AN EXAMPLE OF APTOSOCHROMATISM, AS INFLU- 
ENCED BY DIET, IN MEGASCOPS AS/O. 
By FRANCIS J. BIRTWELL. 
In the following pages I shall attempt to detail an account 
of a very remarkable example of color change without moult or 
feather loss (Aptosochromatism); but unfortunately the results 
„ ucu aasuiucu me mature condition. Under the 
circumstances, therefore, the incompleteness of the present paper 
will kindly be overlooked. 
Anyone who has read Dr. Chadbourne’s article (Auk, Oct., 
1896, and Jan., 1897) upon this subject must have felt keen dis- 
appointment at the untimely death of the Owls upon which he 
was working, and it was largely to carry on the unfinished work, 
that I at once availed myself of the opportunity presented when 
some excitable Blue Jays betrayed to me the hiding place of a 
pair of Screech Owls, March 30, 1898. 
The birds were readily taken home and introduced into a shed 
in which boxes were placed for sleeping and a small cedar tree 
for perching. The larger bird was in the extreme light gray phase 
of coloration, the smaller Owl being in the bright red condition. 
Only the gray bird lived, the other one dying twelve days later. 
On Dec. 30, 1898, another red bird was captured and placed with 
the first, but was promptly eaten, so I made no further attempts 
to obtain another. Both red birds were easily handled, but the 
marks of the bill and claws of the gray bird were present invari- 
ably upon my hands after each interview. By stroking the bird’s 
head, however, I could cause it to close both eyes and fall into a 
state of apparently perfect oblivion from which the plucking of 
specimen feathers rarely aroused him, thus enabling me to make 
frequent and careful examinations of the plumage. 
I endeavored to promote as natural conditions for my bird as 
possible — kept him in the loosely built shed at all times when 
the weather conditions could be as favorable for my purpose. as 
possible, gave him a mouse or a Sparrow at frequent intervals to 
regulate him, and gave fresh water for drinking and bathing. 
