Editorial. ',] 



ago, a couple of men, while fishing, found what they supposed to be a 

 piece of fossil wood. 'I'his they took to a beer saloon not far distant, 

 and it was broken into pieces and distributed to different persons. 

 One of the fragments found its way into the possession of the late 

 Prof. U. C. Jillson, who at once recognized it as fossil ivory. He 

 institutctl an investigation and found out that the supposed piece of 

 fossil wood was a portion of the tusk of a mastodon. Before it was 

 broken up it measured about three feet in length. This is the only 

 record, it is believed, of the finding of the remains of this beast within 

 the limits of the city of Pittsburgh. 



The shooting by Dr. J. A. Doyle of an Otter (^Lutra hitdsonica La- 

 cepede) in the Monongahela River, at Homestead, in March, 1899, 

 was a rather remarkable occurrence. The animal has not been seen 

 so near the city limits for many years. The specimen was secured for 

 the Museum and has been finely prepared and mounted by Mr. Y . S. 

 Webster. (Ace. No. 895.) 



Thf. Prairie Horned Lark (^Otocoris alpestris praticola Henshaw > 

 has been found nesting in Schenley Park for two summers past. This 

 bird, with the opening of the country and the removal of the forests, 

 has been gradually making its way eastward from the prairies of the 

 Mississippi Valley. 



The White Pelican {Pelecaiius eryth'orhynchos Gmelin) is a rare 

 bird in Pennsylvania. The late Mr. George B. Sennett is quoted in 

 Warren's l>irds of Pennsylvania as having seen a few of these birds 

 near Erie about thirty years ago (1869). In 1874 one of a group of 

 three or four of these birds was shot at Keating, Pa., on the Susque- 

 hanna, and, at the time when the Birds of Pennsylvania was written, 

 the specimen was in the possession of a gentleman residing at Renovo. 

 On October 13, 1898, three of these birds appeared on Conneaut 

 Lake. One was shot on the morning of that day by Mr. A\'illiam 

 Foust ; later in the day another was secured by Messrs. Douglas Stew- 

 art and Arthur W. Bell. Mr. Stewart secured the specimen shot by 

 Mr. Foust, and had both specimens mounted by A\'ard's Natural 

 Science P>stabli.shment, and presented them to the Carnegie Museum, 

 where they now are. 



