Mr. E. I. Haines had observed Pine Warblers (Dcndroica 

 vigorsii) at New Rochelle, N. Y., on March 27, 1896. 



April 24, 1896. — The President in the chair. Nine mem- 

 bers and five visitors present. 



Mr. Anton H. Schroeter was elected a Resident Member of 

 the Society. 



Mr. William Dutcher remarked upon the continued need of 

 protection for our birds. The Society- appropriated the sum of 

 fifteen dollars to be used for the protection of terns on Great 

 Gull Island, New York. 



Mr. William Dutcher presented to the Society, for convey- 

 ance to the Local Collection of Birdskins in the American 

 Museum of Natural History, a skin of the Snow Goose (Cken 

 hyperborea) . 



Dr. J. A. Allen exhibited a skin with the accompanying 

 skull of Ichthyomys stolzmanni, a fish-eating rodent from Peru. 

 This is the second known specimen of this animal. 



Mr. R. L. Ditmars presented a paper on Sea Snakes 

 (Hydrophidcc^ . Mr. Ditmars stated that eight genera, including 

 forty- four species of these snakes are recognized. Sea eagles 

 and sharks are among their enemies. Eight alcoholic speci- 

 mens were shown. 



Mr. C. C. Young said that he had observed a small colony of 

 Black-crowned Night Herons (Nyrticorax nycticorax ncsvius) 

 breeding at Port Daniel, Province of Quebec, Canada, in the 

 spring of 1895. '> 



May 12, 1896.— Mr. William Ellsworth in the chair. Seven 

 members and one visitor present. 



Mr. Newbold Edgar presented to the library of the Society 

 an original copy of ' ' Fragments of the Natural History of 

 Pennsylvania," by Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D. (Philadel- 

 phia, 1799). The autograph signature of Dr. Barton, written 

 in 1810, was shown. 



Mr. E. I. Haines presented a paper entitled " The Starlings 

 at Home and Abroad. ' ' 



Mr. L. S. Foster reported that on May 10, 1896, he saw a 

 Solitary Sandpiper ( Totanus solitarius) at Elmsford, Westchester 

 County, New York, and that a single White-crowned Sparrow 



