l8o General Notes. Y\p^\ 



The White Gyrfalcon in New England. — Not long since Mr. George 

 A. Boiirdnian wrote me that he had heard of the capture, in eastern Maine, 

 of a very light-colored Gyrfalcon. Upon my expressing a lively interest 

 in the matter he very kindly put me in correspondence with Mr. John 

 Clayton of Lincoln, Maine, M'ho mounted the specimen and from whom I 

 have just purchased it. Although too dark colored to be typical of that 

 form it is, nevertheless, an unmistakable example of Falco islandus 

 Briinn. It is a young bird and, judging by the measurements, a male, 

 although the sex was not determined by dissection. It was shot in South 

 Winn (just south of Lincoln) about October 8 (Mr. Cla^-ton received it on 

 the 9th and in such fresh condition that he does not think it could have 

 been dead more than twenty-four hours), 1893, by a young man named 

 Wyman who found it perched on a telegraph pole. 



This capture is of considerable importance, for the White Gyrfalcon 

 does not appear to have been before taken in New England if, indeed, it 

 has occurred anywhere within the United States. It has been reported 

 more than once, but in every case, apparently, either on insufficient 

 evidence or mistaken identification. The repeated changes or interchanges 

 of names in the Gyrfalcon group have also led to much confusion. A 

 recent instance of this is the mention by Mr. Chapman (Birds of 

 Vicinity of New York City, 1S94, p. 41) under "7^ islatidus Briinn." of 

 the Long Island. (New York) specimen originally recorded by Mr. 

 Lawrence (Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, VIII, 1866, p. 280) and since 

 referred to by Mr. Ridgway (Hist. N. Am. Bii-ds, III, 1874, p. 114) and 

 by Mr. Dutcher (Auk, X, 1893, p. 274) as F. islandicus} Mr. Chapman 

 now writes me that he has never seen this specimen and " had not the 

 slightest intention of changing its original identification," but that he 

 was misled " into giving F. islandus as the equivalent of F. islandicus.'" 

 It may be well, therefore, to improve this and every convenient oppor- 

 tunity to reiterate the fact that, under the arrangement first proposed by 

 Dr. Stejneger (Auk, II, 1885, pp. 187, 188) and afterwards adopted in the 

 A. O. U. Check-List, the bird which, prior to 18S5, was so generally called 

 F. candicafis now stands as F. islandus, while that formerly known 

 (among American writers at least) as F. islandicus has become F. 

 rusticolus. — William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 



The American Barn Owl Breeding at Washington, D. C, in Winter. — 



One or more pairs of American Barn Owls (Sirix pratincola') have 

 been known to breed for a number of years in one of the towers of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and eggs of this species taken here in June, 1861, 

 and June i, 1865, are now in the United States National Museum collection. 



' Since writing the above I have examined this Long Island bird, which is 

 now in the collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society. It proves to be a 

 perfectly typical example of Falco rusticolus gryfalco in nearly mature 

 plumage. 



