BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 221 



Mr. A. F. Tarr, keeper of Thatcher's Island Lights, notes one seen on the 

 island on November 20th, 1886, and he also notes them from November 5th to 

 25th, in 1894. A considerable flight took place in 1892. 



In the winter of 190 1-2, another flight took place,^ three being shot at 

 Eagle Hill, by Mr. T. C. Wilson. Dr. A. L. Reagh shot one there on February 

 2d, 1902. On November 4th, 1902, my brother, Mr. W. S. Townsend, saw one 

 in the Ipswich dunes. The Owl was on the apex of a pointed dune and could 

 not be successfully stalked. Again, in 1905, on January 19th, my brother found 

 a single Snowy Owl in the Ipswich dunes. The bird was perched on a dune 

 and some Crows were scolding it. 



167 [377] Surnia ulula caparoch (Miill.). 

 American Hawk Owl. 



Very rare and irregular winter visitor. 



There is only one record of this Owl in Essex County : a male, taken in 

 Lynn, in November, 1885, and now in the collection of the Peabody Academy. 

 It was recorded in the Ornithologist and Oologist,^ as follows : " Hawk Owls, 



usually considered rare, have been quite plentiful from Maine to Minnesota 



Mr. Vickary. ... of Lynn reported one taken near that locality." 



Howe and Allen ^ give this record and nineteen others from other parts of 

 the State. 



168 [378] Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea (Bonap.). 

 Burrowing Owl. 



Accidental visitor from the west. 



There is only one record, and it is the only record for New England. The 

 bird was taken at Newburyport, on May 5th, 1875, by H. Joyce and J. K. 

 Clifford.* The specimen is now in the mounted collection of the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge. 



' Ruthven Deane : Auk, vol. 19, p. 271, 1902. 



" F. B. W [ebster] : Ornithologist and Oologist, vol 10, p. 32, 1885. 



' R. H. Howe, Jr., and G. M. Allen : The Birds of Massachusetts, p. 71, 1901. 



* Ruthven Deane: Rod and Gun, vol. 6, p. 97, 1875. 



