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found by him at Scoulton, not a single specimen, animal or vege- 
table, has been exhibited, or even a notice of anything observed at 
any one of the four placed before the Society at its usual meetings. 
It is much to be regretted we do not follow the example of some 
other Societies, or in fact pursue the course proposed when this 
Society was first formed. Let a day and place be fixed for the excur- 
sion, and each when there follow his own bent, at the close of the 
day let each individual produce the result of his labours ; this 
might perhaps induce other members to become active naturalists, 
but at present, I must confess it seems to mo that our trips have 
degenerated into a series of very pleasant picnics. I hope you 
will not suppose that I would discourage these excursions ; far from 
it, for while we can induce ladies and gentlemen to attend these 
and our monthly meetings, there is a chance of awakening an 
ardent love for some branch of natural history, which may, perhaps, 
one day be useful to the Society. 
The first excursion on May 18th, was to "Wroxham and 
Woodbastwick ; the latter was reached by a pleasant row on the 
North river, the hall and grounds of A. Cator, Esq., being very 
kindly thrown open to the Society. 
The second field-day was on June 15th to Scoulton Mere. This 
is always a favourite excursion, we have visited it four times; I would 
recommend those of our members and friends who have not already 
done so, to read Mr. Stevenson’s very interesting and exhaustive 
paper on Scoulton Mere and the Gulls, it will be found in our 
Transactions for 1871-2. 
The July excursion I am sorry to say was not so pleasant as it 
might have been, but that w r as rather due to the weather than to 
any fault of ours, for it rained hard from morning till night ; had the 
weather not interfered with the comfort of the party, I have no 
doubt that Wolterton and Blickling would have proved quite as 
interesting and pleasant as the others, more especially as it was 
undertaken at a time of year when the country itself is lovely 
without any further adjunct; perhaps the only thing in favour of 
the day, was the absence of dust. 
The fourth excursion was to Worstead and Westwick. After 
