84 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



June 2. 



The President, Dr. Ruschenberger, in the chair. 

 Eighteen members present. 



The thanks of the Academy were tendered to Mr. Alfred B. 

 Durand for a life-sized portrait of his father, the late Elias Durand, 

 presented this evening. 



Habits of the Orchard Oriole. Mr. Thomas Meehan stated 

 that he was not familiar with the latest knowledge in ornitholog}', 

 that not being a special study with him; but if Wilson^s Orni- 

 thology contained all that was known of the habits of the orchard 

 oriole Oriolus mutalus he might say that the bird did not con- 

 fine itself solely to insect food. He liad on his grounds a large 

 specimen of the Staphylea trifolia, which, when in bloom, was a 

 favorite resort with humblebees and humming-birds, and the oriole 

 took its share of honey from the flowers as well. It did not rest 

 on the wing as the humming-liird did, but sought a lower branch 

 from which it could leisurely extract the sweets from the flowers 

 above. He had thought it possible that the bird was in search of 

 insects among the flowers, but a careful examination proved 

 otherwise. 



Poisonous character of the Floioers of Wistaria Sinensis. 

 Mr. Meehan remarked that there was a popular belief that the 

 flowers of the Wistaria sinensis were destructive to bees. He 

 had himself seen hundreds of dead bees under large flowering 

 plants. He was struck with the fact this season, that none were 

 dead under similar circumstances. The flowers were continually 

 visited b}' the honey bee, and others, without, so far as he could 

 see, any fatal results following. It was clear, therefore, that, what- 

 ever might be the cause of the death of these insects under some 

 circumstances, it could not be from the honey alone. 



GroiL'th of the Cuicus arvensis, Hofl". In regard to the I'apidity 

 with which plants sometimes grew, Mr. Thomas Meehan pbserA-ed 

 that, though it was well known that the Canada thistle spread sur- 

 prising]}', there had been no figures, giving its exact growth, 

 placed on record. In the first week in May, IStS, he sowed a 

 few seeds. By the first week in June the little plants were well 

 above the ground, and about to push out their stolons. They 

 continued to radiate from this centre in every direction till the 

 first week in September, when they had reached a distance of six 

 feet, covering a circle of twelve feet in diameter, the space being 



