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THE MUSEUM. 



THE MUSEUM. 



A Monthly Magazine devoted to Ornithology, 



Oology, MoUusca, Echinodermata, 



Mineralogy and Allied 



Sciences. 



Walter F. Webb, Editor and Manager 

 Albion, N. Y. 



Corrfispondence aud items of Interest on above top- 

 ics, as well as notes on the various Museums of the 

 World— views from same, discoveries relative to the 

 handling and keeping of Natural History material, 

 descriptive habits of various species, are solicited 

 from all. 



Make articles as brief as possible and as free from 

 technical terms as the subjects will allow. All letters 

 will be promptly answered. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 



Single Subscription $1.00 per annum 



Sample Copies _ 10c each 



ADVERTISING RATES. 



5 Cents per Nonpareil line each insertion. Twelve 

 lines to the inch. 



Cash must accompany all orders. 



Remittances should be made by Draft, Express or 

 Post Oftlce Order or Registered Letter. 



Unused U. S. Postage Stamps of any denomination 

 accepted for small ainounts. 



MUSEUM PUB. CO., 



ALBION, ORLEANS CO., N. Y. 



Entered at Albion post-oj^ce as second-class mail matter 



NOTES. 



The Birds of Colorado by W. W. 

 Cooke is a neat pamphlet of 140 pp. 

 Mr. Cooke says in the opening, "The 

 total number of species and varieties 

 of birds known to occur in Colorado 

 is 360 of which 228 are known to 

 breed. This is a larger number of 

 species than has been taken in any 

 state east of the Mississippi and is ex- 

 ceeded by only one state in the Union, 

 and that is by Nebraska, with nearly 

 400 species. " The pamphlet is brim 

 full of valuable information. 



If you receive a sample copy of this 

 number and are not a subscriber we 

 should like to have you examine it 

 carefully and especially the offer on 

 back page of cover. We need your 

 help in making the Museum a success. 



We should like to hear more fre- 

 quently from collectors in the field. 

 It does not seem as though it should 

 be necessary to offer prizes for articles 



and notes of interest. We have hun- 

 dreds of subscribers able to give us in- 

 teresting and valuable articles on nat- 

 ural history. We do not care for de- 

 scriptions of mere pleasure trips, etc., 

 but descriptions in detail of rare finds, 

 successful collecting and natural his- 

 tory notes in general are of interest to 

 collectors in all parts of the United 

 States. 



We regret that the Natural History 

 Journal published at New Bedford, 

 Mass., should have died with the first 

 number. 



Parties having good copies of illus- 

 trated Government Reports will please 

 write us with list of same and what 

 they wish in exchange. 



A Companion of the Sunfish. 



Around the southern islands of the 

 Santa Barbara group, where the tides 

 come up and down in fitful measure, 

 is a famous feeding ground for the 

 sunfish of the Pacific, Mola mola. 

 This extraordinary member of the fam- 

 ily, though standing high in the list of 

 fishes, is very unfishlike in appear- 

 ance, resembling some Japanese mon- 

 strosity. The fish is more or less 

 oval, covered with a hard skin, that 

 is enveloped with a thick mucus. 

 The dorsal fin is large and high, and 

 directly below it extends the anal fin, 

 which resembles it in size and shape. 

 Tail the mola has none, the body ap- 

 parently being chopped off, a mere 

 ridge, controlled by powerful muscles, 

 taking its place and being entirely use- 

 less in the sense of a tail. 



Thus equipped the sunfish would 

 naturally be a slow swimmer, and so 

 lethargic is it that the writer has often 

 approached it in a boat. On one oc- 

 casion a boat hook was hooked into 

 the gills of a large sunfish, which was 

 caught with little or no resistance. 



One of the largest specimens ob- 

 served by the writer grounded on the 

 bar of the St. Johns River and at- 

 tracted so much attentien that it was 



