58 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



respects, and of which it is to be regarded as a geographical race. It was 

 first taken by Mr. E. S. Holden, near Sacramento, and described by Mr. 

 Lawrence as the Ephialtes ckoliha of VieiHot. It has since been found in 

 other parts of Cahfornia, in Northern ]\lexico, Arizona, and on the liio 

 Grande. It was obtained in Tamaulipas — where it is evidently rather com- 

 mon — by the late Dr. Berlandier, who had also procured its eggs. A single 

 specimen of this Owl was obtained by Mr. A. Schott in Texas, and ]\Ir. 

 Dresser also obtained two small Owls which he doubtfully refers to this 

 variety, — one near San Antonio, and the otlier in Bandera County. Lieu- 

 tenant Benclire writes tliat it is quite common in the vicinity of Tucson, 

 Arizona, though Dr. Coues did not meet with it. Dr. Ken nerly observed it on 

 Bill Williams Fork, in New Mexico. It was there found living in the large 

 Cereus giganteus so common in that region, where it occupied the deserted 

 holes of various kinds of Woodpeckers. It rarely made its appearance dur- 

 ing the day, and then only to show its head from the hole, ready at any 

 moment to disappear at the approach of danger. On one occasion it was 

 observed among some very thick buslies near the water. It does not appear 

 to have been met with by Dr. Cooper in California, where he refers all the 

 Owls of this genus to the common asio. A single individual, referred 

 doubtfully to this bird, was taken by Mr. Skinner in Guatemala. The eggs 

 of this bird, taken in Tamaulipas by Dr. Berlandier, are of nearly globular 

 shape, of a clear, almost crystal- wliite color, and measure 1.13 inches in 

 length by 0.93 of an inch in breadth. As compared with the eggs of Sco]3S 

 asio they are much smaller, tlieir relative capacity being only as five to eight. 

 The eggs of the var. asio vary greatly in size according to their locality. 

 Those taken in Florida are so much smaller than those from Massachu- 

 setts as almost to be suggestive of specific differences. An egg from Hud- 

 son, Mass., taken by Mr. Jillson in April, 1870, measures 1.50 by 1.30 

 inches, while one from Monticello, Fla., taken by Mr. Sanniel Pasco, meas- 

 ures 1.30 by 1.15 inches. Mr. T. H. Jackson, of Westchester, Penn., in- 

 forms me that he has found a nest of this Owl containing six fresh eggs, on 

 tlie 5th of April. 



Scops flammeola, Light. 



FEILNER'S OWL. 



Scops flammeola, Light. Mus. Berol. Nomenclat. p. 7, 1854. — Kaup, Trans. Zool. Soc. 

 IV, 226. — ScHLEGEL, Mus. de Pays-Bas, Oti, p. 27. — Sclat. Proc. Zobl. Soc. 1858, 

 96. — ScL. & Salv. p. Z. S. 1868, 57 ; Exot. Orn. VIJ, 99, pi. 1, July, 1868. —Gray, 

 Hand List, I, 47, 1869. — Elliot, lllust. Birds Am. I, pi. xxviii. — Coues, Key, 

 1872, 203. 



Sp. Char. Adult (42,159, Orizaba Mountains, "rare," February 3, 1865; Professor F. 

 Sumichrast). G-round-color above pale cinereous, tliis overlaid on the top of the head, 

 nape, and back by a brownish-olive shade, the ash showing pure only on the borders 



