Jan., 1915 
THE KERN REDWING 
15 
greater than any I have come across elsewhere, or taken myself. While per- 
sonally opposed to such extreme subspecification as is sometimes indulged in, 
and which necessitates a well-trained expert to make determinations, this case 
seems so obvious to the ordinary observer that I do not hesitate to present it 
to the ornithological public. 
San Francisco, California, October 26, 1914. 
THE STATUS OF THE ARIZONA SPOTTED OWL 
By H. S. SWARTH 
(Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California) 
S INCE my description several years ago of Strix occidentalis liuachucac 
(Univ. Calif. Publ. Zook, vol. 7. 1910, p. 3), I have been constantly on the 
lookout for opportunities of examining additional specimens of this race, 
but until recently was unaware of the existence in collections of any examples 
of the Arizona subspecies other than the single bird that served as a basis for 
the characterization of the form. A short time ago Dr. Louis B. Bishop in- 
formed me that he had in his possession three skins taken in southern Arizona, 
and he most generously proffered the loan of these specimens in case 1 was de- 
sirous of making comparisons with the type, or with other pertinent material. 
This opportunity was eagerly grasped, the more so that there happened to be 
available in the several collections on deposit in the Los Angeles County Muse- 
um of History, Science, and Art, a number of skins of the California form, 
Strix occidentalis occidentalis, affording an excellent chance for a critical study 
of these two subspecies. Tn fact it is doubtful if such an extensive series of 
these owls has ever before been gathered together at any one point. 
Of the Arizona bird I have before me the type of hudchucae, from the Hua- 
chuca Mountains, and Dr. Bishop’s three specimens, a pair of adults and a 
juvenile male, collected by H. H. Kimball, in the Santa Catalina Mountains, 
July 7, 1906. Of the southern California subspecies, S. o. occidentalis, there 
are available skins of eleven adults and one juvenal, and a mounted pair of 
adult birds. The two series afford a quite satisfactory basis for comparison. 
In general it may be said that the three additional examples from Arizona 
bear out most of the characters originally ascribed to liuachucac from the sin- 
gle specimen serving as the type. Judging from this material the Arizona 
race, as compared with typical occidentalis, is somewhat paler colored. The 
brown body color of the whole bird is of a lighter tint, while on the individual 
feathers the brown colored portion is diminished in area, and the white portion 
correspondingly extended. 
The California series shows but little variation, the birds being uniformly 
quite dark and heavily marked, while spring specimens show an almost inap- 
preciable amount of fading, as compared with freshly molted fall birds. That 
there is slight change in the color of the feathers through fading is doubtless 
largely due to the manner of life of these birds, they being habitually fre- 
quenters of the darkest, shadiest canyons, avoiding bright light at all times. 
Of the Arizona birds, the single adult female is slightly darker than the 
