r 



1910] Swarth: Two New Owls from Arizona. 5 



name to the variety on the strength of the one specimen, the 

 differences that distinguish this bird from true occidentalis are 

 exactly such as would be expected to occur, reasoning from anal- 

 ogous cases ; for instance, they are strictly comparable to those 

 distinguishing Buho virgi)iia»us pallcsccns from B. v. pacificus of 

 the same general regions. This, too, may serve to bring to light 

 specimens bearing upon the case, if there are any extant in 

 collections, and thus subject the races to more careful scrutiny. 



Strix occidentalis liuacJiucae differs from true occidentalis 

 about as the latter does from Strix o. caurinus. In other words, 

 the spotted owls from southern California are about interme- 

 diate in color between the very pale Arizona race (Jiuachucae) 

 and the very dark, northwest coast form (caurinus) , though some- 

 what nearer the latter. The ranges of occidentalis and caurinus, 

 however, undoubtedly blend somewhere about central California, 

 while it is problematical whether either of these forms extends 

 to any point wiiere it might intergrade with the new race. 



Strix occidentalis Jiuachucae is possibly quite generally dis- 

 tributed through the higher mountain ranges of Arizona, though 

 the published records of its occurrence are but very few and 

 rather unsatisfactory. Dr. Woodhouse (1853, p. 63) mentioned 

 seeing barred owls in the Indian Territory, Texas, and "New 

 Mexico, ' ' which of course leaves us uncertain as to what species of 

 owl he saw in his journey and whether he saw it in the range of 

 the species under discussion. Dr. Coues mentions a bird that he 

 saw at Fort Whipple as being possibly of this species (1865, 

 p. 162) ; but he does not formally include it in the list of birds 

 of the region which he subsequently published. 



The second known specimen of Syrnium occidentale was re- 

 corded by Ridgway (1874, p. 239), an adult female taken by 

 Captain Bendire near Tucson, November 7, 1872. Later on, Ben- 

 dire published a note referring to a nest and egg found at 

 Whipple Station, nine miles west of Tucson, on April 17, 1872 

 (1882, p. 99) ; and in his "Life Histories of North American 

 Birds" (1892, p. 343) speaks of a specimen taken near Whipple 

 Station in the spring of 1872. Whether or not these various 

 accounts all pertain to the same specimen I do not know, but it 

 seems probable. 



