caught on Lake Erie in fish nets, one hundred and fifty feet below 

 the surface. 



April 15, 1 89 1. —The President in the chair. Seven members and 

 two visitors present. 



The capture of a Barn Owl (Slrix pratincold) at Chatham, N. J., 

 Nov. 8, 1890, was recorded by Mr. Dwight. 



Dr. J. A. Allen occupied the evening with a paper on " A Collec; 

 tion of Mammals from Texas and Northeastern Mexico." A large 

 number of specimens was shown, their differences pointed out, their 

 rarity noted and their habitats defined. Among them was a specimen 

 of the Red Cat {Felis eyra) now taken for the first time north of the 

 Rio Grande, and a specimen of Sciurus arizonensis — the only record 

 of this species in Texas. [See Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. iii, 

 pp. 219-228.] 



May 6, 1891. — The President in the chair. Seven members and 

 four visitors present. 



Mr. Geo. K. Cherrie presented an informal paper on "The Birds 

 and Mammals of Costa Rica," giving descriptions of the country and 

 the characteristics of the people, as well as a general account of the 

 abundant animal life. 



Although Costa Rica is only About half the size of New York 

 State, its list of birds numbers 730 species. It is a country of forests 

 and of all sorts of climates, from the torrid sea-coast to that found at 

 an elevation of 1 1 ,500 feet, the top of the volcano Irazu, where ice 

 forms. 



The trees are not deciduous, although their leaves fall in part during 

 the dry season, which extends from October to May. At the end of 

 the rainy season, many North American migrants appear, and as the 

 dry season advances they retreat to the coast region, and are not seen 

 again till another year. 



Bird life is more abundant during the wet season, for the reason 

 that fruit and insects abound at that period. The breeding season 

 nearly corresponds with that of the United States. 



Mr. Cherrie spent three weeks on the west coast, and noted while 

 there, 214 species of birds. Near San Jose, at an elevation of 5000 

 feet, are what are called " the prairies," about 5 miles square. They 

 become flooded to the depth of about an inch from September to 

 February, and on them are found a number of species of water fowl 

 and waders. Aciitis macularia remains to breed, and Totanus 



