198 
Annual Congress 
C The Emu 
Jan. 
BIRD LIFE NEAR SYDNEY. 
Mr. Chaffer gave a lecture on this subject illustrated by lan¬ 
tern slides from photographs taken by himself. Of special 
interest were pictures of the female Satin Bower Bird and of a 
Rock Warbler at its nest. 
The Chairman, in proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, 
which was carried by acclamation, urged Byfield photographers 
to endeavour to secure photos of the interesting bird life of the 
district. 
BIRDS OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA. 
Mr. H. G. Barnard gave an account of some of his experiences 
among the birds of Cape York and the Northern 1 erritory. He 
dealt specially with the Bower-birds, Rifle-birds, Manucode and 
Black Cockatoos, and gave interesting particulars of their habits. 
His address was listened to with great interest and a hearty vote 
of thanks was accorded him. 
BIRD PROTECTION. 
Mr. Chisholm followed with an address on this subject, empha¬ 
sising the value of birds to the man on the land, and urging that 
full consideration of all the habits of a species should be given 
before it was condemned for injury it might cause to fruit or 
crops. He pointed out that if a bird worked in the interests of an 
agriculturalist for eleven months of the year, it was foolish to 
destroy it because it took some toll of a crop during one month. 
No other labourer would give service for a year and only expect 
payment during one month. He urged that some of the scrubs 
in the district, and especially the gigantic banyan fig tree, should 
be preserved, not only for their beauty and interest, but to give 
shelter to valuable birds. 
The chairman supported Mr. Chisholm's remarks and gave a 
brief outline of the results of the study of the bird-life of By field 
obtained during the camp-out. 
VOTES OF THANKS. 
The Chairman conveyed the vote of thanks that had been car¬ 
ried to the Central Queensland Bird Protection Association, and 
took the opportunity, on behalf of the members of the R.A.O.U., 
to present a pair of prism-binoculars to Mr. Maloney, hon. secre¬ 
tary of the Association. Mr. Maloney, in acknowledging the 
gift, stated that it would help him to identify poachers on the 
reserves and other law-breakers without risk of personal contact. 
Mr. A. Boldemann, President of the Association, also responded, 
and stated that the visit of the R.A.O.U. to the district would 
do much to strengthen the hands of the association by showing 
that it had the support of influential men in all parts of Australia. 
The Chairman also conveyed to residents of Byfield, and to 
Messrs. Mortensen and Richter the votes of thanks that had 
been carried. These gentlemen responded and expressed their 
appreciation of the entertainment provided during the evening. 
Proceedings then terminated. 
