380 THE ESSEX NATURALIST Club's Recorders. Suitable references will be made in the pro- gramme and general notices to meetings at these sites. Mr F. J. Speakman has been unable to continue as the Club's representative to the Council for Nature and Mr W. R. S. Budge has agreed to take over from him. There were six entries for the prize essay competition and for the 16-19 years group no award has been made. For the junior group the first prize was awarded to C. Moore for a study of Puss Moth Caterpillars; a second prize was shared between R. Farn- ham for a study of House Martins and D. Mead for a study of the Red Campion. An entry by C. Foreman also on House Martins was commended. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GEOLOGY GROUP, 1965 The success of the Group as a whole is probably due to the informality and the friendly atmosphere which is very much in evidence at all our meetings. The departure of the Group's Chairman, Mr R. J. Taylor to the field of geological exploration, which we hope will be only a temporary absence, was marked by the Group holding a private dinner party. The Whitsun week-end field trip to Charmouth was another success, as also were the meetings held at Purfleet, Stutton and Harkstead. I would like to thank the leaders of these for giving us a most interesting time on all these occasions. Perhaps the most important event next to the Whitsun trip was the decision to hold a dinner. The support which this new venture received was most gratifying and, like the week-end, seems to be one of the Group's annual events. Finally, I should like to thank all those who attended our trips, and especially thank the car owners without whose co- operation we could not have visited the places we did without a lot of difficulty. R. E. Coates, Secretary. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MAMMAL GROUP, 1965 The Mammal Group held its Annual General Meeting on February 11, 1965. The business meeting was followed by mem- bers' notes, Miss R. Tilley described mammal trapping in the Hebrides, and Mr W. Page gave notes on trapping in the Mar- garetting area. Mr D. Corke also spoke on mammal records obtained from the Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve. Mr K. Byrne then gave a description of his observations of the Badger in South Essex. Group meetings during the year included outdoor visits to the Zoological Gardens at Regent's Park; live mammal trapping in Epping Forest; a mammal study week-end at Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve and a Deer and Badger watching afternoon and evening in Hatfield Forest. An indoor meeting entitled "Island