15 



Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



The remainder of the schedule follows : Nov. 10, " Six 

 Years in Tropical Africa," Mr. James Chapin ; Nov. 17, " How 

 Animals Prepare for Winter," Mr. Ernest Ingersoll; Nov. 24, 

 " The Boy Scouts," Mr. C. Elmore Smith. 



It is with sincere sorrow that we record the tragic death 

 of our interesting pet, the sparrow hawk, which became the 

 victim of a predatory cat on October 18. The bird was thoroughly 

 tame and was a great favorite with the children, who were always 

 ready to spend their time catching grasshoppers with which to 

 feed it. It is some satisfaction, however, to also record that 

 retribution followed on October 24, and to be able to announce 

 that the cat is no longer a menace to our bird population. 



In our Proceedings and Bulletin, from time to time, we 

 have had occasion to publish information in regard to the interest- 

 ing trees of willow oaks and hybrid oaks growing in a limited area 

 in the vicinity of Tottenville. They were discovered and first made 

 known by Mr. William T. Davis, in 1888, and since that time they 

 have been visited by scores of botanists from all parts of the 

 United States. Seedeing trees, grown from the acorns, have been 

 planted in many botanical gardens, and specimens of the leaves 

 and acorns have been collected and are preserved in herbaria 

 both in the Old World and in America. 



Young seedlings have been planted in the grounds of the 

 Britton Cottage where it is to be hoped that they may be per- 

 petuated for future generations of Staten Islanders to study and 

 enjoy ; but the preservation of the original trees in their natural 

 habitat would be of still greater interest. The largest and finest 

 of these trees is five feet in circumference. Practically all are 

 included in an area of less than an acre of swampy woodland, 

 and most of the best trees could be preserved by the acquisition 

 of half an acre. Here is an opportunity for some patriotic Staten 

 Islander who appreciates trees to preserve some of the rarest and 

 most interesting individual specimens of their kind to be found 

 anywhere. Who will do it and do it now, before it is too 

 late? A. H. 



Since the last list of donors to the Musuem collections and 

 library was published in the Bulletin accessions have been re- 

 ceived from the following persons : D. Appleton & Co., George 

 Bailey, Howard H. Cleaves, Mrs E. Davis, Miss G. O. Deas, Harold 

 Decker, John DeMorgan, Eugene F. Dubois, John Ward Dunsmore, 

 GustavGrabe, John Hall, F. J. Heal, Ernest Holder, Arthur Hollick, 

 Charles E. Lawrence, Raymond R. Morris, N. Y. Botanical Garden, 

 Daniel O'Connor, Charles Schmidt, C. W. Schutzendorf, John Ziar- 

 kowski. 



