SAW-WHET OWL. 231 



from the lists, for it is by many believed to be the young of the Saw- 

 whet. Ultimately, conclusive evidence that such was the case was 

 .given by Dr. J. W. Velie, of Chicago, who kept a live albifrons till it 

 moulted, and became a fine specimen of Nyctala acadica. The tran- 

 sition is described in detail in Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's " Birds 

 of North America," from which the following remarks are abridged : 



The bird was placed in a large cage, where it had abundant room 

 to fly about, and was well supplied with food. Through June and 

 July there was absolutely no change in its plumage. On the 1st of 

 August, a few medially spotted feathers were observed pushing their 

 wav through the uniformly brown ones 011 the fore part of the crown. 

 Through the next two weeks they gradually increased and developed, 

 until the full-face aspect of the head was that of an adult Saw-whet. 

 At this stage there was no indication of any second plumage on the 

 other parts, but about August 15th a few streaked feathers appeared 

 along the central line of the breast and abdomen, while a little later 

 the moulting began over the back and wings, and quickly became 

 general. Through the last two weeks of the month the plumage 

 gained daily, and by September 1st the final stage was perfected, and 

 the bird had become a remarkably beautiful Saw-whet Owl. 



From this it appears that the brown plumage is simply that which 

 succeeds the downy stage, and it is even a little longer than in most 

 other owls before the autumnal dress is assumed. 



I am sorry to lose the little albifrons which I first heard described 

 by the late Dr. Kirtlarid, but much pleased to see the truth so fully 

 established regarding it. 



