102 
NATURE NOTES 
fairly satisfactory position. They were spending less than their 
income, which was more than everyone could say, and they 
therefore could consider the year had not been unsatisfactory. 
The number of members was not so great as in the previous 
year, but the diminution was in paper members— members who 
were on the list, but who did not contribute much to promote 
the interests of the Society. If they considered the number 
of effective members — those working for the objects of the 
Society — the number was larger than ever before. Those were 
the true elements of success in a Society like theirs. The Field 
Club, he proceeded to state, had had twenty-three excursions 
last year, and he understood they gave great satisfaction. They 
had upstairs, so far as he could judge from the list before him, 
a most interesting collection of objects, which they would all 
inspect with great satisfaction very shortly. After they had 
done so they were promised a very interesting lecture, by Dr. 
Bowdler Sharpe, on Selborne. * 
Last year many of them saw with great pleasure the very 
interesting Nature-study exhibition in Regent’s Park, and he 
thought no one could have been to it without going away 
with some new ideas ; and he hoped there would be many 
others of the same kind to follow. The Natural History 
Societies in and around London were organising another 
Exhibition, not quite so large, but he hoped not less interest- 
ing, which he trusted would be opened in the course of the 
summer, and he thought all would agree that such exhibitions 
did a great deal to promulgate the principles they all had at 
heart, besides being most interesting in themselves. 
As regards the protection of animals, particularly birds, no 
doubt a good deal had been accomplished during the last few 
years, and he did not know that at the moment there was much 
more to be done in the way of legislation ; but he thought a 
great deal remained to be accomplished with regard to carrying 
the existing law into effect. He did not know whether all 
present had read the most interesting book by Mr. Pike, called 
“ Hillside, Rock and Dale,” on that subject. Mr. Pike spoke in 
that book as a keen observer, and he said it was not enough that 
local authorities should pass resolutions ; they should carry the 
law into effect. Mr. Pike told them he had actually seen bird- 
catchers at work almost underneath a board warning them 
against catching birds, and he suggested the police should have 
more explicit orders and be more definitely instructed as to 
their duties in carrying out the law. He had said also that 
numbers of people visited Epping Forest on Saturday after- 
noons solely for the purpose of taking eggs, principally those of 
the nightjar, nightingale, pheasant, redstart, woodwren, wood- 
peckers and sparrow hawks. Mr. Pike also visited the Fame 
Islands, and there hundreds of beautiful kittiwakes were shot 
