19X2 J General Notes. 397 



approaching maritima. Clayquot is on the west coast of Vancouver 

 Island in about latitude 49-15'. This forms the first record for this sub- 

 species within the Dominion. 



Scotiaptex nebulosa (Forster), Great Gray Owl. Breeding records 

 of this species are rare enough to make note of a bird recently received 

 by the Museum. It is a young bird just changing from the natal down 

 into the juvenal and first winter plumages. Patches of the former 

 remain on all parts of the body but interspersed freely with the latter 

 two. The natal down plumage is dull brown, made hoary by the 

 lighter tips to the feathers. The undcrparts, wings, back of the neck and 

 facial disk are barred with yellowish gray. The juvenal plumage includes 

 the large flight and tail feathers which are as in first winter coloration. 

 The remainder of the plumage is heavily barred with an ochraceous gray 

 more yellow on the back of the neck and shoulders than elsewhere. The 

 bars average about half an inch wide and the same distance apart. The 

 first winter plumage shows but here and there ;n small patches and is about 

 as generally seen in winter specimens. 



The large wing and tail feathers are well formed and the bird was evi- 

 dently capable of short flights. However it had not left the nest long nor 

 was it able to fend for itself. Another in like plumage was taken at the 

 same time so the brood had evidently not separated and I think we are 

 justified in concluding that the nesting site was not far distant from the 

 place of capture. 



These birds were killed July 31, 1911, in the township of Chisholm, 

 Nipissing District, Ont., by Mayor Kelly of Powassan, Ont. Chisholm 

 township lies about five miles east of the extreme eastern corner of 

 Lake Nipissing, extending south and east from that point. — P. A. 

 Taverner, Victoria Memorial Museimi, Ottawa, Ont. 



Some Erroneous Wisconsin Bird Records. — In ' The Auk ' for April, 

 1911, and again in the issue for Ai)ril, 1912, Mr. Henry K. Coale refers to a 

 pamphlet publi.shcd in 1902 on ' Birds of Oconto County,' by A. J. Schoene- 

 beck, and republishes some records for Wisconsin which seem to call for 

 further consideration. After first reading Mr. Schoenebeck's fist in 1903, 

 I wrote him regarding certain records and received from him prompt and 

 courteous replies, with full accounts of these extraordinary finds. Now 

 that some of the most questionable have received the wide circulation and 

 dignity of ' General Notes,' in ' The Auk ' it seems necessary to publish what 

 I have regarding them. Mr. Schoenebeck's absolute honesty and sincerity 

 of belief in these records, at the time, is not to be questioned. It is purely 

 a matter of mistaken identification, and it is a great pity that not one of 

 the questionable records is backed up by a preserved specimen. Had not 

 Mr. Coale republished them in ' The Auk ' with the statement that most 

 of the species recorded in Mr. Schoenebeck's original list were preserved in 

 Mr. Schoenebeck's collection, I should have much preferred to say nothing 

 about them. 



