I40 THE CONDOR Vol. IX 



Spizella breweri Cassin. Ten specimens, both sexes, Santana, San Jabier and 

 Rosarito, February 26 to April 1. Mr. Brown did not take Spizella -pallida, tho 

 it probably occurs in this region in winter. 



Melospiza cinerea cooperi Ridg. One specimen, Rosario, November 18. This 

 bird, a migrant, of course, is not tj^pical, having probably come from a region 

 where cooperi intergrades with some other form. 



Zonotrichia 3 leucophrys leucophrys (Forster). Three specimens, adult male 

 and female, and young male, Rosarito, and San Jabier, March 2, 27 and 29. 



Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii (Nuttall). Seven specimens, adults and 

 young of both sexes, Rosarito and San Jabier, February 25 to April 2. 



Oreospiza chlorura (Aud.). One male, San Jabier, March 30. 



Pipilo crissalis senicula (Anthony). Seven adults, both sexes, Santana and 

 San Jabier, March. Some skins in this series have the throat distinctly paler 

 posteriorly, while others have it uniform; all are whitish in the middle of the belly, 

 and intergradation with P. c. alhigula is plainlj^ indicated. 



Boston^ Mass. 



SOME COI.ORADO NOTES ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCREECH OWIv 



By ROBERT B. ROCKWELL 



DURING the long dreary winter months when the countrj^side is shrouded in 

 snow and ice and when most of our feathered friends are taking their an- 

 nual vacation in the sunny southland, there is one little fellow who is con- 

 stantly with us and who, tho very inconspicuous to the casual observer, is sure to 

 be found by the lonesome bird student who is disconsolate enough to brave snow 

 and cold for a short visit with the birds along the well wooded streams in the vicin- 

 ity of Denver. 



The Rocky Mountain Screech Owl {^Megascops asiomaxzvellce) — for this is the 

 feathered gentleman to whom I refer — is a resident thruout the year all along the 

 eastern base of the foothills in the north central part of Colorado, but his hunting 

 and breeding grounds are closely restricted to the well wooded creek bottoms, the 

 only locations in this sparsely timbered region which afford him proper food, nest- 

 ing sites and means of concealment. 



As to whether this bird performs a slight north and south movement at migra- 

 tion periods, there seems to be a difference of opinion. Some observers declare that 

 Megascops leaves its summer home around Denver, and moves south as far at least 

 as Colorado Springs (75 miles), and its breeding grounds are occupied as a winter 

 home by migrants from farther north. Others claim that it spends the entire year 

 in the same haunts, laying its eggs in one of the many cavities occupied during the 

 winter. Whichever view of the matter is correct, it is a fact that thruout the year 

 the "owl stumps" so dear to the memory of every bird student, are occupied by 

 these birds, and it is seldom indeed that a good sized grove of aged timber, with a 

 few dead stumps scattered thru it, will not contain a pair of Screech Owls. 



A very dull and lifeless bird you would undoubtedly call it as — your arm in- 



3 We are of course aware of the name //or/M/a«Mi Vieillot (see Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. of N. H. Vol. XXIII, 

 p. 360, 1907) that by first species rule replaces /'//'27o and by elimination .Zo?/o/)7V/!?a, but until it is formally alloted 

 to one or the other, we prefer using the old names. 



