MUSEUM BULLETIN 



OF THE 



i^tafrtt Jslanfr AHB0rtatt0it of Arts ano Bmnaz 



EDITED FOR THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 



BY ARTHUR HOLLICK, CURATOR-IN-CHIEF 



No. 66. Published Monthly at New Brighton, N. Y. JANUARY, 1914 



THE NEXT MEETING OP THE ASSOCIATION, 

 will be held in the assembly hall of the museum, 154 Stuyvesant Place, St. 

 George, on Saturday evening, January 17, 1914, at 8:15 o'clock. Dr. Arthur 

 Hollick, curator-in-chief, will deliver a lecture on "Swamps, ancient and 

 modern," illustrated by lantern slides. 



ARTHUR HOLLICK, 



Secretary. 



In the main entrance hall of the museum may be seen a unique piece of pen 

 and ink work, done by Mr. J. E. Paine about fifty years ago, and loaned by 

 Mrs. E. A. Low. It consists of a beautifully handwritten and engraved copy 

 of Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. 



MIDWINTER BIRD LIFE ON STATEN ISLAND. 



Except for the English sparrows and the starlings that solicit support in 

 our back yards and the herring or harbor gulls that are seen from the ferry- 

 boats, what bird life would one expect to encounter about our Island at this 

 severe season when the mercury creeps down toward zero and penetrating blasts 

 descend'upon us from the northwest ? We are apt to suppose that practically all 

 wild birds have sought southern latitudes at the approach of winter, but a careful 

 search in woodlands, hedgerows, meadows and along the ocean shore will 

 reveal a surprising bird population at any time during the winter. 



The Christmas Bird Census has come to be a fixed event with hundreds of 

 observers throughout the country, their object being to furnish an index to the 

 bird life present in all sections of the United States at the Christmas season. 

 Each person or group of persons engaged in the pastime takes to the field at 

 an early hour, covers an extensive and varied territory and keeps an exact 

 i-ecord not only of the different kinds of birds observed but of the individuals 

 of each kind, thus producing a real census of the bird population of a given 

 region. Following is a list of birds noted by the writer while taking the Christ- 

 mas Census for Staten Island on December 28, 1913: — 



Prince's Bay to New Dorp, Staten Island, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Temperature 

 20 F (rising several degrees during the day) ; ground, bare and froz- 

 en : sky, hazy; wind, light N.W. Crow. 45; Starling, 377; Herring 

 Gull, 431; Bufflehead, 2; Goldeneye, 18; Blue Jay, 8; Oldsquaw, 10: 

 Tree Sparrow, 34; Song Sparrow, 4; White-breasted Nuthatch, 3; 

 Junco, 27 ; Chickadee. 3 ; Tufted Titmouse, 3 ; Cardinal, 3 ; Robin, 1 ; 

 Sparrow Hawk, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 2; Saw- whet Owl, 2; Red- 

 shouldered Hawk, 1 ; Barred Owl, 1 ; Myrtle Warbler, 8 ; Marsh Hawk, 

 3; Meadowlark. 7; Bonaparte's Gull, 5; Great Black-backed Gull, l\ 

 Greater Scaup Duck, 1 ; Ipswich Sparrow, 2 ; Sharp-shinned Hawk', 1 ; 

 Barn Owl, 1; Long-eared Owl, 3. Total, 30 species; 1008 individuals. 



English Sparrows are barred from the census. A notable feature of the 

 above list is that it contains eight birds of prey— four hawks and four owls. 



H. H. C. 



Accessions to the Museum and Library were received during November 

 and December from the following persons: J. W. Angell, Robert A Bishop 

 Mrs. E. C. Bridgman. H. H. Cleaves, Wm, T. Davis, Harold K. Decker Alex- 

 ander Forsyth, Arthur Hollick, Charles Kipper, Charles La Point Mrs' E A 

 Low, John McCaughrey. John B. Pearson, C. L. Pollard, Alfred Saunders 

 Arthur Saunders, Sanderson Smith, S. McK. Smith, John Wort, Sidney Young' 



Entered as 23-class matter in the P.O. at New Brighton, N. Y.. under Act of Congress. July 16, 1904 



