The American Barn Owl Breeding at Washington, D. C., in Winter. — 
One or more pairs of American Barn Owls ( Strioc pratincola ) have 
been known to breed for a number of years in one of the towers of the 
Smithsonian Institution, and eggs of this species taken here in June, 1861, 
and June i, 1865, are now in the United States National Museum collection. 
On Dec. 8, 1893, a young bird which had but recently left its nest (a 
good deal of down still showing through its plumage) was caught by one 
of the watchmen and turned over to the Ornithological collection, where 
I saw it while still in the flesh. This specimen was probably hatched 
some time in October, and I considered this a rather remarkable, late 
breeding record at the time. On Feb. 27, 1895, another specimen of 
about the same age was picked up in a bush in the Smithsonian grounds, 
in which it became entangled, and this was certainly not over two months 
old and must have been hatched in the latter part of December, 1894, if 
not early in January, 1895, certainly a most unusual time of the year for 
this Owl to breed in this latitude. — Chas. E. Bendire, Washington, 
D C . Auk, XII, April, 1895, 
