238 
Correspondence. 
Anotlier pair have nested and have a fionrishiii^ youns^ster in tlie nest, 
bnt it is not due to come into the open for another three weeks. 
It is a pity there are not more Stellas in this country as they seem to 
be free breeders. All my birds are doinw well, bnt many are in heavy 
moult. E J. BROOK. 
MEMBERS GATHERINGS AT THE ZOO. 
Sir — I am ;iskod to write a short account of these, and onlj- wish it had 
been entrusted to abler hands than mine. There have been four so far, and 
three of them — I speak from personal experience — have be'^n absolutely 
delightful ; the surprising part being that the attendance has been so small. 
The weather (as weather goes now-a-days) was not unfavourable, nothing 
really to keep intending visitors away, so altogether the small number of 
members present was difficult to account for, and certainly not encouraging 
to our Editor, whose has left not a stone unturned to make them a success, 
■which they have been every way save in the matter of numbers. However, 
what was lacking in quantity was made up in quality, for I have met most 
interesting people, aviarists from near and far, whose names T have long 
known, and whose acqiiaintance it was a pleasure to make. 
I suppose one should not mention names, but in the case of a ])ublic 
character like our clever artist, Mr. G-oodchild, such a restriction is surely 
unnecessary. He has been unfailing in his attendance, and no hours have 
been too long for him to devote to the discussion of ornithology, and to the 
enlightenment of those interested in the particular branch of it to which 
he devotes himself. Time fled all too rapidly on those occasions on which T 
was able to be present, and T was told that the whole day gathering on July 
20th was really the outcome of a I'emark I made to ISIr. Wesley Page, at the 
fir.st meeting on saying good-bye, and thanking him, jokingly adding "half a 
day is no use to us at all. Please to invite us for a week ne.xt time." At 
half -past six, on each occasion, when T was reluctantly comi)elled to tear 
myself away, as far as I can remember I was the first to leave. We were, of 
course, tempted to look at other exhibits besides birds in that vast collection, 
but resisted in all save the case of the baby girafPe, then scarcely two days 
old (now, alas ! no more) which really was excusalile. We partook of excel- 
lent teas, and on the whole day gathering an equally excellent lunch, in the 
Pavilion devoted exclusively to the Fellows of the Society, which I regarded 
as a privilege, during which (like ''the walrus and the carpenter ") "we talked 
of many things," but otherwise, I think it may be said, we kept fairly well to 
our subject — the inexhaustible one of birds. If another year our .Editor is 
not too much discouraged to arrange for further meetings, I' hope they will 
meet with greater success numerically and -may I be there to see ! 
(Mrs.) E. A. H. HARTLEY. 
Pemniialh/ ram. not fI/Krniiriiiir>tl. (ill npa- feufKrcx uuiM harp a hf'(jiiinuiii. 
and them gatheri.wjs, it;ill (jrnir. T rmi (inh/ add that mi/ peraonaJ enjoymctd and 
interefit ha.i eqitallcd that nf the n-ritrr of the above note>;. (hw (lixthict feat tiro of 
thexe (jather'nifix ban been the afteiidnnce of iDeiiiherx irho liiirc come up from a 
lo/ii/ d/xta/ice xperiaU;/ to attend ; this is diatinrtli/ e/icniiraipii!/.— Ed. 
