204 



THE OOLOGIST. 



EDITORIAL. 



In the matter of that Egg of Dwarf 

 Screech Owl? 



I received the communication from 

 Dr. Moody last spring as printed here- 

 with. 



Sand Point, Idaho, Feb. 27, 1904. 



Editor Oologist, Albion, N. Y. 



Dear Sir: 



I note in your issue of February, 

 1904, that you are of the opinion that 

 you are in possession of at least one 

 egg of the Pigmy Screech Owl (Megas- 

 cops flammeolus idahoensis) collect- 

 ed by Mr. Nelson of Boise, Permit me 

 to doubt your classification. I am 

 very familiar with the locality of Boise 

 and were you so you would not for an 

 instant suppose that the egg sent you 

 could be of that elusive little Screecher. 

 Boise is in the midst of an arid plain 

 covered with sage and with only a few 

 scattering cotton-woods along the 

 streams. There is not an evergreen 

 tree within fifty miles of the place. 

 Then it surely does notstand to reason 

 that this bird of the deep fir and hem- 

 lock woods would come away out in 

 desert to choose a nesting site when 

 there are so many more available 

 locations nearer home. The Pigmy 

 Owl is not an uncommom bird in our 

 higher mountains here in Idaho, but 

 I do not remember having seen him 

 lower than 5,000 elevation. The Bitter 

 Root mountains from the north to the 

 south of the state are the home of the 

 Owl and it was only a chance that 

 Professor Merriam discovered it in the 

 Saw Tooth, in Blaine County. I have 

 studied this Owl in Shoshone and 

 Kootenai Counties and have hunted 

 diligently for the nests without avail. 

 I am convinced that they nest early 

 and very high up in the dead tops of 

 the great hemlocks and pines, deep in 

 the gulches. They feed almost entirely 

 at night. I have watched them around 

 the small lakes in the mountains 

 catching frogs and pollywogs. It will 

 require considerable evidence to con- 

 vince me that Mr. Nelson found this 

 Owl nesting in the Boise Valley. I do 

 not write this in the spirit of carping 

 criticism but to add to the store of 

 knowledge of this little known Owl. 

 Yours truly. 

 Chas S. M(K)r)Y, M. D. 



As this seemed to need investigating 

 I held the matter open and tried to 

 follow it up a little. 



I greatly indebted to Mr. H. C. 

 Mills of Unionville, Conn., for assis- 



tance in the matter. I copy from corres- 

 pondence as follows: 



Boise. Idaho, Mar. 21, 1904, 

 Mr. F. C. Nelson to H. C. Mills. 



In this letter Mr. Nelson stated that 

 one live Owl he gave to a Dr. Bartlett, 

 an Englishman who was then travel- 

 ing through the Northwest and that 

 the Dr. had killed and kept another 

 which he (Nelson) had shot. 



This was the bird that ivas flushed 

 from my egg. 



Mr. Nelson states in this letter that 

 he will at once write Dr. Bartlett and 

 find out what he finally found the 

 skins to be. 



Under date Oct. 9, 1904, Mr. Nelson 

 writes to Mr. Mills. "I met Dr. Bart- 

 lett in Portland, Oregon 4;his summer 

 and he says the birds were Dwarf 

 Screech Old. 



I was unable to reach their breeding 

 ground this season owing to high water 

 but a friend of mine informed me that 

 he secured another bird but neglected 

 to save the skin." 



I have through the kindness of Mr. 

 Mills, had the pleasure of examining 

 the other three eggs of the set my egg 

 was taken from. They were badly da- 

 maged but are in every way c'uplicates 

 of the egg described and, while the mat- 

 ter is still open, I cannot call them 

 anything but Dwarf Screech Owl as 

 yet. 



[Editor.] 



We would call special attention to 

 two articles in "current number of 

 "Condor." 



One on the Laysan Albatross by W. 

 K. Fisher profusely illustrated and 

 one on West, Golden-Crown Kinglet 

 by J. H. Bowles. 



Some samples of Bird Photo work 

 by B. S. IBowdish deserve special 

 notice. 



His bird photos are good and the 

 expert work on enlargements and 

 lantern slides from photos are of un- 

 usual interest. 



The 1905 calenders in decorative 

 leather embellished with prints from 

 photos of bird life are tasty suggest- 

 ions at Holiday time. You need his 

 photos of Hummers, Meadow larks 

 and Least Flycatchers' nests for your 

 Portfolio. 



Publications Received. 



"Birds and Nature." Vol. XVI., 

 No. 4. 

 "Nature Study." Vol. XIII., No. 11. 

 "Conder." Vol. VI. No. 6. 



