136 ACADIAN OWL— SAW-WHET OWL— LITTLE OWL. 



Hunter's specimen formed one of a large case of stuffed birds, 

 whicli was subsequently sold to a Mr. Thompson, of Montreal, in 

 whose possession' it rernained for some years. Upon the decease 

 of this gentleman his collection was sold and separated, and 

 as far as I can learn, the case containing the little Kirtland's 

 Owl went out of our city. More recently a second specimen of 

 this rare Owl was obtained — whence I cannot ascertain — and is 

 now in our Montreal Museum of Natural History. These two 

 specimens are the only ones to my knowledge taken in the vicinity 

 of Montreal. 



The following notices of the occurrence of this rare Owl in 

 Canada, contributed by Mr. Thos. Mcllwraith of Hamilton to an 

 American journal will be read with interest in this connection, and 

 in these I think I can detect a page further in the history of Mr. 

 Hunter's specimen, just referred to. This gentleman, under date 

 of Hamilton, January 20th, 1873, writes as follows : 



" In looking over the Naturalist (American) of April, 1S71, I observe a notice 

 of the capture of a specimen of the White-fronted Owl in Maine, and the writer of 

 the note, Prof A. E. Verril, says that the only other instance of its occurrence in 

 the United State.=, of which he is aware, is the specimen taken by Dr. Hoy at 

 Racine. I am a little surprised at this, for, though not coming much in contact 

 with collectors, I have seen or heard of this (supposed) species now and then for 

 a number of years back. My first knowledge of it was from Cassin's account, and 

 the figure given of it in his ' Birds of America.' Shortly afterward I recognized it 

 in a small case in the possession of the Rev. Professor Ingles, now of the Dutch 

 Reformed Church, Brooklyn, New York, where it was called ' Saw-whet — young.' 

 The case was brought from Montreal. I next met it in Toronto, where Mr. Passmore, 

 taxidermist, had two specimens, one of which I obtained, and have now in my 

 collection. Again I heard from Mr. P. H. Gibbs, of Guelph, that there were 

 several about his evergreens near the house, one of which he shot. About the 

 same time Mr. Booth, naturalist, of Drummondville, told me of a specimen he had 

 obtained. Dr. Anderson of Point Levi, opposite Quebec, had his alive for a time ; 

 and I heard of still another in the hands of R. K. Winslow, Esq., of Cleveland, 

 Ohio. From the foregoing it would seem to be more common in Canada than it 

 is further south. The opinion seems to be generally held by those with whom I 

 have conversed on the subject, that it is the young of the Saw-whet ; and yet it is 

 somewhat singular that it is not as often met with as its supposed parents. In the 

 month of October, a. few years since, I had six in Saw-whet form brought me by a 

 lad, who got them all near the same place on his father's farm. The theory recently 



