13: 



THE MUSEUM. 



From the observations I have made 

 I am of the opinion that the white or 

 nearly white birds are the older males, 

 the spotted small birds the younger 

 males and the large dark ones the fe- 

 males. In size they vary considerably 

 specimens which I have measured be- 

 ing from 2 1 to 25,^ inches in length 

 and extent 58 to 65 inches. They 

 hunt by day and by night always, ex- 

 cept on stormy days, perching on the 

 highest place they can find, a fence 

 post, top of a straw stack, top limb of 

 a tree or other elevated station upon 

 which they can command the sur- 

 rounding country and sit " there for 

 hours together watching for their prey. 

 At night when the moon was shining 

 brightly I have observed them station- 

 ed on a stable or barn roof or the 

 chimney or stove pipe on top of a 

 house, their white plumage glistening 

 in the moonlight. 



They are not very large eaters and 

 I was surprised to find how little it 

 took to keep these birds alive and like 

 other birds of prey a good feed will 

 last them quite a while. They live 

 for .the most part on rabbits and mice 

 which in the winter are quite plentiful. 

 My pets got so high-toned from being 

 fed on dressed meat that on one oc- 

 casion when I was away over night I 

 threw in a rabbit and on my return 

 found they had not touched it, it hav- 

 ing lain in their cage 36 hours without 

 the skin being torn. I fed mine on 

 the bodies of birds and animals I had 

 skinned and they seemed to like to be 

 saved the trouble of taking their own 

 prey. I gave them a snake once but 

 they did not eat it and seemed to pre- 

 fer animals to birds. A fresh ground 

 squirrel or gopher, quite warm would 

 be devoured before anything else. 



They were very quiet during the win- 

 ter, the only call I heard thena make 

 then resembled "qua" and they had a 

 sharp shrill squeak or rather whistle 

 when hurt which they emitted when 

 in their fruitless efforts to escape 

 about migratory season they would 

 scramble over each other and hurt 



each other with their sharp claws. 

 In April I used to hear them call to 

 each other with a call like ''hoo-Iioo" 

 with an inflection like the plaintive 

 cry of the Mourning Dove. 



But the object for which I kept my 

 pets failed and I am still without the 

 eggs of this species. However anoth- 

 er season I hope to be more success- 

 ful and by keeping a female secure a 

 set of these eggs. 



Chris. P. Forge, 

 Carman, Manitoba. 



June 24, 1898. 



Mollusca of Monroe Co., N. Y. 



BY John Walton. 



The following list while covering 

 only Monroe Conty, is a handy list for 

 all Western New York collectors and 

 others residing near that territor}'. 

 Pleurocera subulare. Lea. Lake Erie. 

 Goniobasis virginica. Say. Erie Canal, 

 var. multilineata. Say. Erie 



Canal. 

 Goniobasis 



Erie Canal. 

 Irondequoit 



Say. Ironde- 



ivescens, Mke 

 ' ' depygis, Say. 



Bay. 

 Goniobasis semicarinata 



quoit Bay. 

 Bythinia tentaculata, Lin. Erie Canal. 

 Gillia atilis, Lea. Erie Canal. 

 Amnicola limosa. Say. Genesee River, 

 porata. Say. Erie Canal. 

 " Orbiculata, Lea. 

 pallida, Hald. 

 granum. Say. 

 Pomatiopsis lustrica. Say. 

 Valvata tricarinata, Say. Charlotte. 

 Valvata sincera, Say. Erie Canal. 

 Melantho ponderosa. Say. Erie Canal. 

 " decisa. Say. Erie Canal. 

 " var, 

 Erie Canal. 

 Melantho decisa, var. genicula, 



Erie Canal. 

 Melantho decisa, var. 



Erie Canal. 

 Melantho decisa, var. heterostropha 



Erie Canal. 

 Melantho rufa, Hald. Erie Canal. 

 Vitrina limpida, Gld. Pittsford. 



obesa, Lewis, 



Con. 



Integra, Say. 



