of them so late as the 10th of November, flying high in the air, 

 and circling about with as much apparent ease as in the middle of sum- 

 mer. In the south of England, as might be expected, they remained 

 much latter. A correspondent of the " Zoologist," writing from Hast- 



