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Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



On Tuesday afternoon, November 9, a meeting of the 

 Daughters of the American Revolution was held at the Britton 

 Cottage, under the auspices of Mersereau Chapter, of which 

 Mrs. Caroline V. R. Wright is regent. The exercises consisted of 

 prayer by the Rev. Otto L. F. Mohn ; address of welcome on 

 behalf of the Association by Dr. Arthur Hollick ; address by the 

 guest of honor, Mrs. Benjamin F. Spraker, State Regent, N. S. 

 D. A. R. ; and an historical account of the cottage and how it 

 came into the possession of the Association, by Dr. Hollick. 

 Refreshments were served afterwards and the cottage was 

 thrown open for inspection throughout. One room has been 

 set aside for the installation, by Mersereau Chapter, of objects 

 of historical interest, and it is hoped that the other local chapters 

 may utilize the cottage for a meeting place and contribute to its 

 furnishing, either by the donation or the loan of suitable material. 



A double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus auritus 

 Lesson) was shot at South Beach, Staten Island, on October 14, 

 1915, by Mr. Lambert O'Neill, and presented to the museum. The 

 bird has since been mounted and is on exhibition in the main hall 

 of the museum, on the first floor. 



The cormorant is a bird which nests in Canada from Nova 

 Scotia to Saskatchewan and northward along the shores of Laba- 

 dor and Hudson Bay. It is irregular and unusual in Staten Island 

 waters, though during April and May and again in the months 

 from August to November it occurs, quite regularly, off the 

 Long Island shore and in other portions of the neighboring 

 coasts. 



Cormorants subsist entirely on fish, which they secure by 

 diving and swimming. It is said that the speed attained by this 

 bird beneath the water is so great that no fish has a chance of 

 escape in the open. Newton says of the bird: "Taken when 

 young from the nest, this bird is easily tamed, and can be trained 

 to fish for its keeper, as was of old time commonly done in Eng- 

 land, where the Master of the Cormorants was one of the officers 

 of the royal household." The Chinese have used the cormorant 

 in like manner for centuries. H. H. c. 



Accessions were received from the following persons dur- 

 ing October : Howard R. Bayne, Wm. T. Davis, John DeMorgan, 

 E. N. Dixon, Gustav Grabe, Mrs. Edward Hett, Arthur Hollick, 

 Angelo W. Leman, A. A. Michell, Mrs. A. J. Newbury, Lambert 

 O'Neill, W. D. Twiggs. 



