Page:Auk Volume 13-1896.djvu/201

^'Is,/,' 11 ] Stone, North American Horned Owls. 153 which are travelling at the same period from Datiria to Western Europe." Giitke's list is copiously and interestingly annotated, the annota- tions often occupying several pages, the records being in most instances very fully and satisfactorily given. The nomenclature, however, is antiquated, being for the most part that of Nauraann, and hence dating almost from Giitke's boyhood. In the English translation the equivalent modern names are given in footnotes, when different from those used in the text, as is usually the case. In a few instances the identifications may be open to question, especially in some of the few cases where the species was only observed and not actually taken. With all its imperfections ' Heligoland ' is a book of great interest and value, Part III being a particularly useful contribu- tion to the literature of ornithology. It is also a work that is likely to do much harm, for it is its sensational and inaccurate parts especially that find their way into the current literature of the day, and particularly into magazines and books devoted to- the popularization of natural history. A REVISION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN HORNED OWLS WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SUBSPECIES. BY WITMER STONE. It is not a pleasant task to overthrow a scientific name long in use, but under certain circumstances it seems unavoidable, and the case of Bubo virginianus sicbarcticus (Hoy) is an instance of this kind. Some years ago while engaged in cataloguing the Owls in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia I found the type specimen of " Bubo subarcticus Hoy." The bird was mounted, and on the under side of the stand were written the