1911] Swarth: Alaska Expedition of 1909. 65 



September 19 and 20, hunting over the meadows along the river. 

 I had several good views of the bird at close enough range to 

 make identification certain, but was unable to secure it. 



Cryptoglaux acadica scotaea (Osgood). 

 Northwest Saw-whet Owl. 

 One specimen, a juvenal female, Mitkof Island, August 4 

 (no. 9785), shot just at the edge of the forest bordering the beach. 

 The stomach contained the fur and bones of Microtus macrurus, 

 a mouse that was fairly abundant at this point. This bird is 

 molting from the juvenal to the first winter plumage, with new 

 feathers appearing in the pectoral tracts, and many pin-feathers 

 in the facial discs. There can be no doubt, I think, that it 

 is an example of the northwest coast form of G. acadica, which 

 Osgood (1901, p. 43) has called scotaea, for compared with a 

 juvenal of acadica from Illinois, it presents differences corre- 

 sponding to those distinguishing adults of the two races. The 

 dorsal region, upper surface of wings, and upper breast, are 

 very dark brown, almost bistre, as compared with the vandyke 

 brown of corresponding areas in young acadica, the facial discs 

 darkening to clove brown. The cinnamon of the abdominal 

 region is, however, but little darker than in acadica. The 

 rectrices are very dark, almost black, but the white spots are 

 not perceptibly diminished in size. The new feathers of the first 

 winter plumage appearing on the sides of the breast are of a 

 distinctly darker shade of brown than corresponding feathers 

 on eastern examples of the species, or even than that of two 

 specimens from Oregon. 



Bubo virginianus saturatus Ridgway. Dusky Horned Owl. 



Horned owls are apparently of rare occurrence in this region, 

 and we saw but little evidence of their presence. At Three-mile 

 Arm, Kuiu Island, there was more owl sign than at any other 

 point, consisting of a few shed feathers and a number of cast 

 pellets picked up from time to time. These pellets consisted 

 largely of deer hair, from which it would seem that the owls 

 sometimes feed on carrion; dead deer were numerous in the 



