88
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
than they were. Prof. Boulger suggest that we should leave it to the hawks to
restore the balance. It is new to me that a hawk, at least of the kinds that are
seen in the forest, would attack a jay, but even it were so, it must be remem-
bered that the jays are at least a hundred to one of the hawks. The previous
scarcity of the insect-eating birds in the forest has had an indirect effect on the
health of the trees, which cannot be disregarded. The depredations of the small
green caterpillar on the oaks have been probably far worse in Epping Forest than
in any other part of the kingdom, owing, as I believe, to this cause. It is a
mistake to suppose that the action of the committee has been due to any hanker-
ing after game preserving. Their sanction has been given to the destruction of
a certain number of deer, and of the jays; in the one case on account of the
damage to farm produce, in the other for the reasons I have given. I see that
the subject of owls was also mentioned. Though the jays are still excessively
numerous, I fear that the owls are almost extinct, owing, probably, to the robbing
of their nests. I shall be very glad indeed if any members of the club will
co-operate with me in re-introducing the barn owl and other common kinds.—
Believe me, yours faithfully, E. N. Buxton."
No discussion took place on this letter, but it was understood that the question
would be gone into with care at an early date, and the facts of the case put clearly
before the members of the Club.
Prof. Meldola said:— "The principal item on the paper for the evening was an
address on weather observation by Mr. Symons. Of the various lines of work which
the club has carried on since its foundation we have hitherto sadly neglected the
most important branch, the weather. I have no doubt there are many of our
members who take an interest in this subject, and who would be willing to under-
take a system of observations on the weather, if they only knew how to begin,
and if they could be made to see the use of their observations when they were
made. Several of our members have hinted from time to time that such work should
be carried on by the club, for we have always felt that it naturally came within
our province to keep up such records. In matters of this kind the first thing to
do is to point out the way, and when it comes to a question of practical meteo-
rology we naturally turn for counsel to our honorary member Mr. Symons.
Therefore without any further preface on my part I will now call upon him to
give us the address he has been good enough to promise for this evening.
Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S. (Secretary to the Royal Meteorological Society,
Membre du Cornell de la Societe Meteorologique de France, etc., etc.), then
delivered the following address on :—
The Weather : how to observe it ; with special reference to
Rainfall.
Mr. Symons said :—Unfortunately, or fortunately, I have the disadvantage or
the advantage, of being a very busy man, and, therefore, it is difficult sometimes
to do that which I should like to do. When our Secretary invited me to come
down to this meeting and say a few words on the subject of weather observa-
tion I hoped to be able to prepare something elaborate and worth your
attention, but there is an old adage which says that "man proposes and God
disposes," and it was not in my power to do it. Therefore, I have to do the best
I can, and if the best is not anything on a very grand scale, you must kindly excuse
and pardon me. But, as Prof. Meldola has said, my life has been wholly given
up to meteorological work, and I have a good deal of it in my head.