220 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



single specimen brought to Lucien M. Turner (1886) from the Yukon 

 Delta, on April 15, 1876. But it now seems to be satisfactorily proved 

 that Turner's bird, which is now in the United States National 

 Museum, is not referable to the Siberian race. Therefore this race 

 is not entitled to any standing as a North American bird and should 

 be dropped from the Check-List. 



Robert Ridgway, who originally recorded this specimen (1878) as 

 lapponica, evidently changed his mind, for, in his latest work (1914), 

 he says: "Specimens from the Yukon delta, Alaska, formerly referred to 

 this form, prove to be rather light-colored examples of S. n. nebulosa." 



Dr. H. C. Oberholser (1922) writes: 



A recent study of available material fully confirms Mr. Ridgway 's opinion, 

 which indicates that Scotiaptex nebulosa lapponica should be expunged from our 

 North American list. The specimens from the delta of the Yukon River, on 

 which the North American record of this form was formerly based, are further- 

 more, no lighter than birds from Alberta in the collection of the Biological Survey 

 in the United States National Museum, and are not to be distinguished subspecifi- 

 cally by either size or color from Scotiaptex nebulosa nebulosa. 



The plate in Turner's work (1886) is misleading, as it shows a very 

 light-colored bird; but, Dr. Oberholser tells me, this plate was not 

 drawn from Turner's specimen but from a specimen of the Old World 

 bird. 



CRYPTOGLAUX FUNEREA RICHARDSONI (Bonaparte) 

 RICHARDSON'S OWL 



Plates 55, 56 

 HABITS 

 Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend 



This little owl, breeding in the forests of the northern parts of our 

 continent, and of rare occurrence in the United States during its winter 

 migration, is, however, becoming better known and more frequently 

 reported. Although it closely resembles the more familiar saw-whet 

 owl, the northern bird student finds that he can easily distinguish 

 the two species in life owing to distinctive field marks. As the 

 Richardson's owl has been found breeding at Grand Manan Island, 

 New Brunswick, off the coast of Maine, and has been seen in summer 

 high up in the Green Mountains, it may yet be found to breed within 

 the limits of the United States. Warren F. Eaton and Haskell B. 

 Curry (1924) saw one of these birds and carefully identified it near 

 the summit of General Stark Mountain, 3,585 feet in elevation, in 

 the Green Mountains of Vermont on July 18, 1923. 



Courtship. — Seton (1911) has given a delightful description of the 

 love-song of the Richardson's owl, which is emitted by the male as 

 he flies in circles about the spruce tree top in which the female is sta- 



