75 



life. One little apple tree whose buds were just showing a bit 

 of pink was alive with kinglets, ruby and golden crowned, busy 

 hunting insects. It was interesting to see them poise in front of 

 a half opened leaf bud on fluttering wings like a humming 

 bird to probe for insects hidden there. With the kinglets were 

 several m\'rtle warblers. The hermit thrushes were every- 

 where, sometimes singly, more often in pairs or in small flocks 

 of six or seven. 



Under two widely separated sugar maples the ground was 

 found covered with small twigs with the flower clusters and 

 opening leaf buds. These were apparently bitten ofT by squirrels. 

 Possibly there was still enough sugar in the sap to make the 

 squirrels prefer these to other twigs as nothing of the sort was 

 found under other trees. 



George T. Hastings, Leader 



Field Trip of May 18 



On the trip to the Moravian Cemetary on Staten Island 

 many native flowers and trees were observed, a number of 

 ferns were found and some time w^as spent observing birds. A 

 list of some thirty flowers was made, including four violets, 

 the lance-leaved, the common blue, the bird's-foot and the 

 arrow-leaved. Fourteen species of ferns, — the three Osmundas, 

 the sensitive, Virginia grape, brittle, Christmas, New York, 

 broad beech, ebony spleenwort, silvery spleenwort, lady and 

 maiden hair. Forty species of birds were seen including the 

 cardinal and the following warblers, — black-and-white, parula, 

 worm-eating, blue-winged, golden-winged, yellow, black- 

 throated blue, myrtle, magnolia, chestnut-sided, blackburnian, 

 black-poll, Canadian, oven-bird, Maryland yellow throat, and 

 redstart. 



Farida a. Wiley, Leader 



Field Trip of May 19 



Two Plants in Conditions of Difficulty 



Two plants, the Walking Fern, Camptosorus rhizophyllus, 

 and the Prickly Pear Cactus, Opmitia vulgaris, existing under 

 conditions in which they do notseem at their happiest, and where 

 their persistence seems precarious, were thechief objectives of 



