IO 



Mr. Geo. B. Sennett stated that a flock of King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) 

 had been seen at Erie, Pa., in January. This species has been recorded there in 

 the autumn, but only once before in winter, the lake usually being frozen over at 

 this season. He also spoke of how difficult it was to record birds taken on the 

 plains along the Rio Grande, Texas, for the reason that the river every now and 

 then shifts its course ten miles or so, and what is Mexico one week may be 

 United States the next. 



February 21, 1890. — The President in the chair. Seven persons present. 



Mr. Geo. B. Sennett read extracts from his address to the Pennsylvania State 

 Board of Agriculture upon the subject of bird protection, read before the Board a 

 year ago and now in press as a part of the Annual Report of the Board for 1889. 

 Mr. Sennett also recorded the capture of a Derby Fly-catcher (Pitangus 

 derbianus), at Devil's Lake, Texas, in January, 1888. Its toes had been frozen off 

 during a cold spell, but had healed before it was secured. 



Mr. J. A. Allen showed, with a series of specimens, the changes of pelage 

 through which the Red Squirrel (Sciurus hudsonius) passes. [The paper will 

 soon be published in Vol. Ill, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.] 



Mr. Sennett read a newspaper clipping telling of a novel way by which English 

 Sparrows were caught in large numbers in the coal regions of Pennsylvania and 

 afterwards sold for trap-shooting. Flocks of them roost among the rafters of the 

 engine houses. Hot coals are taken from the furnaces, and when water is poured 

 upon them, sulphurous fumes arise that stupefy the sparrows so that they fall 

 to the ground, but revive when taken into the open air. 



March 7, 1890. — Annual Meeting. The President in the chair. Eleven per- 

 sons present. 



The following officers were elected for the ensuing year. President, Mr. J. A. 

 Allen ; Vice-President, Mr. Frank M. Chapman ; Secretary, Mr. Jonathan 

 Dwight, Jr. ; Treasurer, Mr. L. S. Foster. 



Mr. J. A. Allen made extended remarks on the Chipmunks {Tamias) of North 

 America, illustrated by specimens selected from a series of six or seven hundred 

 now in his hands. [The paper will appear in Vol. Ill, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat Hist. ] 



Mr. William Dutcher stated that a Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris crepitans) 

 had been heard on Long Island, March I, by Mr. N, T. Lawrence. Mr. Dutcher 

 thought it probable that this bird had remained through the winter, as it seems to 

 do sometimes, for once before, in February, he and Mr. Foster had found the re- 

 mains of one not long killed. 



Mr. L. S. Foster read a newspaper clipping stating that bounty had been paid 

 in Maine on 20,032 crows, during 1889-90, and that the appropriation was already 

 exhausted for 1890. 



Mr. Geo. B. Sennett said he had come into possession recently of a well- 

 marked hybrid between the Scaled Partridge (Callipepla squamata) and the 

 Bob-white {Colinus virginianus). 



Mr. J. A. Allen had recently seen a hybrid between the Purple Finch [Car- 

 podacus purpuretts), and the Pine Grosbeak [Pinicola enuclealor), shot at 

 Toronto, Ont., in a flock of the latter. 



Jonathan Dwight, Jr., 



Secretary. 



