V ° 1 i907 :iV ] General Notes. 215 



Great Gray Owl {Scotiaptex nebulosa) . — The general rarity of this 

 species and the irregular intervals of its visits, should warrant a record 

 of all specimens that come to our notice. The following have been cap- 

 tured during the present winter: — 



The S. L. Crosby Co., taxidermists, Bangor, Me., have received eight 

 specimens up to Feb. 1, 1907, these being the first sent to them for the 

 past three years. 



Mr. Walter D. Hinds, taxidermist, Portland, Me., had received the 

 following up to Feb. 8, 1907. Two from Bailey's Island, Portland Har- 

 bor; two from Cape Elizabeth, Me.; and one from Damariscotta, Me. 

 The first specimen was received Nov. 8, 1906. 



Mr. W. P. Conger, taxidermist, Burlington, Vt., has received six speci- 

 mens, with the following data — 



1 d\ Malone, N. Y., Jan. 1, 1907. 



1 9 , Shelburne, Vt., Jan. 2, 1907. 



1 J 1 , Champlain, N. Y., Jan. 2, 1907. 



1 9 , South Burlington, Vt., Feb. 2, 1907. 



1 9 , Colchester, Vt., Feb. 7, 1907. 



1 d\ Colchester, Vt., Feb. 11, 1907. 



Mr. C. E. Dionne, of Laval University, Quebec, under date of March 

 6, 1907, informs me that he has examined six specimens the past winter. 



Rev. C. W. G. Eifrig, Ottawa, Ont., in writing on winter birds (The Ottawa 

 Naturalist, Vol. XX, Feb. 15, 1907) states: "Of the Great Gray Owl, I 

 have seen and heard of four so far this winter, all of which have found 

 their way into the hands of Henry the taxidermist." 



Mr. Henry W. Howling, taxidermist, Minneapolis, Minn., had received 

 eleven specimens prior to Feb. 7, 1907. 



Mr. J. D. Allen, taxidermist, Mandan, N. Dak., under date of March 11, 

 1907, writes: "I have never had any Great Gray Owls in the flesh until 

 this winter. Two fine specimens have been received, one from Moorhead 

 and two from Detroit, Minn." — Ruthven Deane, Chicago, III. 



Great Gray Owl (Scotiaptex nebulosa) in Rhode Island. — Through 

 the kindness of Messrs. Angell and Cash, taxidermists, Providence, R. I., 

 I am enabled to quote the capture of a third specimen for the State. This 

 bird was shot within a mile of the city limits of Providence, on Nov. 19, 

 1906, and proved to be a male. The two previous records are given in 

 'Birds of Rhode Island,' Howe and Sturtevant, 1899, p. 62, one speci- 

 men taken in 1870 and the other March 25, 1883. — Ruthven Deane, 

 Chicago, III. 



Aggressive Screech Owls. — Mrs. John W. Ames of Cambridge has 

 kindly given me permission to publish the following account of an inter- 

 esting experience which she had with some Screech Owls at Concord, 

 Massachusetts, in June, 1906. I give it in her own words as follows: — 



"I came to Concord to the Manse on June 14. A day or two after my 

 arrival I walked down the avenue after supper and as I stood near the 



