31 fi NYCTALE ACADICA, ACADIAN OWL. 



In the paper above cited, Mr. Allen has the following ou the supposed rarity of 

 "alhifrons:" "Although the White-fronted Owl (Xyctalc albifrons, Cass.) is now cdu- 

 ceded by most, if not all, American ornithologists to be the young of the Saw-whet (j\' 

 acadica), its supposed rarity, in comparison with the adult, renders the following record 

 of recent instances of its capture in Canada of considerable interest. Mr. Eidgway, 

 in a paper published in this journal in May, lb72, in noticing Mr. D. G. Elliot's mis- 

 take of considering the K. albifrons to be the yonng of N. tengmalmi, has carefully 

 elaborated the evidence of its being the young of N. ucadica. This relationship had 

 been previously suspected, and now seems to be fully confirmed. Mr. Mcllwraith, 

 under date of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, January 20, 1873, writes as follows : ' In 

 looking over the Naturalist of April, 1871, I observe a notice of the capture of a 

 specimen of the White-fronted Owl in Maine, and the writer of the note, Prof. A. E. 

 Verril, says that the only other instance of its occurrence in the United States of 

 ■which he is aware, is the specimen taken by Dr. Hoy, at Eacine. I am a little sur- 

 prised at this, for, though not coming much in contact with collectors, I have seen or 

 heard of this [supposed] species now and then for a number of years back. My first 

 knowledge of it was from Cassin's account, and the figure given of it in his Birds of 

 America. Shortly afterward I recognized it in a small case in the possession of the 

 Rev. Professor Ingles, now of the Dutch Reformed Church, Brooklyn, New York, where it 

 was called ' Saw- whet — young.' The case was brought from Montreal. I next met 

 it in Toronto, where Mr. Passmore, taxidermist, had two specimens, one of which I 

 obtained, and have now in my collection. Again, I heard from Mr. P. H. Gibbs, of 

 Guelph, that there were several about his evergreens near the house, one of which he 

 shot. About the same time Mr. Booth, naturalist, of Drummondville, told me of a 

 specimen he had obtained. Dr. Anderson of Point Levi, opposite Quebec, had his 

 alive for a time; and I heard of still another in the hands of E. K. Winslow, esq., of 

 Cleveland, Ohio. From the foregoing it would seem to bo more common in Canada 

 than it is further south. The opinion seems to be generally held by those with whom 

 I have conversed upon the subject, that it is the young of the Saw-whet ; and yet it is 

 somewhat siiigular that it is not as often met with as its supposed parents. In the 

 month of October, a few years since, I had six in the Saw- whet form brought me by a 

 lad, who got them all near the same place on his father's farm. The theory recently 

 advanced by Mr. Elliot, in the ' Ibis,' of its being the young of the Sparrow Owl 

 {Kyciale tengmalmi), I do not think at all probable; I have the two side by side, and 

 cannot observe any resemblance to warrant such a conclusion, the difference in size 

 alone being sufficient to show the distinction. My own opinion is that it will be found 

 to be the young of Saw-whet ; but is it not possible that they do not all assume the 

 same garb — that there may be here a freak of nature, so to speak, such as there is in 

 the case of the Screech Owl, where we find both red and gray.' " 



The Acadian Owl is not so boreal a bird as its congjener, being found 

 throughout the United States in suitable places, and in the more south- 

 erly i)ortions of British America. I have found no decidedly arctic 

 quotations. It is, however, more numerous in the northern half of the 

 United States; and although it has been traced far iu to Mexico, its 

 southward extension appears to be mainly along wooded mountain 

 ranges, the altitude of which compensates, in a fauual sense, for the 

 decrease of latitude. Pitted to endure great cold, it is resident in our 

 northern districts. I procured a specimen, in the depth of winter, at 

 Boar's Head, on the Xew Hamspshire coast, and anotlier at Fort Ean- 

 dall, in January, -when the temperature had been ranging far below 

 zero. The last-named, a tine adult example, was brought to me alive 

 by Lieut. W. J. Campbell, who found it in the possession of an Indian, 

 and I kept it for some time in my study before it died, probably of 

 inanition. It refused food, and after death its body was found greatly 

 emaciated. Although so puny and weak, the little bird showed good 

 spirit, setting back with an air of defiance when a|)proaibed, snapping 

 its little bill, and pecking as hard as it could when I took it in hand; 

 but alter soothiug it for a few moments, it would seem appeased, roost 

 quietly on niy finger, and apparently like to have its poll quietly 

 scratched. In its noiseless fluttering about the room by night it more 

 resembled a big bat than a bird ; in perching, as it did by preference, 

 on the edge of the table or of a pile of books, it stood with its claws bent 

 inward, so that their convexities, and not the points, rested against the 

 support. 



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