Enclosed please find a photograph of a pair of Owls which have been on exhibition here for two or three weeks. The owner says they are the only pair in the United States of North America, and are native birds of Tartary. The photo is a very fair representation. He calls them “Monkey-faced Owls.” The bill proper is very small, but the mouth extends almost to the eyes. Eyes as near as I could see were very small. Iris dark hazel. Back dark brown, marked very finely, breast speckled with brown, bill blackish, crown finely mottled, no tufts, tarsi long. Two pair were taken at the fort at St. Augustine, Florida, last February. One pair was bought for some scientific institute in Ohio but escaped. P. T. Barnum, the man says, offered him $500 but he refused.

If they are American birds they are a cross of Barn Owl and something else.—W. P. Tarrant, Saratoga.

A specimen of the “Monkey-faced Owl,” a rare bird, was recently captured by Captain Pitts, of Orlando, Fla., in the Everglades. It is described as being somewhat smaller than the Hooting Owl. The plumage has the soft, furry texture of the owl family, but a tinge of orange enters into the color. The head and face are those of a baboon, the face being white, while the eyes are much smaller than those of an owl of the same size, coal-black and somewhat almond-shaped, opening and closing with lids like those of an animal. In fact, they more nearly resemble the eyes of an otter than a bird.—Ed.