Mature Motes : 
Ube Selborne Society’s fll>a0a3lne. 
No. 103. JULY, 1898. Vol. IX. 
SELBORNIANA. 
Annual Report for 1897. — The Council of the Selborne Society* 
has pleasure in presenting to the members its Report for the year 1897. 
Mr. James Britten’s connection with the Society’s magazine, Nature 
Notes, ceased after the issue of the December 1897 number, when Mr. 
J. L. Otter kindly consented to undertake the editorship, pending the 
appointment of a permanent Editor. The Council has been fortunate 
enough to secure the valuable services of Professor G. S. Boulger for this 
post. On Mr. Britten’s resignation the Council took the opportunity of 
testifying its appreciation of his work on behalf of the Society, by passing 
a unanimous vote of thanks to him for his services as Editor of Nature 
Notes. 
The leaflets entitled “A Plea for the British Butterfly,” written by Mr. 
W. F. Kirby at the request of the Council, and “The Cruelty of Wearing 
Ospreys,” by Mrs. Litchfield, have been reprinted, the cost of the latter 
being met by a donation kindly contributed by the Rev. H. E. Luxmoore 
for the purpose. A special fund, the Magazine and Leaflet Fund, has 
been set apart for this branch of the Society’s work. The attention of 
the members is also called to the excellent leaflets on birds issued by the 
Board of Agriculture, copies of which can be obtained on application. 
An International Congress on the Protection of Birds was held at 
Aix-en-Provence, on November 9, under the auspices of the Ligue Orni- 
thophile Fran^aise. The protection of insectivorous birds useful to 
agriculture was the chief matter treated of, and it was decided to forward 
to the Governments of Europe through the French Minister for Foreign 
Affairs the resolutions which were formulated. Public Educational 
Bodies were also to be memorialised in order to obtain, if possible, the 
serious consideration of this important subject by schoolmasters and 
Government School Inspectors. Numerous French and Italian Agri- 
cultural, Horticultural, and Sporting Societies were represented at the 
Congress. Mrs. F. E. Lemon, honorary secretary of the Society for the 
Protection of Birds, attended as a delegate from the Selborne Society. 
The Society’s Field Club organised last season a series of rambles. 
For details of the places visited the members are referred to the 
magazine. A whole day excursion to Selborne formed not the least 
enjoyable part of the year’s programme. Among the members taking 
a prominent part in this excursion was the late Prebendary H. D. 
Gordon, by whose death the Society is deprived of a vice-president 
whose loss will be deeply felt. 
