Bu-caó, Ticao and Masbate.

Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Leyte (Whitehead); Luzon (Meyer, Heriot, Steere Exp., Whitehead, McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Steere Exp., Whitehead); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Ticao (McGregor).

“Adult.—Above brown, the head slightly darker and more chocolate-brown, the scapulars with large oval marks on the outer webs, some of the inner ones barred with ochraceous; wing-coverts dark brown, slightly washed with ochraceous, all of them distinctly spotted with white or ochraceous white, those on the median and greater series large and oval in shape; quills brown, margined narrowly with ochraceous, and barred across with paler brown, almost obsolete on the inner web, but indicated on the outer one by a distinct white spot, very plain, and producing a checkered appearance; upper tail-coverts rather more ochraceous brown than the back; tail-feathers sepia-brown, crossed with six narrow bands of pale ochraceous, the last one subterminal; frontal plumes whitish at base, but this color not visible; sides of the face brown like the head, the ear-coverts rather more dusky; under surface of body ochraceous brown, the chin whitish, and the throat marked with a few blackish streaks; the abdomen whiter, the centers to the feathers being ochraceous-brown, producing a broadly streaked appearance; under tail-coverts white; leg-feathers ochraceous-brown; under wing-coverts ochraceous, the edge of the wing white, those coverts nearest the margin being marked with dark brown; the lowest series sepia-brown, barred with pale ocher on the inner web, thus resembling the inner lining of the quills. Length, 216; wing, 176; tail, 102; tarsus, 51.

“Young.—Above rufous-chocolate, the upper surface almost entirely uniform, with the exception of a few buffy white bars on the outer scapulars; wing-coverts uniform like the back, and only a little darker, the greater series distinctly spotted on the outer web with ochraceous or white; primary-coverts uniform dark brown; quills dark brown, notched on the outer web with ochraceous or buffy white; tail darker brown than the back, with a fulvous tip and crossed with six narrow bars of fulvous-brown; forehead whitish, with long hair-like black bristles over the lores; side of face uniform rufous-chocolate like the head; under surface of body fawn-color, the feathers of the chest margined narrowly with whitish, causing a slightly streaked appearance, the abdominal plumes white, with broad fawn-colored centers, causing this part to appear very broadly streaked; thighs fawn-color; under tail-coverts white; under wing-coverts fawn-color excepting the lower series, which are brown, spotted with fulvous on the inner web, exactly resembling the inner lining of the quills. Length, 203; wing, 164; tail, 86; tarsus, 30.” (Sharpe.)

“Five specimens average, 206 in length; wing, 177; tail, 89; tarsus, 28; middle toe with claw, 35; culmen, 14. Iris yellow; legs and feet light yellow; bill yellow at tip, greenish at base. Food insects.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

“Mr. Whitehead’s Negros collection contains three adult examples of a little hawk owl, and I am in considerable doubt as to whether this form should not be separated from typical examples of N. philippensis from Luzon. I have before me at the present time nine examples from Luzon, two from Guimaras, four from Negros, and one from Siquijor. All seven birds from the last three mentioned islands differ very considerably from Luzon specimens. The latter have the chest and breast mostly tawny brown, shading into pale tawny toward the edges of the feathers, and the belly and flanks whitish, with rather ill-defined brownish red middles. In Negros birds, as well as those from the other central islands already mentioned, the feathers of the breast and chest are chocolate-brown edged with white, and the rest of the under parts are white, with fairly wide and clearly defined shaft-stripes of a dark brownish red color.

“The general impression conveyed is, that the Luzon birds have the under parts tawny brown, suffused with white on the belly and flanks, while in birds from the central islands, the chest and breast, as well as the rest of the under parts, are white, clearly striped with reddish brown. These birds remind one of small examples of Ninox japonica, though of course the latter has the stripes on the underparts of a much darker color. It is quite possible that it may be found necessary to separate the birds from Negros, etc., under some distinctive name, but before doing this I should like to have more material from the adjacent islands.” (Grant.)

225. NINOX EVERETTI Sharpe.
EVERETT’S HAWK OWL.