both in size and in coloration. It is much larger and entirely lacks the
peculiar rufous tint of the upper parts seen in _P. ruficeps_. Var.
_boucardi_, which is simply a larger race of _ruficeps_, the present
form therefore resembles only in size and in the distribution of its
markings. Indeed it is so unlike both described races that, but for
thorough investigations by Mr. Robert Ridgway which fail to justify such
a procedure, I should urge the claims of the new form to specific rank.
Mr. Ridgway has with great kindness made a careful comparison of several
of my specimens with all accessible material bearing upon the matter,
and writes me that he finds the former insufficiently differentiated
from _ruficeps_, through _boucardi_, to stand as a species. An
interesting fact, incidentally brought to light by Mr. Ridgway, is that
of the few Mexican examples upon which Dr. Sclater based his
_Zonotrichia boucardi_, those from Orizaba are apparently referable to
the race I have named _eremœca_. The National Museum possesses one of
the three original Orizaba skins.
The specimens above described were taken, during the months of Dec.,
1879 and Jan., Feb., and March, 1880, at Boerne, Kendall Co., Texas.
Some account of their habits may be found on another page of the present
number of the Bulletin.
ON KENNICOTT’S OWL AND SOME OF ITS ALLIES, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A
PROPOSED NEW RACE.
BY WILLIAM BREWSTER.
Since the date of its first description in 1867, Kennicott’s Owl (_Scops
asio kennicotti_) has remained a very rare bird, and ornithologists have
gained but little additional knowledge regarding either its distribution
or variations of color. The prominent characters of Elliot’s type were
its large size and tawny or umber-brown plumage, and as the few
specimens subsequently recognized have closely resembled it, this
peculiar coloring has come to be regarded as constant and diagnostic.
But not long since Capt. Bendire sent me a Screech Owl from Fort Walla
Walla, Washington Territory, which, although equaling _kennicotti_ in
size and resembling it in some other respects, was colored more nearly
like _S. asio_ in its gray dress. Being unable to reconcile the
peculiarities of this bird with any of the standard descriptions, I set
to work, at Capt. Bendire’s request, to bring together a sufficiently
large number of specimens to determine its identity or relationship. In
this I have at length succeeded, thanks to the kind assistance of
Professor Baird and Mr. Ridgway of the National Museum, Mr. Allen of the
Cambridge Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, Capt. Charles Bendire, U. S.
A., Mr. H. W. Henshaw, Mr. Purdie and several other friends, all of whom
have been most generous in placing their material at my disposal.
The series now before me comprises about fifty specimens, and includes
representatives of all the known North American forms of _Scops_ except
_S. flammeolus_. Among the number are two typical _kennicotti_, a fine
suite of _asio_, illustrating its numerous variations of plumage, and no
less than nine examples referable to the large gray form already
mentioned as coming from Fort Walla Walla. A comparison of the latter
with _asio_ and _kennicotti_ shows that while a few of the grayer
specimens bear a strong superficial resemblance to _asio_ in its
corresponding condition, the evidence of the series as a whole points to
a stronger affinity with _kennicotti_. In regard to size, they are fully
up to the standard of the latter, the difference from _asio_ in this
respect being so decided that the smallest male of the series is
considerably larger than any female which I have from the East.
Moreover, the purely gray style is represented by only a small
proportion of the number, the majority being more or less tinged with
tawny-rufous, in this as well as some other respects indicating evident
approaches to the supposed typical characteristics of _kennicotti_. In
short, the intermediate character of several of these specimens is so
unmistakable that, although the transition is not completely shown, they
furnish ample evidence that the gray form actually does intergrade with
brown _kennicotti_.
The bearing of this testimony is not doubtful. Geographical
considerations preclude our regarding the two birds as allied races, for
one of the most typical examples of _kennicotti_ comes from Idaho (No.
59,068 Coll. Nat. Mus., Dr. Whitehead), while I have a specimen
referable to the gray condition from the coast of Oregon (Portland,
Capt. Bendire), thus showing that they cannot be assigned different
habitats. Clearly, then, the only alternative remaining is the
assumption that _kennicotti_, like _asio_, is dichromatic, the purely
gray birds from Fort Walla Walla representing the extreme of one phase,
as the tawny brown type probably does that of the other. And considered
in connection with its bearing on similarly variable allied forms, the
hypothesis of dichromatism certainly offers a very easy and natural way
out of the difficulty. Nor is there anything inconsistent in the fact
that one or the other style apparently predominates in many sections of
their mutual range, and in some is perhaps the exclusive representative,
for a similar state of affairs is well known to obtain with other
dichromatic members of this genus.[11]
Assuming the preceding conclusions to be granted, the gray condition of
_kennicotti_ may be characterized as follows:—
=Scops asio kennicotti.= Gray phase; adult (♀, no. 6456 author’s
collection, Fort Walla Walla, W. T., October 22, 1881, Capt. Bendire).
Ground-color above brownish-ash, darkest on the head, palest on the
wings, with confused, often nearly obsolete transverse mottling and
shaft-stripes of dull black, broadest and most numerous on the crown.
Outer webs of scapulars and alula-coverts cream-color, the former
tipped and narrowly margined with black. Secondaries and inner webs of
primaries crossed by from six to seven bars of pale reddish-brown.
Outer webs of primaries with broad, quadrate spots of brownish-white.
Tail regularly but faintly barred with light reddish-brown. Feathers
of the sides of head and neck thickly but minutely mottled with dusky
upon a lighter ground. Lores nearly pure white. A somewhat broken
facial-circle of black or chestnut spots and blotches. Beneath
ashy-white, lightest on the abdomen, with numerous fine, regular,
transverse bars of black and coarse shaft-stripes of the same color;
the only immaculate space being that along the middle of the abdomen.
Lining of wings and concealed silky plumage of sides under the wings,
pale ochraceous. Tarsi, dull chestnut. Wing, 7.10; culmen, .61;
tarsus, 1.77; tail, 4.10; middle toe, .75; ear-tufts, 1.45.
The above description is of a specimen representing the extreme grayish
phase so far as shown by the series before me. Six others from the same
locality vary a good deal in color and markings, some of them being very
dark with coarse shaft-stripes, both above and below, while one or two
have the dorsal surface nearly like that of _asio_ in its corresponding
condition. In all, however, the plumage of the under parts is somewhat
different from that of _asio_, the transverse bars being usually much
finer and more regular and the ground-color ashy instead of clear white.
These differences seem to be most strongly marked in the purely gray
specimens which otherwise afford the nearest approaches to _asio_.
Among the darker birds are three which may be considered as about
intermediate between the extreme brown and gray phases. The first, from
Mr. Henshaw’s collection (Fort Walla Walla, Nov. 7, 1880, Capt. Bendire)
has the dorsal plumage dark brown with an umber cast, while the tibiæ,
lining of wings, outer webs of scapulars, and numerous pairs of rounded
spots forming a band or collar across the nape, are tawny-ochraceous of
nearly as deep a shade as in typical brown birds. The dark shaft-stripes
in this specimen are broader and blacker than in any of the others and
the usual ashy cast beneath is replaced by an ochraceous one. The
remaining two birds are similarly characterized but to a less marked
degree. All three combine the gray and brown coloring of the respective
extreme phases, precisely as do many of the eastern specimens before me,
the gray and red conditions of _S. asio_.
The Portland specimen already mentioned, although in some respects an
intermediate, is on the whole nearer the gray than the brown condition.
Its general coloring is essentially similar to that of Mr. Henshaw’s
bird, but the ground shade above is darker and the scapular spots are
confined to the edges of two or three of the outer feathers, while the
ochraceous wash beneath occurs only on the sides, lining of the wings,
and tibiæ, the ground-color of the under parts being otherwise clear
ashy-white.
An unusually large female from Hellgate, Montana (No. 18,299, Nat.
Mus.), which Mr. Ridgway very naturally treated as _asio_ in the “Birds
of North America” (Vol. III, p. 50), agrees closely with Capt. Bendire’s
specimens and with them must now be referred to _kennicotti_.
In the light of the present evidence it becomes necessary to rearrange
the typical characters of this Owl. I accordingly offer the following
diagnosis:—
=Scops asio kennicotti.= Wing, 6.40 to 7.60. Dichromatic, assuming
either a gray or a tawny brown condition. Gray phase similar to that
of asio, but with the plumage beneath thickly barred and streaked
along the median line. Brown phase characterized by a general
dusky-umber or tawny-ochraceous coloring unlike that of any other
North American form.[12]
The following table includes the most essential measurements of all
the specimens of _kennicotti_ which I have examined, together with
some taken at second hand, of Elliot’s type of the race.
_Gray and Intermediate._
_Wing._ _Tail._
6457, W. B. ♂ ad. Ft. Walla Nov. 20, 1881. 7.50 4.07
Walla, W.T.
6458, W. B. ♂ ad. „ „ Apr. 25, 1881. 7.07 4.05
82,330, Nat. Mus. ♂ ad. „ „ Dec. 22, 1880. 7.06 4.25
6459, W. B. ♂ juv. John Day Aug. 6, 1881. 6.92 3.65
River. Ore.
30,624, C. Mus. ♂ ad. Ft. Walla Feb. 12, 1881. 7.00 4.22
Walla. W.T.
H. W. H. ♀ ad. „ „ Nov. 7, 1880. 7.05 _wanting_
6456, W. B. ♀ ad. „ „ Oct. 22, 1881. 7.10 4.10
18,299, Nat. Mus. ♂ ad. Hellgate, 7.60 4.10
Mon.
6466, W. B. ad. Portland, 6.40 3.82
Oregon.
_Brown._
4.530, Nat. Mus. Washington 6.80 4.07
Ter.
59,068, Nat. Mus. Idaho. 6.67 3.65
59,847, Nat. Mus. ♂ ad. Sitka, March, 1866. 7.40 4.00
Alaska.
During the course of the preceding investigation I had occasion to
compare a large number of Eastern specimens of _Scops asio_ with some
California examples from Nicasio and Alameda County. Somewhat to my
surprise, I detected several apparently constant differences which,
taken in connection with the pretty definitely settled fact that the
California bird is not, like asio, subject to dichromatism, seem to me
to warrant the varietal separation of the two. I accordingly propose a
new race as follows:—
=Scops asio bendirei=,[13] var. nov.
CALIFORNIA SCREECH OWL.
CH. SP. Similis _S._ asioni, sed auribus brevioribus; colore subtus
magis cinerario, transversis lineis tenuioribus, pallidioribus, ac in
medio haud interruptis. Nulla rubra conditione cognita.
Adult ♀ (No. 1,546, author’s collection, Nicasio, California, April
24, 1877, C. A. Allen). Above essentially similar to _asio_ in its
gray dress. Beneath ashy-white, every where thickly barred and
streaked with black; the transverse bars being fine, numerous and
regular, the shaft-stripes coarse and generally distributed from the
throat to the crissum, both markings occurring as thickly on the
median line of the breast and abdomen as along their sides. Wing,
6.20; tail, 3.30; tarsus, 1.50; culmen, .60; ear-tufts, 1.15.
Another adult from the same locality (♀, May 18, 1878, Coll. H. A.
Purdie), measures: wing, 6.22; tail, 3.18; ear-tufts, 1.05: while
seven unsexed specimens from Alameda county furnish the following
extremes: wing, 6.01–6.52; tail, 3.22–3.72, ear-tufts, 1.05–1.25.
The above detailed characters, so far as my series goes, are sufficient
to distinguish the California specimens from any gray examples of _asio_
taken in the Eastern States. The chief difference is in the ground-color
and markings of the plumage beneath. In _asio_ the central line of the
breast and abdomen is nearly always immaculate, while there is
frequently a broad, entirely unspotted gular space: in _bendirei_ these
parts are as thickly barred and streaked as are the sides, while the
ashy tinge of the entire lower surface and the much finer character of
the transverse pencilling gives the plumage a clouded appearance which,
although difficult of description, is very characteristic. The
ear-tufts, also, are usually shorter than those of _S. asio_.
Among the nine examples before me there is remarkably little individual
variation, much less in fact than with any equal number of _asio_ which
I have ever examined. The Alameda County specimens as a rule are rather
more finely and faintly barred than the Nicasio ones and the
ground-color beneath is of a slightly different shade, inclining more to
clayey than ashy-white. In one bird the under surface is decidedly dull
clay-color, which is so generally and evenly distributed that there is
positively no approach to clear white even on the throat, lores,
forehead or abdomen. But the essential characters already given are so
well maintained on the whole that the description of the one chosen as
the type will apply nearly as well to them all. This uniformity is
doubtless largely owing to the absence in this race of any tendency to
dichromatism, for much of the variation among the dichromatic ones can
be traced to the combination in varying degrees of the colors of both
phases, purely colored birds of either style being, at least in some
sections, of comparatively rare occurrence. It is of course to be
expected that larger suites of specimens will furnish occasional
aberrant ones some of which may approach _asio_; but, so far as the
present material is concerned, the tendency of variation is rather
towards _kennicotti_ and “_tricopsis_.” Indeed, as will be seen by
comparing my diagnoses, the general coloring and markings of _bendirei_
are so nearly like those of _kennicotti_ in its extreme gray phase, that
were it not for their wide difference in size it might be difficult to
separate some of the specimens. That _bendirei_ grades into the larger
bird at the point where their respective habitats meet is shown by a
specimen (No. 16,027, Nat. Mus.) from Fort Crook, Northern California,
which is almost exactly intermediate in size, although more nearly like
_kennicotti_ in color and markings. As to our bird of the Southwest
border, I believe that Mr. Ridgway is still undecided whether it really
represents the _tricopsis_ of Wagler or not, but he writes me that
however this may turn out, he is now convinced that it intergrades with
the form found over California at large and must hence be reduced to a
variety of _Scops asio_. After a careful comparison of specimens I can
unhesitatingly endorse this opinion, my Arizona examples of
“_tricopsis_” differing from some of the more faintly barred _bendirei_
only in the purer ash and sharper streaking of their dorsal plumage.
Save in cases where this fresh material has thrown new light on old
data, I have deemed it unnecessary to go over any of the ground trodden
by Mr. Ridgway in his elaborate and invaluable monograph of the genus
_Scops_,[14] but the bearing of some of the present testimony has proved
so far reaching that I venture, in concluding, to suggest the following
rearrangement of the North American Screech Owls belonging to the _S.
asio_ group.
_Dichromatic: erythrismal phase bright rufous._
_Scops asio._ Habitat, United States north of the Gulf States and east
of the Rocky Mountains.
_Scops asio floridanus._ Habitat, Florida and Southern Georgia.
_Scops asio maccalli._ Habitat, Highlands of Guatemala, Eastern
Mexico, and Valley of the Lower Rio Grande in Texas.
_Dichromatic: erythrismal phase tawny or reddish-brown._
_Scops asio kennicotti._ Habitat, Northwest Coast from Sitka to Oregon
and eastward across Washington Territory into Idaho and Montana.
_Non-dichromatic: always gray in color._[15]
_Scops asio bendirei._ Habitat, Coast region of California.
_Scops asio tricopsis?_ Habitat, Western Mexico and the extreme
southwestern border of the United States.
_Scops asio maxwellæ._ Habitat, Mountains of Colorado.
A RECONNOISSANCE IN SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS.
BY NATHAN CLIFFORD BROWN.
The village of Boerne in Southwestern Texas, with its environing
country, was the field of my ornithological labors between December 21,
1879 and April 4, 1880. Boerne is situated about thirty miles northwest
of San Antonio, and less than that distance westerly from New Braunfels,
where Messrs. Werner and Ricksecker made their collection, a few years
ago.[16] It lies in a country of hills and “flats,” scantily watered and
largely unproductive, beyond which timber and general vegetation rapidly
disappear, as the westward-bound traveller nears the desolation of the
Great Plains. Live-oak grows in scattering groves, the postoak in more
compact clusters, and cedar occurs in small “brakes” of some density.
There are also, along the creek to which the village owes its existence,
two or three small oases of deciduous trees admixed with vines, no one
of them, perhaps, an acre in extent. The mesquite, which is so common on
the prairies to the south and east, is not seen, but is replaced by a
small variety of live-oak growing in the form of _chaparral_. Throughout
my stay in it, the country had a very inhospitable and dreary aspect, on
account of the almost total lack of grass of any kind; and by its
absence the number of the local birds is of course materially
diminished.
In presenting a list of the birds observed in this locality, I wish to
call especial attention to the curious admixture of geographical races
found here. Among the species which are subject to climatic variation,
several are represented by two distinct varieties and with them confused
and indeterminable intermediate forms. In others but one constant form
is found. And in a third class the bird occurs in a varying,
transitional phase of plumage which, however, occasionally becomes
typical of some described race.
1. =Hylocichla unalascæ= (_Gm._) _Ridg._ DWARF THRUSH.—Uncommon
resident. Not heard to sing. Several of my specimens very closely
approach the variety _auduboni_. I saw nothing of the eastern
_pallasi_, which I have received from Mr. Geo. H. Ragsdale, of
Gainesville.
2. =Merula migratoria propinqua=, _Ridg._ WESTERN ROBIN.—Irregularly
abundant.
3. =Mimus polyglottus= (_Linn._) _Boie._ MOCKINGBIRD.—Rare resident.
4. =Sialia sialis= (_Linn._) _Haldem._ BLUEBIRD.—Comparatively common
during the winter. All of my specimens were in most beautiful plumage.
Not one male in a dozen showed the slightest brownish edging to the
feathers of the back. I was particularly struck with this in view of
the fact that almost every individual in a large series collected in
Alabama, in the winter of 1878, exhibited more or less of this
brownish edging.
5. =Sialia arctica=, _Swains._ ROCKY MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD.—Abundant
winter visitor. Generally in dull plumage.
6. =Polioptila cærulea= (_Linn._) _Scl._ BLUE-GRAY
GNATCATCHER.—Apparently a common summer resident. Arrived March 8.
7. =Regulus calendula= (_Linn._) _Licht._ RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLET.—Abundant up to the last week in March.
8. =Regulus satrapa=, _Licht._ GOLDEN-CRESTED KINGLET.—Not common.
Last seen about March 22.
9. =Lophophanes atrocristatus=, _Cassin_. BLACK-CRESTED TIT.—Very
abundant resident.
10. =Parus carolinensis=, _Aud._ CAROLINA CHICKADEE.—Uncommon during
my stay. Usually seen in pairs.
11. =Certhia familiaris rufa= (_Bartr._) _Ridg._ BROWN CREEPER.—Rare.
Only two individuals observed: one Jan. 16, the other Jan. 29.
12. =Salpinctes obsoletus= (_Say_) _Cab._ ROCK WREN.—I obtained a
single female on March 4, in a cañon of the Cibalo Creek. It was very
shy and was secured with difficulty.
13. =Catherpes mexicanus conspersus=, _Ridg._ WHITE-THROATED
WREN.—About three pairs were resident in the cañon above referred to.
They lurked almost constantly in the interstices of the rocks, and had
it not been for their delightful song would many times have entirely
escaped observation.
14. =Thryothorus ludovicianus= (_Gm._) _Bp._ CAROLINA WREN.—Uncommon
resident.
15. =Thryomanes bewicki leucogaster=, _Baird._ TEXAN BEWICK’S
WREN.—Very common resident. Sang throughout the winter.
16. =Anthus ludovicianus= (_Gm._) _Licht._ TITLARK.—Abundant winter
visitor. Became uncommon towards the last of March.
17. =Neocorys spraguei= (_Aud._) _Scl._ MISSOURI SKYLARK.—Mr. Sennett
having detected this species at Galveston,[17] it was, of course, to
have been expected in the present locality. Since, however, I observed
no examples until the 16th of March, it is to be inferred that the
bird’s winter habitat lies much farther to the south than has been
supposed. I met with specimens up to within a few days of my
departure, but never in abundance and, I believe, all upon one “flat”
containing about twenty acres.
While according to Dr. Coues[18] the manners and habits of this bird
and the Titlark agree so closely during the breeding season, they were
quite unlike at the time of my own observations. At Boerne the flight
of the Skylark was peculiarly characteristic, being made slowly, at a
height of but a few inches from the ground and with the regular,
undulating movement of the Goldfinch. When several birds were
associated together—as was usually the case—they were invariably much
scattered about upon the ground, and in flight never closed ranks
sufficiently to form anything like a flock. The Titlarks, on the
contrary, as I have also found them at the North, were birds of
erratic and more rapid flight, frequently ascending to a considerable
height and always preserving the semblance of a flock, however
straggling their order.
18. =Mniotilta varia= (_Linn._) _Vieill._ BLACK-AND-WHITE
CREEPER.—Rather common after March 13.
19. =Helminthophaga ruficapilla= (_Wils._) _Bd._ NASHVILLE
WARBLER.—Two specimens,—March 30 and April 1.
20. =Helminthophaga celata= (_Say_) _Bd._ ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER.—Arrived the first week in March and thereafter was the most
abundant of the Warblers. One of my specimens is a partial albino, the
first, I believe, that has been detected in this peculiar phase of
plumage.
21. =Parula americana= (_Linn._) _Bp._ BLUE YELLOW-BACK.—Rare migrant.
Arrived March 20 in full song.
22. =Dendrœca coronata= (_Linn._) _Gray._ YELLOW-RUMP.—An abundant
winter visitor, seen throughout my stay.
23. =Dendrœca blackburnæ= (_Gm._) _Bd._ BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER.—A single
male taken March 31.
24. =Dendrœca dominica albilora=, _Bd._ WHITE-BROWED
YELLOW-THROAT.—Uncommon migrant, first seen on March 19. The song of
this variety is very different from that of its eastern analogue, and
is a close reproduction of the Field Sparrow’s familiar chant, without
his _decrescendo_ termination.