420 



Wednesday, 7 th May 1862. — John Coldstream, M.D., President, 

 in the Chair. 



The Secretary laid on the table new Parts of Vol. II. of the Proceed- 

 ings of the Society, which he hoped would be ready for distribution to 

 members in a few days. 



The following donations to the Library were laid on the table, and 

 thanks voted to the donors : — ■ 



1. Description of a New Species of Clerodendron from Old Calabar, 

 which flowered in 1861 in the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. 

 (Plate.) By Professor J. H. Balfour, A.M., M.D., &c— From the 

 Author. 2. Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of 

 Liverpool, No. 15, 1860-61. — From the Society. 3. Journal of the 

 Geological Society of Dublin, Vol. viii. Part 3. — From the Society. 

 4. The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, and Proceedings of the 

 Natural History Society of Montreal, Vol. vi., No. 6, December 1861 ; 

 and Vol. vii., No. 1, for February 1862. 5. The Canadian Journal, 

 New Series. No. 37, January 1862. — From the Canadian Institute. 

 6. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Vol. xi., Nos. 43-47. — From the 

 Society. 7. Observations and Experiments on the Garcinus mamas. By 

 W. Carmichael M'Intosh, M.D. Prize Thesis, 1860. — From the Author. 

 8. Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Vol. vii., Part 1. 

 — From the Society. 



The following communications were then read 



I. Notes of the Capture of the Bed-Crested Whistling Duck (Fuligula 

 rufina, Selby) in Argyleshire ; and of the Common Wild Duck build- 

 ing on a Tree. By John Alexander Smith, M.D. 



Dr Smith read a communication from J. W. P. Orde of 

 Kilmory, Esq., on the capture of a male of the Fuligula 

 rufina, the Ked-Crested Whistling Duck, which was shot 

 in company with some Golden Eyes, on a fresh-water loch 

 near Craignish, Argyleshire, in the month of January last. 

 This bird is a rare occasional visitor to England, and was 

 first noticed by Yarrell in 1826. Several specimens have 

 since that time been observed in England, but none before 

 this in Scotland. It is a bird of eastern Europe, emigrating 

 southwards in autumn. 



A note was also read from Eichard Bell, Esq., of a wild 

 duck's nest, with nine eggs, discovered in May 1861, amongst 

 the small branches of a thorn tree, at eleven feet from the 

 ground, and about forty yards from the river Esk ; on the 

 farm of Billholm, Dumfriesshire. The nest was compactly 



