May, 1919 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 125 
Bubo virginianus subarcticus in North Dakota.—Authentic published records of 
Bubo virginianus subarcticus in North Dakota are not numerous, Although this subspe- 
cies is reported as nesting within the State, all such examples prove to be pale examples 
of Bubo virginianus occidentalis, since, of course, the latter is the breeding form of North 
Dakota. The Arctic Horned Owl, however, does occur with apparent regularity as a 
winter resident, and the writer has examined several specimens from this State. Among 
these the following seem worthy of mention: Hebron, North Dakota, December 2, 1917, 
collected by S. A. Rahtz; Robinson, North Dakota, March 7, 1918, George H. Mayer; and 
Grand Forks, North Dakota, a specimen without date in the Museum of the University of 
North Dakota.—Harry C. OBERHOLSER, Washington, D. C., February 3, 1919. 
The Caracara in California.—I notice that according to Grinnell’s Distributional 
List of California Birds some doubt exists regarding the occurrence of the Caracara 
within the state. I can say with positive certainty that one individual Caracara (Poly- 
borus cheriway) lived for some time in the vicinity of Monterey during the winter of 
1916. To be more exact, the month of February of that year witnessed one of the most 
severe storms in the history of the state, with southerly and southeasterly gales prevail- 
ing for several days. Upon their subsidence one of the wardens of the Pacific Improve- 
ment Company reported a strange bird in the vicinity of Seal Rocks. Mr. W. W. Curt- 
ner, a student at the Hopkin’s Seaside Laboratory, made an investigation and pronounced 
the visitor to be a Caracara. The next day both of us journeyed by machine to the spot, 
“made careful observations, took color notes and later examined museum specimens, all 
of which proved to our entire satisfaction that the bird in question was a female Caracara 
that probably had been swept before the wind from its southern home. 
If we attempted to approach on foot the bird invariably took flight when we were 
at least an eighth of a mile away, and with alternate flapping of wings and soarings 
would skim over the level land situated between the sea and forest to alight in some 
distant tree. On the other hand, when we remained in the machine we had little diffi- 
culty in approaching to less than one hundred feet. Without displaying any particular 
interest in us the bird would strip bits of bark from its perch, flip them into the air, or 
would stand erect on its relatively long legs, stretch its wings, preen its feathers and 
finally vault into the air for another journey along the coast. It remained in the neigh- 
borhood of Seal Rocks for two weeks or so, and then, during a brief period of unusually 
bright weather, disappeared.—Haro_p Hratu, Stanford University, California, March 19, 
1919. 
The Fly-catching Habit Among Birds.—How extensive is the fly-catching habit 
among American birds other than members of the family Tyrannidae? The observation 
of this habit by the writer among members of different families of our land birds prompts 
the question. During the summer and fall of 1915 while engaged in field work in the 
Yosemite National Park and vicinity I specifically saw the following species flycatching. 
California Woodpecker (a common habit, frequently observed elsewhere); Clarke Nut- 
cracker (several seen on various dates in late July flying out as much as 100 yards or 
more from the tops of tamarack pines at the side of a high mountain meadow); Western 
Lark Sparrow (one seen flycatching at dusk one evening early in June, at the edge of a 
meadow in the pine forest east of Coulterville); Audubon Warbler (a common habit, 
frequently observed elsewhere); Ruby-crowned Kinglet (once seen so engaged); Town- 
send Solitaire, Alaska Hermit Thrush, Western Robin, and Western and Mountain blue- 
birds. Thus all members of the thrush family except the Russet-backed and Northern 
Varied thrushes have been seen flycatching; the habit is a regular one with both blue- 
birds and seems not uncommon in the case of the Solitaire—Tracy I. Srorer, Berkeley, 
February 7, 1919. 
Arctic Tern from Laguna Beach, California—As there seem to be but few pub- 
lished records of the Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) for southern California, it probably 
will be of interest to record the capture of a bird of this species that I have in my col- 
fection, a female taken at Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, on May 1, 1915, by 
H. G. White. The above specimen (no. 864, coll. W. M. P.) has been identified by Dr. 
Grinnell. Wricut M. Pierce, Claremont, California, February 8, 1919. 
