MUSEUM BULLETIN 



OF THE 



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EDITED FOR THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 



BY ARTHUR HOLL1CK, CURATOR-IN-CHIEF 



No. 70. Published Monthly at New Brighton, N. Y. MAY, 1914 



THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION 



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

 George, on Saturday evening, May 16, 1914, at 8:15 o'clock. Reports of 

 officers and of the Board of Trustees will be presented, and five trustees will 

 be elected to fill vacancies caused by the expiration of the terms of Messrs. 

 William H. Mitchill, George S. Humphrey, Bradish J. Carroll, Norman S. 

 AYalker and Arthur Holliek. 



ARTHUR HOLLICK, 



Secretary. 



During recent years the people of this country, and particularly of 

 the northeastern states, have developed a remarkable interest in our native 

 wild birds, especially with a view to their protection. As a result much 

 legislation favorable to the birds has been enacted, bird refuges and sanc- 

 tuaries have been established and hundreds of bird clubs and societies have 

 been formed. 



There are many people on Staten Island who have a keen interest in 

 bird life and they are soon to organize the "Bird Lovers' Club of Staten 

 Island." Mrs. Wilhelm Knauth, whose beautiful estate at Arrochar is in 

 itself a veritable bird refuge, is chiefly responsible for bringing this interest 

 to a focus. 



The birds' principal enemies on Staten Island are man and the various 

 destructive agents for which he is responsible. The fox, raccoon, skunk, 

 opossum, mink, weasel and red squirrel are not now to be found here and, 

 our territory being insular, there is no way in which these mammals can 

 again gain a foothold. But we ourselves inflict worse hardships upon the 

 birds than all of these destructive animals combined. There are many un- 

 scrupulous persons (especially foreigners) who destroy birds, their nests, 

 eggs and young; there are actually thousands of cats on the Island, many 

 having neither owners nor homes, and all of these felines sieze every oppor- 

 tunity to hunt afield, menacing and taking the lives of many of our most 

 valuable and attractive feathered people; and annually the forest and 

 meadow fires impoverish the Island — destroying the top-soil, killing wild 

 flowers, shrubs and small trees and removing thickets — making our hills, 

 ravines, meadows and woodlands less and less attractive to the birds as well 

 as to ourselves. 



The object of the Bird Lovers' Club will be not alone to correct some 

 of the existing negative influences but to swing the pendulum in the other 

 direction by inducing residents to place out nest boxes in spring, bathing 

 pans in summer and food stations in winter, and in other ways making con- 

 ditions as congenial as possible to the bird population. Prospective mem- 

 bers need by no means feel that they must possess a knowledge of our wild 

 birds: a love for the feathered folk and a desire to protect them and thus 

 increase their numbers are all that is asked. H. H. C. 



During April accessions were received from Miss Mary Beyer, Robert 

 A. Bishop, H. H. Cleaves, E. C. Delavan, Jr., Philip Dowell, "Alexander For- 

 syth, C. G. Hine, Roger Irving, Charles Kipper, Jonathan Martin, Raymond 

 Morris, E. A. Smith and Sidney Young. 



Entered as 2d-class matter in the P.O. at New Brighton. N. Y.. under Act of Congress, Ju i y 16 , ^i 



