14 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 1 



Diameter, 2.50x4.00: depth, 2.75x8.75. A very 

 peculiar ne.st with a long "tail" extending l:) 

 inches from the pointed base. 



V. A typical nest suspended in gum tree, 

 lined with cotton and one long hhu-k horse 

 hair. Diameter, 2.75x8.25; depth, ox:5.50. 



Vr. In palm; little cotton, hammock-shaped, 

 higher on one side, inside diameters, 1..50x;5; 

 depth at lower edge, 1.25, at higher, 2.50. 



VII. An old nest in gum tree, placed just 

 above a still older one; no lining to speak of; 

 diameter, 2x:]; depth, 2.50x8.50. 



It is very seldom that they liiy in nn old 

 nest, even for the second brood. 



VIII. A very tine nest suspended from hor- 

 izontal limb of English walnut, 10 feet from 

 ground; base rather bioader than to]); diam- 

 eter, 8x8.50; depth, 8.25x8.75. 



IX. In palm; small amount of cotton lining, 

 a few long fibres hanging from l)ottom; diam- 

 eter 2.80 X 8.40; depth, 2 x 8. 



X. Hung in gum tree: little lining of cotton: 

 more purse-shaped than any of the others; 

 diameter, 2.75 x8. 80; depth, 8.50x8.75. 



XI. In gum tree; cotton lining; cup-sha]icd; 

 diameter, 2.10x8.50; depth, 2.50x8. 



XII. Another nest witli a long i)rotuberance 

 but on the side. In jtalm; cotton-lining, 

 hammock-shaped, inside diameters, 2x8 50; 

 whole diameter length-wise, including appen- 

 dix, 0.50; depth, 2.75x8. 



XIII. A very odd affair consisting of a large 

 one-sided mass of fibres, 4.50x()x5 inches, 

 with a depression up in one corner 2 inches in 

 diameter by 2.25 in depth. Suspended by two 

 ends to palm leaf; lining of cotton. 



XIV. Hung in gum tree; well lined with 

 cotton; cup-shaped. Diameter, 2.55x8.25; 

 depth, 2 x8.75. 



XV. A very neat structure suspended at 

 vertices of three small horizontal limbs of gum 

 tree, and closely resembling in form and po- 

 sition a Vireo's nest. A little lining of cotton; 

 diameter, 2.50x8; depth, 2.50x2.75. 



Kiv.-iside, Cal. Thfo. J). Ihinl. 



Further Notes upon the Snowy Owl 

 Taken at Gloucester, on Nov. lo. 



since the re(M)rd of the ca])turc of a Snowy 

 Owl at Gloucester on Nov. 10, which appeared 

 in the last number of the Ornithologist and 

 Oologist, it has been reported that the speci- 

 men in (question was an escaped bird which 

 was captured in Iceland and brought to this 

 port upon the halibut scdioonei', Aitlnir 1). 

 Story, ra]ttain .loseph Ryan. 



This schooner returned from the coast of 

 Iceland about the middle of September, and if 

 the report be authentic it is puzzling how so 

 large a bird as the owl in question eluded ob- 

 servation for so long a time. 



I have examined the specimen after it was 

 mounted, and find the tail feathers are some- 

 what soiled and worn, as would be expected of 

 a caged bird, but otherwise the plumage was 

 in perfect condition. 



The stomach contained the fur and parts of 

 the skeleton of our common meadow mouse. 



Ihirry (ionlon Wliilc. 



Notes on the Small Spotted Wood- 

 peckers from the West. 



While making notes for my description of 

 the new sub-species of woodpecker (Dryohdte.s 

 pKbesr.ensfuiiiiihis) published in a former num- 

 ber of the O. i\ir O.,* I had occasion to examine 

 the literature u\nm this group, and fully in- 

 tended to have indicated some of the (then 

 considered) species that have been given by 

 authors am;jiig the.se western woodpeckers. 



1st. Malherbes describes a smaller, whiter 

 form of P. ijairducrii from the coast region of 

 Southern California.! This is, perhaps, ad- 

 missible as a sub s])ecies, but jtossibly not under 

 this name. 



2d. Cabanis indicates, under the name of 

 Dryohates..homorHs,\ a form to which I wish to 

 call special attention as being directly opposite 

 in most characteristics to the Smoky Wood- 

 pecker, that I have given. Of this he says (I 

 give a translation of the original (ierman), 

 "Larger than the typical northern J), (/uird- 

 nerU, with larger wedge-shaped spots on the 

 upper wings and tertiaries, and with purer 

 white beneath." The locality is g^ven as 

 California. 



This is undoubtedly a perfectly valid sub- 

 species, which ocK'urs in the interior to the 

 eastward of the range of the typical J), p. 

 (juirchin-ii of Audubon, just as 1). p. J'iniiiiliiH 

 occurs to the westward. 



This, the typical (iairdners Woodpecker, is 

 an intermediate between the two, both in hab- 

 itat as well as, in a great measure, in coloration. 



Of course (Jabanis' name should now read 

 Dryobates pxhfsrenft Iionioriis. 



('. J. Miiiiudrd. 



* Vol. XIV, i>asP .'JS. 



tlMcus tnrati, MaU., Muii. Tic., i>. 125. 



% Drjiohatex homoriis. Cali.. Mns., Hcin., 1\'. 2, ISC'!, ]i. 



(i.5. 



