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126 
ART. VL—OBSERVATIONS ON THE PLUMAGE OF THE 
RED AND MOTTLED OWLS (STRIX ASIO). Bv SAMUEL 
Canor, Ja. Read February 14, 1838 
I must confess, that I am almost inclined to doubt 
myself, when I make an assertion that contradicts a 
statement of two of the most accurate ornithological 
observers of the present day, viz. Audubon and Bona- 
parte ; and had I not, what appears to me sufficient proof 
on my side, I should not venture to do so. When I read, 
several years since, in Mr. Audubon's Ornithological Bi- 
. ography, Vol. I. page 456, that, ** As the Red Owl of 
Wilson and other naturalists, is merely the young of the 
bird called, by the same authors, the Mottled Owl, and 
which is, in fact, the adult of the species under consider- 
ation,” I felt inclined to doubt the accuracy of the state- 
ment ; and in order to satisfy myself with regard to it, I 
caught, in the month of March, an individual of this spe- 
cies in the red plumage, from a hollow apple tree in the 
vicinity of Cambridge, where I was then residing as a 
student. I kept this bird in my room about a month, 
during which time v wey little change occurred ; that 
little, however, appeared to be a deepening of the red. 
At this time, the bird was unfortunately killed. About 
a year after, I obtained another, in a hollow oak tree, in 
the vicinity of Fresh Pond, which I kept about two and 
a half months in my room at Cambridge, and then 
brought it to this city, where I kept it about a month 
and a half more, when it was killed by a mischievous 
boy. This happened in June. The only perceptible 
change in this was the same as occurred in the other, 
viz. a deepening of the red, and a more distinct marking 
off of the white. But still I was by no means satisfied ; 
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