170 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



Florida wood rat ; he related some experiences while looking for 

 birds in southern Delaware and New Jersey ; discussed the occur- 

 rence of fly larvae on mice, rabbits, etc., and mentioned the dis- 

 covery of a skull of the' star-nosed mole at Woodrow on Staten 

 Island. 



Mr. Howard H. Cleaves related some observations on birds 

 made during a trip by boat to Portland, Maine, more especially 

 regarding the number of species seen, the abundance of each kind, 

 and some of their habits of flight and feeding. He showed also 

 some photographs which he had taken during the summer, among 

 which was one of a giant white oak at Oakwood, Staten Island, 

 which had been struck by lightning during the past summer. 



Mr. Alanson Skinner told some of his experiences in the Hud- 

 son Bay region, where he had spent the summer studying the 

 Cree Indians. He spoke of various amphibians, birds, and mam- 

 mals which he had seen during the summer, and showed photo- 

 graphs taken by himself of various localities on Staten Island 

 and in New Jersey. 



Dr. Philip Dowell reported some finds of violets and other 

 plants on Staten Island and in the vicinity of Washington, D. C. 

 Of special interest was the finding of Dryopteris cristata X mar- 

 ginalis Dav. near Great Falls, Va., in the vicinity of Washington, 

 D. C, whence it had not previously been reported. He had noted 

 that the ferns were more than usually attacked by a leaf-rolling 

 insect, the larva of which had destroyed the tips of many of the 

 fronds especially of the Christmas fern and various species of 

 Dryopteris. The larva was determined by Dr. H. G. Dyar of 

 the U. S. National Museum as a pyralid (Pyrausta sp.). This 

 .attack on the tips of the fern fronds had also been noticed by 

 Mr. Harold W. Pretz, of Allentown, Pa., and commented on 

 in a letter (Aug. 28), in which he said: "Our ferns near home 

 are in poor condition from the attacks of some larva. D. cris- 

 tata X marginalis has suffered very much." It might be added 

 here that the attacks of the larva were made chiefly during the 

 early part of the season. 



