Brewster on Kcnnicoti's Oivl aiid some of its Allies. 27 



ON KENNICOTT'S OWL AND SOME OF ITS ALLIES, 

 WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A PROPOSED NEW 

 RACE. 



BY WILLIAM BREWSTER. 



Since the date of its first description in 1S67, Keniiicott's Owl 

 {Scops asio keiinicotti) has remained a very rare bird, and orni- 

 thologists have gained but little additional knowledge regarding 

 either its distribution or variations of color. The prominent 

 characters of Elliot's type were its large size and tawny or umber- 

 brown plumage, and as the few specimens subsequently recog- 

 nized have closely resembled it, this peculiar coloring has come 

 to be regarded as constant and diagnostic. But not long since 

 Capt. Bendire sent me a Screech Owl from Fort Walla W^alla, 

 Washington Territory, which, although equaling kennicotti in 

 size and resembling it in some other respects, was colored more 

 nearly like S. asio in its gray dress. Being unable to reconcile the 

 peculiarities of this bird with any of the standard descriptions, I 

 set to work, at Capt. Bendire's request, to bring together a suffic- 

 iently large number of specimens to determine its identity or re- 

 lationship. In this I have at length succeeded, thanks to the kind 

 assistance of Professor Baird and Mr. Ridgway of the National 

 Museum, Mr. Allen of the Cambridge Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, Capt. Charles Bendire, U. S. A., Mr. H. W. Henshaw, 

 Mr. Purdie and several other friends, all of whom have been most 

 generous in placing their material at my disposal. 



The series now before me comprises about fifty specimens, 

 and includes representatives of all the known North American 

 forms of Scops except S. Jiainvieohis. Among the number are 

 two typical kennicotti^ a fine suite oiasio, illustrating its numerous 

 variations of plumage, and no less than nine examples referable to 

 the large gray form already mentioned as coming from Fort 

 Walla Walla. A comparison of the latter with asio and kenni- 

 cotti shows that while a few of the grayer specimens bear a strong 

 superficial resemblance to asio in its corresponding condition, the 

 evidence of the series as a whole points to a stronger affinity 



