232 
president’s address. 
of our very existence amongst our country members, many of whom 
can rarely be present at the monthly meetings, I cannot help saying 
that I think we are neglecting one very important section of the 
Society’s work, and one which, in my opinion, forms, or should 
form, a very tangible outward and visible sign of its vitality. 
I trust that, in the coming year, the Excursion Committee will take 
this into consideration. Our monthly meetings too have not been 
so well attended as could be wished ; members by their absence 
have often missed very enjoyable evenings, and they should remember 
that their presence is an encouragement to those who at considerable 
expenditure of labour prepare papers for us. 
During the past year I regret to say we have lost five members 
by death : Herr Gatke, Lord Lilford, Mr. Stacy- Watson, Rev. C. J. 
Lucas, and Mr. Woolfe Haldinstein. The latter, although a member 
since 1874, has been non-resident, and never took an active part 
in the affairs of the Society. Mr. C. Stacy-Watson, who died very 
suddenly on the 15th of November, 1896, was instrumental in 
establishing the Yarmouth Section of the Society, and has contributed 
the article on the Herring Fishery for the years 1894 and 1895. He 
was the proprietor of the Yare Fishery Works at Yarmouth, and his 
paper in vol. v. p. 584 of our ‘Transactions,’ on the “Varieties 
and Distribution of the Herring,” throws considerable light on the 
localities frequented by this valuable food-fish, both in the seas 
of Northern Europe and those of America, and points out the 
distinguishing features of the various races found on the different 
fishing-grounds, some of which differ considerably from each other. 
Mr. Watson was a man of active business habits, and took the lead 
in several philanthropic works, in which he will be much missed. 
Lord Lilford has been an honorary member of the Society since 
1876, and contributed to its ‘Transactions’ two papers (in 1888 and 
1890) on the Birds in the Lilford Aviaries, which were unsurpassed 
in the spaciousness and convenience of their arrangements, and the 
inmates of which were maintained in the highest perfection of 
plumage. In the death of this distinguished naturalist, which took 
place rather suddenly on the 17th June, 1896, the science of 
Ornithology throughout the world sustains a severe loss. 
