84 PRdCEEDINGS S. I. ASS^N ARTS AND SCIENCES. [Vol. 1 



Mr. Morris stated that a number of additional dates and events, 

 which the committee had listed, were omitted by reason of lack of space 

 on the tablet, and sugfg-ested the desirability, if found feasible, of having 

 the tablet on the Opposite side of the hallway utilized for the inscription 

 of such additional dates and events as the committee were prepared to' 

 submit. 



The followingf resolutions, amending" the By-Laws, were adopted: 



Resolved: that By-Law IV be amended by aldding a new section as 

 follows: 



Sec 6. Tenure of Office: Each officer shall hold office until his suc- 

 cessor is elected and has qualified. 



Resolved: that section 2 of By-Law V be amended so as to read as- 

 follows: 



Sec. 2. Annuai Meeting: The annual meeting of the Board of 

 Trustees shall be held on the first Saturday after the annual meeting of 

 the Association. 



Mr. William T. Davis exhibited a skin of a barn awl, Strix pratin- 

 cola Bonap., loaned by the An:^erican Museuni of Natural History, to- 

 gether with p'ellets and preserved specimens of rrieadow mice and read 

 the following paper: 



The Barn Owl on Staten Island. 



There is a barn on the south side o'f our Island, containing a pigeon 

 loft, but the pigeoris have long since gone and the place has been ten- 

 anted for many years by a pair of barn owls, S^trixpratincola Bonap. As 

 js well known, owls oi this S'pecies k^ep very close during the day, so 

 that no one would suspect, unless he were abroad at night and heard 

 their peculiar screaming cry, that these rare birds dwelt in the vicinity. 



On the fifteenth of last Septen^ber I clirafbed as silently a-s I coiild to 

 the pigeon loft, but the owls heard n^e coming and flew to the neigh- 

 boring trees. On a lower shelf from the one they o-ccupied I found 

 four dead rriice" laid in a pile, and I w^as told that on another occasior^ 

 they had eight others arranged in the same manner. One of the four 

 mice found on the shelf was very large for Microtus pe njisylv aniens 

 (Ord), and while it may be that species, the authorities tO" whom it 

 has been shown are not sure of its identity. It is now' in tlfe' collection 

 of the American Museum^ of Natural History. 



On account of their mouse-catching habits these owls are very useful 

 about a- barn or farm, for while th-e farmer is asleep they serve him- 



