THE OOLOGIST. 



125 



latitude. I reside 5 miles north of 

 Philadelphia, very near the 40th de- 

 gree of latitude, near the Delaware 

 River, on whose meadows, the Snowy- 

 Owl is almost annually taken, the ma- 

 jority of the birds being shot in No- 

 vember. The reason that so many 

 are seen and shot in this month was 

 explained in the April Oologist by 

 Mr. Isaac Hess, whose theory is un- 

 doubtedly correct. 



The severity of the weather has 

 nothing, apparently, to do with the 

 southern migration of this erratic Arc- 

 tic Owl, for the occurrence of the few 

 individuals seen and shot in this vi- 

 cinity — North Philadelphia — did not 

 follow or precede any sudden change 

 in the weather to my knowledge. No- 

 vember last was a comparatively mild 

 and warm month, in fact, the winter 

 was an unusually warm one, yet the 

 Snowy Owl was more common here 

 than during the cold, severe winter 

 of 1904-05. Will somebody explain 

 the reason? Is not the erratic south- 

 ern movement as much of a mystery 

 as the migration of our summer 

 birds? 



The majority of the Snowy Owls 

 shot here are in the spotted plumage, 

 in fact, snowy white individuals are 

 extremely rare in collections in this 

 city, none to my knowledge have ever 

 been taken in North Philadelphia. 



Consulting my records, I find the 

 following entries concerning the tak- 

 ing of the Snowy Owl in Philadelphia 

 and vicinity in November, 1905: 



Two Snowy Owls shot by gunners 

 on Bridesburg Meadows, Philadelphia, 

 November 20; both spotted birds. All 

 others also were spotted for that mat- 

 ter. 



November 20-22— Two Snowy Owls 

 near Magnolia, Camden county, N. J., 

 shot by a rabbit gunner. This local- 

 ity is below the 40th parallel of lat- 

 itude. 



November, after 25th, exact date 



not ascertained, Snowy Owl captured 

 by a gang of Italian laborers . at Es- 

 sington, Delaware county, Pa., 10 

 miles south of Philadelphia, and 

 mounted by a local taxidermist. By 

 the way, this taxidermist has mount- 

 ed birds for over forty years, includ- 

 ing several Snowy Owls, and he in- 

 formed me theat he had never seen 

 any nor mounted only the spotted 

 ones. 



Besides these records I have others, 

 dateless and meagre, of the taking 

 of the Snowy Owl in Eastern Penn- 

 sylvania. One was shot early in 

 April, 1905 in the Schuylkill Valley, 

 near Reading, Pa., which is remark- 

 ably late for this northern bird to be 

 found. 



In conclusion, let us hear from oth- 

 ers regarding the occurrence of the 

 Snowy Owl south of the 40th degree 

 of latitude. 



RICHARD F. MILLER, 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Publications Received. 



"The West," June, 1906, "Mineral 

 Collector," Vol. XIII, No. 4, Condor, 

 Vol. VIII, No. 4. 



Among items of general interest in 

 last "Condor," we note the unfor- 

 tunate accident to Mr. Finley, the 

 specialist in bird photography on San 

 Clemente Is., while locating nests of 

 Bald Eagle, which, while of a painful 

 nature, fortunately was not fatal. 



Also Mr. Ridgeway's agreement 

 with Mr. Swarth, as to the Spurred 

 Towhee matter mentioned in these 

 columns a short time ago. 



Wanted. 



To receive lists of your special wants in eggs. 

 singles or sets. N. Am. and Exotic Butter- 

 flies, papered or mounted. Mounted Birds, 

 Shells, showy and scientific. Minerals. Fos- 

 sils, etc. 11000 in new stock. Enclose stamp . 

 Prompt answer. ERNEST II. SHORT, 

 Rochester, N. Y. 



