Bohol (McGregor).
Female, type.—Crown, nape, and interscapular area, conspicuously blackish, the feathers sparingly vermiculated and notched with sandy buff; basal portion of a few feathers sandy buff forming a narrow and hidden nuchal band; forehead whitish, the whitish marking continued as a wide band over each eye to tips of ear-tufts on inner webs, outer webs blackish spotted with fulvous, these white bands more or less broken by fine vermiculations of dark brown; loral plumes whitish with blackish tips; ear-coverts grayish, shaded with fulvous and narrowly barred with dark brown, the hinder ear-coverts tipped with black forming a short band; side of neck whitish with fine blackish cross-lines and wide blackish tips to the feathers; behind ear-coverts an imperfect ruff of whitish feathers with wide terminal or subterminal black bars; chin whitish; feathers of throat somewhat modified in continuation of the ruff; breast, sides, and abdomen rufescent cinnamon with fine vermiculations and irregularly shaped median stripes of blackish brown, each feather with one or two rounded spots of light buff on each web; under tail-coverts light sandy buff with a few wavy blackish lines near their tips; legs sandy buff crossed by distinct wavy blackish lines; feathering of tarsi extending nearly to basal joints of toes; primaries dark brown; the outer webs with large clear and distinct spots of sandy buff, six in number on short first primary, and corresponding faint bars on inner webs; secondaries dark brown with sandy buff bars somewhat obscured by darker vermiculations; the primary-coverts resemble the secondaries, and first quill of alula is marked like the primaries; secondary-coverts, scapulars, and back vermiculated with sandy buff, light buff, and blackish brown and marked with large irregular blackish brown spots; under wing-coverts nearly white, inner ones uniform, the outer buff mottled with blackish; edge of wing white; tail dark brown, mottled with sandy buff and with seven or eight poorly defined bars of sandy buff. Wing, 155; tail, 82; tarsus, 30; culmen from base, 24; culmen from anterior margin of cere, 16; ear-tuft, 29.
This owl is clearly allied to Strix lempiji Horsfield, and doubtless it is closely related to Scops everetti Tweeddale, with which it should be compared. The type was taken in the interior of Bohol and is the only specimen known.
Genus NINOX Hodgson, 1837.
Usually larger than Otus; neither ruff nor ear-tufts present; tarsus more or less feathered; toes sparsely covered with stiff bristles; primaries much longer than secondaries.
Species.
- a1. Breast streaked, each feather
broadly centered with darker color.
- b1. Wing-coverts uniform with no rows
of white spots.
- c1. Belly white, streaked or largely
spotted with brown.
- d1. Head grayer, much lighter than back, which is browner; tail clear gray tipped with white, the black bands in strong contrast; axillars barred with brown and white; wing, 200 to 220 mm. lugubris (p. [261])
- d2. Head browner, generally uniform with the back, seldom grayer; tail dark brown with blackish brown bars.
- c1. Belly white, streaked or largely
spotted with brown.
- b2. Wing-coverts spotted with white; outer edge of primaries with distinct rows of white spots.
- b1. Wing-coverts uniform with no rows
of white spots.
- a2. Breast spotted or transversely barred with fine lines.
221. NINOX LUGUBRIS (Tickell).
TICKELL’S HAWK OWL.
- Strix lugubris Tickell, Jour. As. Soc. Bengal (1831), 2, 573.
- Ninox lugubris Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1875), 2, 154; Hand-List (1899), 1, 290; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1902), 2, 329; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 47.