10 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 86 



it was an oil painting of these birds, the subjects being 

 natural size and in an elegant plain frame of gilt (30x30 

 inches). 



As posed by the artist, these Owls are shown in Fig. 2, 

 which is a reproduction of a photograph I made of this 

 beautiful picture. It will be noted that they are sitting on 

 a dark rock, partly covered with snow, the rock being on the 

 shore of the frozen sea on the north coast of Denmark. The 

 birds are contemplating the setting sun, and ]\Ir. Heilmann 

 has been wonderfully successful in depicting the rosy hues 

 of the same, as its rays tinge their white plumages and the 

 glistening ice on all sides. As we say of so many lieautiful 

 things in this world, this picture should be seen to be appre- 

 ciated. 



At the present time, ^Ir. Heilmann is engaged ujDon a very 

 important piece of work — a study of the origin of birds 

 from their ancestral stock among the prehistoric reptiles. 

 Two Parts of this work are already published, with many 

 fine illustrations, and the remaining three Parts will appear 

 during the course of 1914. 



With my Barred Owl, and old Nyctea coming in threes, I 

 surely thought that my strigine experiences — following upon 

 each other with such rapidity — would come to an end ; but 

 no, I was to be treated to another immediately on top of 

 them. Hardly had my picture been hung in an appropriate 

 place, than a call on my 'phone from Mr. Schmid informed 

 me that he had at my service a fine, living specimen of an 

 adult Saw-whet Owl {Cryptoglaux a. arcadica), which had 

 been captured in the city (Washington) the day before. As 

 usual, the man who took it simply walked up to the bird and 

 "bagged it." In less than an hour it was in a small cage in 

 my study, at which time the amusements for the afternoon 

 were opened. He was not altogether a fractious subject, how- 

 ever; not nearly as bad as many another live bird I have 

 photographed. 



It seems to me that all my life I wanted to have in my 

 possession a specimen of a living Owl of this species; and 

 now, after waiting for over half a century, here was the real 



