RECORDS VOLUME XII, FEB. 1920 29 
Under date of Feb. 3 Dr. John W. Dewis sends the fol- 
lowing interesting communication :- 
‘‘On Jan. 15, about nine o’clock in the morning, while 
driving through the Fens on Audubon Road, I saw a Rob- 
in with a number of English Sparrows. 1t was in the 
shrubbery about opposite the Elliot Hospital, and flew off 
in the direction of the Art Museum as we approached. 
The temperature was 10°-at this time. but earlier in the 
morning it had been only 3°. The day was clear and bright 
with a ee wind, 
The following interesting letter was mereived for pub- 
lication through courtesy of Mr. Charles ie “Jenney. Un- 
doubtedly Chief Justice Aiken is correct in’ ‘deciding that 
the bird in question was a Barred Owl. Infact, this spe- 
cies has visited the vicinity of Mt. Vernon Stfeet several 
winters in the not distant past, hence we may conclude 
that there really is some attraction which induces one of 
Athene’s favorite birds to visit this neighborhood sooften. 
65 Mt. Vernon St., Boston. 
Dec. 13, 1919, 
My dear Judge. 
Mt. Vernon St. eposon No. 65.has an owl—at 
least three days ago it fad one—a real live owl, nota 
stuffed one put out to scare English Sparrows. 
The owl appeared last Monday on one of the street 
trees, seeking, it may be, a hunting ground; he chose well. 
The next day he took up his stand in the quadrangular 
area back of No. 65. where a neighbor has placed some 
nesting boxes for pigeons on the window sills. Here the 
pigeons nest and rear their young, all the time finding reg- 
