Vol. X"l Recent Literature. 349 



1893 



map. covering the whole United States and southern Canada east of the 

 xooth meridian, with sharply defined areas of distribution for Gray 

 birds exclusively," "Gray birds predominate," "Red birds predominate, and 

 ••Red birds exclusively." These apparently hard-and-fast areas as seen on 

 the map, are thus to a very high degree obviously hypothetical and 

 untrustworthy, and are alone sufficient to show the unscientific character 

 of the author's methods. 



Not only are the facts given exceedingly insufficient, but to some extent 

 needlessly so, since he appears to have made very little use of the 1, era- 

 ture available on the subject. But what is worse, both us text and his 

 Map II grossly misrepresent the facts in the case, as already on record 

 Map 11 gru . 1 ■ , Mr RiJcrwav has stated 



before his paper was prepared. F01 instance, mi. k.iu <y 

 'Birds of 111., p- 417) that in the vicinity of Washington the two phases 

 both occur, -although the rufous style is perhaps the more common 

 blVin ''about the fame proportion" as obtains "in the neighborhood of 

 Cincinnati," where out of S 6 specimens reported on by Dr. Langdon 

 «„ were rufous and ,4 were gray." Yet only red Owls are g.ven in Mr. 

 Hasbrouck's table of localities as occurring about Washington. Also no 

 red birds are reported from Florida, and the map shows that the region of 

 -Gray birds exclusively" includes all of Florida except its .extreme north- 

 eastern portion. We have, however, seen a number of red birds from the 

 ndTan River region and southward, and Mr. W. E. D. Scott informs us 

 that in various parts of south Florida visited by him the two phases were 

 nnearlv equal proportions, and that near Fort Thompson he found the 

 red prevailing almost to the exclusion of the gray. Mr. C. J. Maynard, 

 after long experience in southern Florida, says (Birds of East. N^ Am 

 p ! 7I ) 'both plumages are found equally common, both North and Sou h, 

 and that he has "found all the stages [red, gray and intermediates] as 

 common there [Florida] as in Massachusetts." Furthermore, the type 

 specimen of the Florida Screech Owl (.ub.p.jfer«fe«0 was a red bud 

 from the Indian River! (C/. Ridgway, Bull. Essex Inst V, p mo, and 

 N. Am. Bds., Ill, p. 53.) ^ may also he added that Mr Wayne, n 

 the present number of 'The Auk' (p. 3 37) - a paper on the 'Buds of the 

 Suwanee River.' says of the Florida Screech Owl: "Resident. All I 

 examined were in the red phase." „,. JV hird* 



Whatever basis Mr. Hasbrouck may have had tor giving only gi ay birds 

 from northern New England, northern New York, and the eastern Prov- 

 inces of Canada, only three localities are cited by him for the whole area 

 of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine combined, and the two from 

 New Hampshire are both near the southern border of the State Feeing 

 fure of the frequent occurrence of the red phase of the Screech Ow n 

 northern New England, we addressed a letter of inquiry on the snl >ject to 

 Mr A H. Verrill of New Haven, Conn., son ot Prof. A. E Vernll, the 

 eminent zoologist, formerly of Oxford County, Maine and have received 

 2 following: "In reply to your question as to whether my father ever 

 found the red phase of the Screech Owl in Maine, he says that he has 



