1 8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



block rests on the Onondaga limestone (Devonian) plateau and 

 has been transported by the glacier only a short distance, as the 

 outcrop of these strata lies about 5 miles to the north. James Hall, 

 in the report referred to, says: "There. were formerly several of 

 these on the road from Caledonia to Batavia but this is the only 

 one now remaining." As the survivor of a number of these great 

 transported blocks of especial interest because of the evidence they 

 afford of the degree to which the outcropping edges of these Silurian 

 strata were ripped up by the moving ice, the "Devil's Pulpit" 

 bespeaks a watchful guardianship. The owners of the property on 

 which it rests appreciate the interest attaching to it and during 

 the past year, through the interest of Kirke B. Mathes of Batavia, 

 the Holland Purchase Historical Society of that city has undertaken 

 further responsibility for its protection, which is sufficient guaranty 

 of its perpetuity. It is hoped that an explanatory tablet may be 

 placed near the object. 



Bird reservations. There has been evident a greatly increasing 

 interest in the study and protection of birds throughout the State 

 in the past few years, and this activity has been obviously fostered 

 by the Museum publications on these themes. During the last 

 year reports have been received of the organization of several new 

 local clubs for bird study and of the establishment of bird sanctuaries 

 on private grounds. 



Chimney Island, St Lawrence river. Among others, the 

 Ogdensburg Bird Club has been presented, by the generosity of 

 John C. Howard, Esq. and Miss Mary Sherman of that city, 

 with an islet in the St Lawrence river, called Oraconenton by 

 the Indians, by the French, Isle Royale, and Chimney island 

 in the present vernacular. It is now without human inhabitants 

 but in the French wars played an effective part in the his- 

 tory of the St Lawrence valley. The Rev. D. Charles White of 

 Ogdensburg has been kind enough to indicate the historical 

 associations of the island which add much to its present interest. 

 The French, under Levis, built a fort on the island and called it 

 Fort Levis. This was in 1758 just before the fall of Quebec. Sir 

 Jeffrey Amherst, who was wanted immediately after that event for 

 the task of subduing Montreal, was taking 'his way thither in a 

 leisurely and very indirect fashion from the south. By 1760 he was 

 on detour to his destination and came by way of Isle Royale with a 

 large force. The fort on the island, according to the account given 

 by Knox, historian of the campaign, covered the entire surface of 

 the island to its shores and was regarded as a strong redoubt, but 



