244 
island is £20 per annum: in Bay's time it fetched £100; but 
when he wrote, young gannets were eaten even at the royal table : 
now none but the poorest will touch them, and the principal profit 
is derived from the feathers. Incubation is very protracted, and 
the lessee finds that the Sea Birds’ Act does not provide a close 
time of sufficient duration to enable the young birds to be strong 
enough on the wing to leave the nest and provide for themselves. 
Every old bird shot in August or September leaves a young one to 
starve in the nest. Let us hope, that when that Act is revised 
and amended, an extension of the close time may be arranged to 
meet the requirements of the Solan Goose. The continuation of 
the paper, with the promised account of Elamborough Head, is 
looked forward to with much interest. 
Mr. Bridgman’s notes on an afternoon trip to Poringland are 
full of life and the vigour of an ardent student of nature, and 
opened a field for observation as to the habits of some of the small 
but not less useful mammalia ; and the description he gave us of 
the method by which a rveasel attacked a rat, shows how much we 
are indebted to this abused little animal, for assistance to keep in 
check that expensive and destructive denizen of our farm yards, the 
rat. Mr. Bridgman recounted several instances of that mimicry of 
the colours of surrounding objects, the use of which is to preserve 
the caterpillars from observation; and stated that he had written 
the paper in the hope that other members would furnish to the 
Society their observations on such noticeable facts as probably 
would be met with during our excursions, a hope that has at 
present been imperfectly realized. 
At our July meeting, Mr. Stevenson exhibited a skin of 
Cliaradrius fitlvu-s, the Eastern Golden Plover, killed in Norfolk, 
a species allied to our own Golden Plover, rare in Europe, but now 
occurring for the first time as a visitor to Britain. A Japanese 
example w'as exhibited for comparison, both kindly lent by Mr. 
H. E. Dresser. A notice of the discovery will be found at p. 213 
of last year’s Transactions. 
For a description of Delphinus albirostris taken at Lowestoft, 
the skeleton of which was secured for the Museum of Comparative 
