VOL. IV. 
KANSAS CITY. KANSAS, MARCH, 1890. 
NO. 8. 
Soiue Notes on an Outcrop of Fossilifcr- 
ous Limestone, Probably Repre- 
senting- tlie Very Toj) of the 
Hudson River diroup. 
By R. R. Rowley, Cnrry ville, Mo. 
Two miles nortliPiist of Edgewood, 
Pike Co., Mo., immediatel.v overljing 
blue shales yielding Monticiilipora. Con- 
ularia, Asaphus hikI other well known 
Hudson Eiver fossils, are outcrops of 
brown earthy limestone, from two to 
four feet in thickness, giving a very in- 
teresting series of fossils, wholly unlike 
the Hudson fauna below and the Oolitic 
species above. Some years ago we re- 
ferred these beds to the Niagara Group, 
supposing them to underlie ilirectly the 
Oolite and wrongly identifying, too, 
some of the fossil remains. We have, as 
> et, never been able to find an outcroi) 
with the superimposed beds exposed but 
are now of the opinion that the coirect 
place in the Geological series tur ttii's ■ 
rocks is the top of the Hudson River 
Group. The fossils are of Molluscan and 
Radiate types, no Trilobites havinjj' been 
discovered. Four or five Gasteropods of 
tlie genera Ci/clonema avd Murchlsonia^ 
a handsome Orthis, a fine Zygutspi ra, a 
lihi/iichoiiella, a Meristella like Bkachio 
I'Oii^A Streptelasina,Si TentacuUtes . a. very 
fiat .species of Streptorhijnchus and quud- 
i-angular columns of a Criuoid, doubtless 
a Compsocrinus^ compose the fauna of 
these interesting beds. Of these fossils 
the Cyclonema is represented in the col- 
lection by but one imperfect specinii ii nf 
rather large size. The other Gasteko- 
PODS are much smaller but of unde^cribed 
species. The Orthis has been leferred 
by Mr. Charles Schucbert of the New 
York State Museum, to 0. meeki. but dif- 
fers specifically from that form. The 
Streptelusma may be S. cornicuhnit. Se 
ries of these fossils have been furnished 
the late Prof. A. il. Worthen of the Illi- 
nois Survey, Prof. J{. P. Whitfield of the 
American Museum, Charles Schuchert 
and Walter R. Billings of Ottawa. Cana- 
da, but the species have not, as yet, been 
i-ef erred correctly to already described 
Hudson forms. 
A number of years ago a magnificent 
specimen of Asajphus megistns ( ?) was 
found in the blue shales at the locality 
mentioned above; a perfect individual, 
over eleven inches in length, which 
found its way into Van Horn's collection, 
in St. Louis. The Oolitic limestone, sup- 
posed to overlie the rocks under consid- 
eration, contains an abundance of Coral 
remains and is, iloubtless, of the age of 
Niagara limestone, although Prof. Swal- 
low, in the old Missouri Report, referi'cd 
it to the Onondaga division of the Corn- 
iferous or upper Helderberg Group. Our 
reference of it to the Niagai a is maiiily 
based on the occurrence of HalysUes cat- 
enulatus^ a characteristic fossil of the 
Niagara Group of rocks. We should hav.' 
stated above that of the fossils enumer 
aled from the top of the Hudson River 
beds, the Orthix ami Zyg'/spira are the 
commonest species, being scattered 
through the clays at the road sides and 
well preserved in a silicified CiMuMtion. 
If these notes ni-e of interest to the 
readers of I'he Naturalist, shall 
be glad to conunnnicate, in the future, 
other notes on Missouri fossilifeious 
rocks from whieli we have personally 
collected. 
Binl Life in the Far North. 
Inarecent jiiiblira) ion, I)r. Stejnegi'r 
of our National Museum. dcf;iiN .-mi ae- 
eoinit of the bird life of thi' A mm ii- r^'uioii 
and the following sclcetion^ m re taken 
from his aci'ouni ot' the T.Mred I'lilfin. a 
sea bird wliieli f'i'e(pieiits ih.if fiorlioi, of 
the iVrdii- V orld. I lii- biril is ealleil 
tiie natives "Toporok"" ( plni-a I ■■To|)oi l<i"" ) 
and is among the most no.^.eroiis of iis 
family on these islands, and their llesh is 
an impoi'tant factor in the food suppiy 
of the natives, 'i'lje skins also ai'e eare- 
fnlly taken off and made into warm and 
nice garments, ealli'd "ijarka." with the 
feathers turned inside. About .50 skins are 
I'equired for one ''parka.'' In order to 
remove the fat from the skins, they are 
ch(>wed over and again by the womiai 
and cliildren. imtil all the fatty mattei- 
has been chewed out. that being their 
method of tanning. 
With rlie beginning of May these birds 
comnKMice making their appeara u n 
the coasts of the islands. The natives, 
heartily tired of tlieii- winter food, tlie 
salted seal meat, look forward fo the 
ai'rival of the Topoi-ki with great impa- 
tience and as soon as a sntlii'ieiit number 
are observed in the neighborhood of the 
old rookeries, parties star ofT in order 
to catch a good supply loi- fooil and 
clothing. 
On a bright afternoon in May — and at 
that season really some fine, bright days 
occur, even on the Comm.ander Islands — 
we started, a gay picnic i)arty, consisting 
mostly of Aleuts and their wives or ladj' 
friends, for the small island Toporkafl", 
about three miles from the village. The 
afternoon pas-cd pleasantly; sbme were 
out fishing, the yomiger members of the 
party were placing ball, while Iwas bus- 
ily engaged securing specimens. 
Toporkafl', which has receivert its name 
on ancount of its being a rookery 6'<' the 
Toporki, is a small island consisting of a 
level plateau about 30 feet above the sur- 
face of the sea, rising abruptly from a 
.50 to 200 feet broad sandy or rocky beach. 
The upper surface of the plateau is cov- 
ered with a thick, hummocky sod, which 
in every direction is perforated bv the 
numberless holes dug by the Tojiorki and 
used by them for dwellings in which to 
rear their young. W ater bii ds were rather 
scarce near the island. Now and then 
a solitary Toporok would cross overhead 
in its sti-aight fiight. Evening set in and 
the picnic jtariy letnrned. Toporki 
crosseil ibe island more frequently but 
not ill such numbers that it was thought 
\\(n-th while to try catcliing them. 
riie Ornithological siiectacle at day- 
break the follow ing morning was quite 
difi'ereiit from what it had been the fore- 
gi>iiig day. Hundreds and thousands of 
Toporki cr issed and recrossed the island, 
coming from all directions, and disap- 
pe.ii iiig on I lie opposite side, in ord'er to 
i-etiini again and again. A wonderful 
sight! The bl.ack birds, with their con- 
spicuous white face mask, the long and 
lloating ear-tufis. bent like the horns of 
a ram and the large green-and-ivd colored 
beaks and red legs, looked moie like fan- 
tastical creatures o*"' the tnjpics than in- 
habitants of the less extravagant north. 
Their llight seemed to have no particular 
aim exi'ciit to view and review the spot 
wliei-e tiiey were going to take up their 
Slimmer abode, [^ike black specks they 
I'ose from the horizon, heading for the 
inland; the iiearei- they came the bigger 
they grew, milil they passed over us, dis- 
appearing as specks 'on the otliei- side, 
.■mil when first started nothing seemed 
to be able to bring them out of their 
str.ught course. >V"lien passing over the 
upper plateau the^y do not rise very high 
in the air. The natives take advantage 
of iliese peculiarities. A jiiece of wide- 
ineslied net-work sti-eiched on a hoop, 
about four feet in diameter, fixed to a 
light [lole. 10 to 1-2 ft. long, is the instru- 
ment used in catcliing the Toporki, by 
suddenly throwing it in the way of the 
bird, who flies directly into it. 
When I turned out, the Aleuts were al- 
I'ead}' ill their places, waiting for the 
rush of the birds, which had not j-et be- 
gun. They were scattered pretty evenly 
around the island, seated on the edge of 
the lilurt". 'I'heir immovable figures, 
wrapped in the warm "parka," were 
clearly visible against the gray Avestern 
sky and now with the dawning day we 
discern the net at their side, but, what is 
more surprising, each one surrounded 
with a small flock of Toporki. A clo.ser 
inspection reveals that these are only de- 
coys, empty skins held in position by a 
stick protruding between the jaws and 
with the other end thrust into the ground 
