84 
BULLETIN OF THE NUT TALL CLUB. 
the wings, as he did not understand preserving skins. November 4 an 
adult female was shot in a small grove of pine-trees near the south city 
limits. It measured, 8.12 X 18.60; wing, 5.50. March 26, Mr. C. C. 
Whitacre caught an adult male at the same place. It was kept alive for 
several days, when it died from being caught between the bars of its cage. 
He afterwards shot two adult females in the same grove (which has since 
gone by the name of the Acadian Grove), and also found one dead in 
his yard. March 28 Mr. J. B. Osborne shot an adult female, and June 15 
a young female, both of which are now in my possession. The latter 
measured, 7.37 X 19.25 ; wing, 5.62. Disc dark brown ; forehead, wings, 
and tail beginning to show white markings, as in the adult. July 10 a 
second young specimen was brought to me alive. Although just cap- 
tured, it showed no fear on being handled. In the shade the iris was 
hardly visible, while in the sun the pupil contracted so much as to appear 
as only a small black spot. The bird always sat, when perched, with two 
toes before and two behind, puffing out its feathers at times so that it 
looked nearly as round as a ball. The white markings were more clearly 
defined than in the other, extending farther back on the forehead, and 
entirely round the outer edge of the disc. This specimen is in the collec- 
tion of Dr. J. W. Velie, who also found one dead on the lake shore at 
Hyde Park, 111. July 16 a third juvenile was shot in a poplar-tree oppo- 
site my residence. It was still more advanced toward adult plumage than 
either of the others, especially about the head and wings. J. Strickland 
(taxidermist) has a young specimen which was caught here about a year 
ago. December 20 Mr. G. F. Clingman shot an adult female in Aca- 
dian Grove, and’ March 4, 1876, a , second specimen was shot in the same 
place. These, with one male and two females which are also in collections 
here, make a total of twenty, including two adult males, fourteen adult 
females, and four in immature plumage. — H. K. Coale, Chicago, III. 
Probable Breeding of the Acadian Owl {Nyctale acadica) in 
Massachusetts. — The capture of this species in the adult state is by no 
means of rare occurrence in Massachusetts, but its presence is generally 
detected in the winter months. Of its breeding so far south in New Eng- 
land I think there has hitherto been no instance recorded. We are now 
able, however, to note the capture of three specimens in the plumage of ' 
the so-called “ alhifrons.’’^ The first was taken in Newton, Mass., on June 
28, 1876 ; and the second at Hingham, Mass., on July 5, 1876 ; the third 
was captured in one of the cells in the Penitentiary on Deer Island, Bos- 
ton Harbor, on the 8th of the same month, by an inmate of the prison. 
These localities being some ten or fifteen miles apart, it would seem hardly 
probable that these three Owls belonged to the same brood. On April 4, 
1877, a specimen in adult plumage was captured in the Penitentiary on 
Deer Island, where the above-mentioned immature specimen was taken. I 
am indebted to Mr. Win. J. Knowlton, of Boston, for the above facts, and 
from him I obtained one of the young specimens. — Edthven Deane, 
Cambridge, Mass, 
