8 
THE SCIENFIST. 
being brought in the third of November. 
The fef<thers singly have a brownish 
tinge, but on the bird are pure white and 
black. The lace, throat, under-wings, 
legs and toe-coverings are pure white, the 
remainder of the bird being barred with 
black. It has short ear tufts which are 
black with white edges. I received two 
young birds from my brotlier in Mani- 
toba, last June. They were nearly 
grown and brown and white in color. 
Quoting from this letter: ''A pair of 
Snowy Owls ave bred in nearly the 
same place ever since I have been here. 
A pair of young which I sent to Montreal 
last season were nearl}^ black and whiter 
the brown scarce showing. 1 hey breed 
on an island covered with low bushes 
and high grass, the nest being built up 
directly from the ground. There are 
but two young each time and two broods 
a year." A Great Gray Owl was shot near 
here November 28, and a Hawk Owl 
November 30. Very rarely a Barn Owl 
is seen, only one being taken this year. 
* Our correspondant referring to the eggs 
of the Great Horned Owl as having a 
"greenish tinge" we quote from a few of 
our prominent Orinthologists as follows: 
Two oi three white, globular eggs. — 
Davie's JSfests and Eggs of North American 
Birds. Rough and of a dirty white color. — 
Jasper's, Birds of North America. Of a 
white color, with a faint yellowish tint. — 
Samuel's, Our iS'orthern and Eastern Birds. 
"White in color and surface very smooth. — 
Maynard's, The Birds of Eastern North 
America. White in color. — Steam's' New 
England Bird Life, edited by Coues. 
Smooth, and of a dull but clear white. — 
Langille's, Our Bird^ in their Haunts, 
White. — Goss', Birds of Kansas. While 
Mr. Jackson in his article. Notes on the Owls 
of Chester Co., Pa., appearing elsewhere in 
this issue refers to their eggs as "yellowish 
white and considerably granulated." We 
have seen many white sets and not a few 
with a yellowish tint, but never any having 
a "greenish tinge." All the sets, that have 
passed through our hands were perfectly 
smooth with one exception. [Editor. 
Subscribe for the Scientist. 
For TheK. C. Scientist: 
(iilaiicioiietta. 
PROBABLE ADDITION TO THE AVIFAUNA 
OF KANSAS. 
A young male Glaucionetta was shot 
on the Neosho rivr, or near it, Decem- 
ber 14, 1890, and was brought to Mr. 
Pat Floyd, of Burlington, an enthusiastic 
young taxidermist. The bird was skinned 
by him, and the skin given to the under- 
signed, who prepared it after careful ex- 
amination. 
There is no iridescence on the head of 
this specimen. All white markings save 
on the belly are much obscured. The 
beak is faintly marked with red, and the 
loral ])atch so illy defined as to make 
identification by these ditterentia very 
doubtful. But a hoar}^ line across the 
wing and the very clearly defined 
'frontal and occipital crest" are almost 
surely diagnostic. A tracing of the 
head was made on the strength of this 
probability, and sent with full descript- 
ions, to Di-. Coues, at Washington. With 
the I>r's usual coniplaisance, he replied 
at once, under date of December 23, as 
follows : 
"Dear Sir, — As well as I can judge, 
from the description and outlines, your 
identification is coi-rect, and there is no 
reason why G. islandica should not be 
found in Kansas. Signed, Elliott Coues." 
Accordingly, we niay safely add Bar- 
row's Golden-eye to the list of Kansas 
birds, giving due credit to Mr. Floyd, 
without whose mediation this specimen, 
would never have been preserved. 
P. B. Peabody 
■ 
VV^hat will our American exchanges say 
to this : ''The Loon is indeed a water bird 
In the northern lakes of England it has 
been taken forty feet under water on 
hooks baited for lake trout." 
