BREWSTER: BIRDS OF THE CAPE REGION", LOWER CALIFORNIA. 97 



beneath the old and faded ones indicate that the fresh plumage, when completed, 

 would have been as dark as that of the other three skins. There is a specimen 

 in the National Museum, however, obtained by Mr. Xantus in the Cape Region, 

 which, although apparently neither worn nor faded, is nearly as light-colored 

 as average examples of B. v. pallescens. Mr. Olierholser, who is at present en- 

 gaged in a critical study of the entire B. virginianus group, tells me that he has 

 noted similar color variations in most of the forms which he has examined, and 

 that he regards them as representing different and probably permanent color 

 phases comparable to, although less conspicuous than, those which are found 

 in so many of the members of the genus Megascops. 



Mr. Frazar found this Owl nearly everywhere from the coast to the tops of 

 the highest mountains, but not commonly except on the Sierra de la Laguna, 

 where as many as three or four were often heard hooting at once. Mr. Bel- 

 ding had a similar experience, rarely meeting the bird in the low country, 

 whereas it was " frequently heard and occasionally seen " at the higher eleva- 

 tions. Its preference for the mountains is doubtless due to the fact that they 

 afford the onlv extensive forests of lari^^e trees which exist in this reunon, for 

 Bubo virginianus is comparatively indifferent to considerations of mean tem- 

 perature and equally at home in subtropical, temperate, or subarctic climates. 

 This, however, can be said only of the species, as the adaptation of the indi- 

 vidual to extremes — whether of heat or cold, moisture or dryness — must be 

 usually very gradual, for in most cases it has been accompanied by modifica- 

 tions of color or physique sufficiently pronounced to distinguish birds wliich 

 have become established in one region from those of another where the climatic 

 conditions are widely different. The Horneil Owls which inhabit the southern 

 extremity of Lower California afford a good illustration of this fact, for, as has 

 been already pointed out, they differ considerably from all the forms which 

 occur in other parts of North America. I have seen no specimens from any- 

 where on the Peninsula north of La Paz, and hence have no means of judging 

 just how far northward the present subspecies extends, but Mr. Bryant states 

 that " on the peninsula opposite Magdalena Island, I found in a giant cactus a 

 bulky nest of sticks upon which could be seen two young" Horned Owls, and 

 " at Coraondu an owl of this genus was several times seen at the opening of a 

 small cave high up in the cliff," while at Ubi one was heard hooting on the 

 night of May 9, 1889, and at Calmalli a feather was picked up in the trail. Mr. 

 Anthony also met with H(n-ne(l Owls " among the pines on San Pedro Martir 

 at 2,500 to 10,000 feet elevation " (Bryant). 



Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea (Boxap.). 



BuRROwiXG Owl. 



Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea Belding, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., V. 1883, 543 (Cape 

 Region). Brvast, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 2d ser., XL 1889, 285 (Cape 

 Region). 

 VOL. xn. — NO. 1 7 



