^°1908^T G^n'^ral Notes. 221 



Breeding of the Acadian Owl in Newton County, Indiana. — Another 

 actual breeding record of the Saw-whet Owl {NyctaLa acadica) in Indiana, 

 will doubtless be of interest, at least to local ornithologists. In Julj', 1907, 

 I saw at a fami between Kentland and Effner, not far from the Illinois line, 

 a family of these birds, parents and several young. The people li^'ing on 

 the farm had watched the development of the family throughout the 

 summer, and the birds being very tame I was able to observe them, during 

 the late afternoon hours, at close range. The nesting site was in a lawn 

 shade tree close to the house. — N. Hollister, Biological Survey, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



Glaucidium vs. Noctua — A Correction. — In 'The Auk,' Vol. XXIV, 

 p. 192, I proposed to substitute Noctua S. G. Gmelin, 1771, for Glaucidium 

 Boie, 1826, on the supposition that they were based upon the same species. 

 Gmelin based his genus upon Noctua minor Brisson which is a " Glaucidimn" 

 and the case seemed clear enough. Unfortunately for my argument 

 there is sometimes a difference between what an author has and what he 

 thinks he has; and the plate which was lacking in the volume of the 

 Nov. Com. Sci. Petr., XV, in the" Academy library, but which I have since 

 examined in Washington, shows Gmelin's bird to have been a Short-eared 

 Owl, Asio accipiirinus, and not the "Noctua minor Briss" at all! A genus 

 based upon a misidentified species is liable to cause a great deal of trouble, 

 and our only safe course seems to be to let the case rest wholly upon the 

 'puhlished evidence. Had there been no plate in this case my proposed 

 change would have been inevitable, but the plate saves the day for Glauci- 

 dium. — Wither Stone, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa. 



European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and 

 Delaware. — In July, 1904, through Prof. H. A. Surface, State Zoologist of 

 Pennsylvania, I was placed in correspondence with Dr. W. H. Ridge of 

 Trerose, Bucks Co., Pa., relative to a pair of curious birds that had estab- 

 lished themselves near his house. The birds, which proved to be Starlings, 

 arrived in the spring of 1904 and raised a brood in a hole in the cornice of the 

 house. The young left as soon as they were able to fly, while the old ones 

 remained until the following February when they, too, left. Nothing has 

 been seen of them since. In spite of Prof. Surface's adverse report on their 

 desirability. Dr. Ridge declares that while he likes Martins he would prefer 

 the Starlings if he could only get them back. 



In March, 190.5, Miss F. L. Twaddell wrote to me of .some interesting 

 birds that had occurred at intervals all winter on her grounds in West 

 Philadelphia and about Woodland Cemetery. These also proved to be 

 Starlings, and are still present. In March, 1907, they nested in a Flicker's 

 hole, after driving the Flickers away, and raised a brood. Miss Twaddell 

 has never seen more than four or five at one tiine, presumably the original 

 pair and three young. 



A letter from Miss Anna P. Hannum, dated February 3, 1908, reports the 



