42 General Notes. 



AN EARLIER NAME FOR MELOSPIZA LINCOLNII STRIATA. 



The bird described by Mr. William Brewster (Auk, 1889, p. 89) as Melos 

 piza lincolnii striata seems to be a recognizable race of Melospiza lincolnii 

 from which it differs in smaller size and broader streaking of the upper 

 parts. The original description was based on autumn specimens from 

 Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, but Mr. Joseph Grinnell has 

 recently shown (Auk, 1904, pp. 274-276) that the summer home of the 

 subspecies is the coast region of southeastern Alaska, particularly the 

 vicinity of Sitka and Wrangel. 



The name given to this form by Mr. Brewster (loc. cit.) is, however, 

 long antedated by at least one other. In a pertinent connection Finsch 

 (Abhandl. Nat. Ver. Bremen, III, 1872, p. 46) cites Emberiza spinoletta 

 "Kittlitz" Brandt, Descr. et Icon. Anim. Ross., 1836, pi. II, fig. 7, as a 

 synonym of the Alaskan Melospiza lincolnii. This plate seems, however, 

 never legitimately to have been published, as Plate II of the work in ques 

 tion represents Anser leucopareius Brandt, and the name spinoletta is there 

 fore unavailable for Melospiza lincolnii striata; but even had the name 

 been properly published, it would be somewhat 'doubtfully applicable, 

 since no locality is mentioned, though presumptively this is the neighbor 

 hood of Sitka, where Kittlitz is known to have collected. 



No such uncertainty, however, attends the name Emberiza (Zonotrichia) 

 gracilis Kittlitz (Denkwurd. Reise Russ. Amer. I, 1858, p. 199), based on 

 two adults taken June 25 and an immature bird of July 15, at Sitka, 

 Alaska, with the following diagnosis : " Die kline, schlanke Gestalt und 

 der aschgraue mit mehreren schwarzen Linien bezeichnete Kopf charakter- 

 isert dieselbe." This description, though brief, is sufficiently definite to 

 identify Melospiza lincolnii striata, for neither of the only other small breed 

 ing sparrows of Sitka Melospiza cinerea rufina and Passerculus sandwich- 

 ensis alaudinus agrees in characters with the above description given by 

 Kittlitz, while M. I. striata does. In Melospiza c. rufina the top and sides of 

 the head, with the exception of a dull brownish slate superciliary stripe, 

 are sooty brown, almost uniform, the slightly darker centers of the feathers 

 being only faintly suggestive of streaking. In Passerculus s. alandinus, the 

 head, although much streaked with black, is yellowish or buffy white, not 

 ash gray, as in Melospiza lincolnii striata. To be sure, Kittlitz makes no 

 mention of the reddish brown margins of some of the black coronal 

 streaks, but in so brief a description this is scarcely to be expected. In 

 view of these facts it becomes necessary to change the name of Melospiza 

 lincolnii striata Brewster to Melospiza lincolnii gracilis (Kittlitz). 



Harry C. Oberholser. 



THE SPECIFIC NAME OF THE HAWK OWLS. 



Linnaeus described the European hawk owl under two names in the 

 first edition of his Systema Naturae (1758, 1, p. 93) as Strix funerea and 

 Strix ulula. The former is based primarily on Fauna Suecica, No. 51, the 

 latter on Fauna Suecica, No. 52. As has been stated by various authors, 

 there is no doubt of the equal pertinency of these names, and although by 



