of the same region being smaller bodied and shorter winged than var. magna of the United States, but with much larger feet, see p.
15
Strix flammea, var. perlata. Strix perlata, Licht. Verz. Doubl. 59, 1823.—Tschudi, Av. Consp. Wiegm. Archiv. 267, 1844.—Hartt. Syst. Ind. Azara. p. 3.—Max. Beitr. III, 263 (excl. syn.).—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 1855, 180 (excl. syn.). Strix flammea, Darwin, Zool. Beag. 34.—Schomb. Verz. Faun. Brit. Guian. p. 732.—Spix, Av. Bras. I, 21.
This is a still further differentiated or more appreciably modified race. It differs in smaller size (wing, 11.70–12.50; tail, 4.80–5.20; tarsus, 2.40–2.75) and more square tail, while the colors also present constant differences. The tail is much lighter compared with the wings, the bands narrower and more sharply defined, though the same in number.
16
Strix flammea, var. furcata. Strix furcata, Temm. Pl. Col. 432, 1838.—D’Orb. Hist. Nat. Cuba Ois. p. 34. Hab. West Indies (Cuba and Jamaica).
This form is the most distinctly characterized of all the races of S. flammea which we have examined. It has the general plumage decidedly lighter and less rufous, while the secondaries and tail are abruptly lighter than the adjacent parts, and usually free from bands, though there are sometimes traces of them.
All the American races of Strix flammea differ very decidedly from the European form (var. flammea) in much larger size. The differences in color are not so appreciable, and there is hardly any certain difference in this respect. The extreme phases, however, appear to be darker in the var. flammea than in the var. pratincola. The supposed differences in the character of the feathers fringing the operculum, insisted on by MacGillivray (History of British Birds, III, 1840, p. 473), I am unable to appreciate, for I cannot find that they differ in the least in the two races. That excellent ornithologist states that in the American “species” the feathers of the operculum are reduced to a simple tube, having neither filaments nor shaft, while in the European bird they are perfect feathers, with all their parts complete. Though this may have been the case with the one or more specimens of pratincola examined by Mr. MacGillivray, I have yet to see an American specimen which has not the feathers of the operculum just as perfectly developed as in European examples.
17
Strix flammea, var. delicatula. Strix delicatula, Gould, P. Z. S. 1836, 140.—Ib. B. Australia, I, pl. xxxi.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. 1855, 180. Hab. Australia.
18
Strix flammea, var. javanica. Strix javanica, Gmel. S. N. I, 295, 1789.—Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 64, and Gen. Hist. I, 357.—Horsf. L. Trans. XIII, 139.—Gray, Gen. B. fol. sp. 5, pl. xv.—Sykes, P. Comm. Zoöl. Soc. pl. ii, 81.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 1855, 180. Phodilus javanicus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. XIX, 513. Strix flammea, Pears. & Blyth. Hab. Java and Southern India, and Eastern Africa.
I have been unable to find any description of this form, and believe it to be unnamed. It is certainly not the S. dominicensis, Gmel. (S. N. 296, S. domingensis, Müll. Gray’s Hand List, 43, No. 438), not S. fusca, Vieill. (Gray’s Hand List, No. 439). The type is in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History, and belongs to the Lafresnaye collection (No. 787).
19
Otus vulgaris.Strix otus, Linn. S. N. p. 132, 1766.—Asio otus, Less. Strickl.—Bubo otus, Savign. Ulula otus, Macgill. Otus vulgaris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 56, 1828, et Auct. O. europæus, Steph. 1. O. albicollis, Daud. O. italicus, Daud. O. communis, Less. O. aurita, Mont. O. asio, Leach. O. sylvestris, O. arboreus, and O. gracilis, Brehm.
20
Otus stygius.Nyctalops stygius, Wagl. Isis, 1832, p. 1221.—Gray, Gen. B. p. 6, ed. 2, p. 8.—Bonap. Consp. Av. p. 50. Otus stygius, Puch. Rev. Zoöl. 1849, 29.—Gray, Gen. B. fol. sp. 12.—Kaup, Monog. Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, p. 113. Asio styg.? Otus siguapa, D’Orb. Hist. Nat. Cuba Ois. p. 31, Tab. 2, 1840.—Gray, Gen. fol. sp. 9.—Bonap. Consp. 50 (Cuba). Otus communis, var., Less. Tr. Orn. p. 110. Hab. South America (Brazil, ? Cuba, St. Paulo, Kaup).
21
Syrnium nebulosum, var. sartorii, Ridgway (Mexican Barred Owl). Hab. Mirador, Mexico. Char. Adult (♀, 43,131, Mirador, near Vera Cruz, Mexico, “pine region”; Dr. C. Sartorius). In general appearance like nebulosum, but the brown very much darker, and less reddish,—that of the markings below very nearly black; the pattern, however, precisely the same, and there is about the same proportion between the light and the dark bars as is seen in the average of nebulosum. The face is plain dirty white without the brown bars or semicircles,—a constant and conspicuous feature in nebulosum. There is the same number of spots on the primaries, and of bands on the tail, as in nebulosum. The white beneath is without any ochraceous tinge; the primary coverts are plain dark brown. Wing-formula: 4–3=5; 1 intermediate between 8 and 9. Wing, 14.80; tail, 9.00; culmen, 1.05; tarsus, 2.20; middle toe, 1.60. This race of the S. nebulosum presents very appreciable differences from the bird of the United States. As stated above, the brown is much darker and less reddish, while the face is wholly destitute of the concentric dusky rings seen in nebulosum proper. To Dr. Charles Sartorius, who, by the presentation to the Smithsonian Institution of numerous elegantly prepared specimens, has added so much to our knowledge of the birds of the vicinity of Mirador, I take great pleasure in dedicating this new form.
22
Syrnium nebulosum, var. fulvescens. Syrnium fulvescens, Salvin, P. Z. S. 1868, 58. Char. General appearance of var. nebulosum, but smaller and much more ochraceous. Ground-color of the plumage ochraceous, inclining to a deep fulvous tint on the upper parts, but paler below. Feathers of the upper surface tipped with dark umber-brown, and sometimes with an additional bar about the middle of the feather. The fulvous bars much exposed, so as to exceed the brown in amount. Face grayish-white, tinged outwardly with ochraceous. Beneath with the markings of nebulosum on a deep and uniform ochraceous ground. Wing, 12.75; tail, 8.50; culmen, .95; tarsus, 2.45; middle toe, 1.20 (Coll. Bost. Soc., No. 367, Guatemala; Van Patten).
23
Nyctale tengmalmi, var. tengmalmi. Strix tengmalmi, Gmel. S. N. p. 291, 1789 (et Auct. var.). Nyctale t., Bonap. et Auct. Noctua t., Cuv. et Auct. Athene t., Boie. Ulula t., Bonap. et Auct. Scotophilus t., Swains. Strix dasypus, Bechst. (1791) et Auct. Nyctale d., Gray. Strix passerina, A. Meyer, 1794.—Pallas. Nyctale planiceps, Brehm, 1831. N. pinetorum, Brehm, 1831. N. abietum, Brehm, 1831. N. funerea, Bonap. 1842 (not of Linn., 1761, which is Surnia ulula). “N. kirtlandi,” Elliot, Ibis, II, Jan., 1872, p. 48 (not of Hoy!).
24
Nyctale harrisi, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. IV, p. 157, Feb., 1849.—Ib. Tr. A. N. S. II, 2d series, Nov., 1850, pl. v.
25
Scops asio, var. enano, Lawrence, MSS. This well-marked race is founded upon two specimens,—one from Mexico, in the cabinet of Mr. Lawrence, and another from Guatemala, in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History. They are exactly similar in colors; but, as might be expected, the more southern specimen is the smaller of the two. This form very closely resembles the S. atricapilla
of the same region being smaller bodied and shorter winged than var. 