Editorial. 
57 
"height of fifteen feet. The holes were dug with mathematical precision. 
" The acorns were driven in lai'ge end foremost, and the fit was so exact 
" that no agency could remove them without cutting away the hark. No 
"miser worked more incessantly or hoarded with greater care. When the 
"rain confined the writer and his companions to tlieir cal)ins, the bird con- 
"tinued at his work, laying ui) his treasures with persistent industry. As 
" soon as he pecked out a hole, he flew to an oak and selected an acorn, 
"sometimes from the ground, at others from the tree, to fill the place ; and 
" so perfect was his idea of size that the writer never saw him get one 
" too large to go in, or so small that he did not have to hammer it to its 
" place. The incident would be incomplete without giving the sad part of 
"it. The persistence of the woodpecker's character would otherwise 
" never have been known. Wishing to reload his rifle prejjaratory to a deer- 
" hunt, the correspondent stepped out of his cabin to discharge it. The 
" bird, as he laboured on the side of his tree, made a tempting mark, but 
" too distant, it was thought, to be in danger ; it proved otherwise however. 
" The writer walked sadly down to the tree and picked up the bird's re- 
" mains, and, to his surprise, he found that he had worn down his upper 
" bill to the raw flesh." 
Club Meetings : An expei-imental meeting was held at 
the Ci-ystal Palace, though of course it was under the circum- 
stances of a somewhat informal character, nevertheless it was 
successful, and will be, I trust, the precursor, of many larger 
gatherings in the future. Eighteen sat down to tea including 
members from the far north as well as others from the sunny 
south. After tea an interchange of opinion took place on matters 
of club interest — notably cluli meetings, and conditions of cup 
competitions, the latter was refei-red to the next Council Meeting. 
As to the former, two experimental meetings were arranged to take 
place on the third Wednesday in April and the first Saturday in 
May, the rendezvous being the Small Bird House at the Zoo, time 
2-80 p.m. on each occasion : the idea being to make a round of 
the birds, with exchanges of expei'ience, and any topic of interest 
arising on the occasion. It was also hopetl that the idea might 
be extended and that at such times as anything special occurred, 
calculated to di*aw members together from a distance to a given 
locality, that a meeting be arranged. The newly formed Social 
Committee will arrange for such gatherings as opportunity occurs. 
A series of meetings in different parts of the country to visit large 
aviaries and I'are collections of birds, should not merely be plea- 
sant and interesting, but should tend to the welfare and growth of 
the club, and also educalive at any rate to the extent of an enlarged 
avicultural experience. 
