33 



Gran,2;er remarked that Mr. C. William Beebe had had a Blue 

 Jay {Cyanocitta c. cristata) try to alight on his machine while 

 in the air. 



Mr. Charles L. Camp presented the evening's paper, ''The 

 Origin and Dispersal of California Reptiles." His many maps 

 illustrated the hfe-zones of the State and the corresponding 

 ranges of a large number of its reptiles and batrachians, and 

 many of the animals themselves were shown to the society by 

 lantern-slides. Of particular interest were an arboreal sala- 

 mander (Aneides luguhris), which lives in natural cavities in 

 oaks, where it lays its eggs, its climbing assisted by its pre- 

 hensile tail; and a tree frog (Hyla arenicolor) which has entirely 

 forsaken trees to live on the bare rocks near the bottom of 

 narrow canyons. The speaker also showed an alcoholic speci- 

 men of a very rare toad, Ascaphus truei. 



Considerable discussion followed. 



Decejnher 12, 1916. — The President in the chair. Eight 

 members (Dr. Dwight and Messrs. Chapin, Cleaves, Fleischer, 

 Granger, Hix, L. N. Nichols and Rogers) and three visitors 

 present. 



Mr. George Gladden, whose name had been proposed at the 

 previous meeting, was elected to Resident Membership. 



Mr. Cleaves reported the arrival on Staten Island of the 

 Brown-cap Chickadee (Penthestes hudsonicus) . He had seen 

 four in the Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, on December 5 and 

 twice subsequently, but two had been first seen there by Mr. 

 Decker on the 2d. 



Mr, Rogers recorded a lone Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirosira 

 minor) flying westward over Short Hills, N. J., December 3; 

 and on the 10th, a flock of five hundred Cowbirds {Molothrus 

 a. ater) at Englewood. 



In the absence of Mr. J. T. Nichols, Mr. Rogers read his 

 account* of the occurrence and behavior of the Hermit Spade- 

 foot {Scaphiopiis holbrooki) at Mastic, L. I., the previous 

 summer, where it had appeared several times, and more than 

 once in the same pool. 



* See "Spade-foot Toad at Mastic, Long Island," Copcia, June, 1917, 

 59-60. 



