Part 100

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.

Basilan (Steere Exp.); Luzon (Heriot, Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Steere Exp.); Negros (Keay); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester). Himalayas, Indian Peninsula, Burmese countries.

"Adult female.--Above ashy brown, the head very much grayer, the sides of the face and neck being decidedly light gray; forehead, lores, fore part of cheeks and chin very conspicuously white, the loral plumes with hair-like black shaft-lines; feathers round the eye grayish; scapulars marked externally with large bars of white, not very distinct, and often half concealed; upper wing-coverts ashy brown like the back, the outer median-coverts and the primary-coverts deeper and more inclining to sepia-brown; quills dark brown, a little deeper than the back, barred across with light ashy or grayish brown, inclining to whitish on the outer web of some of the primaries and inner secondaries, most of which are narrowly tipped with white; tail very pale grayish brown, inclining to white at the base, and also tipped with white, crossed with six blackish brown bands; under surface of body white, the throat yellowish buff, streaked longitudinally with grayish brown, the chest broadly streaked with rufescent brown, the abdomen spotted, and each feather subterminally barred with the same; under tail-coverts pure white, the basal ones with a few brownish bands; leg-feathers rufous-brown, very slightly mottled with whitish cross-markings; under wing-coverts white, barred across with dark brown, the outermost almost entirely brown, the edge of the wing white; the greater series dusky grayish brown, barred with buffy white, thus resembling the inner lining of the wing, which is grayish brown, barred with buffy white on the inner web, these bars inclining to fulvous near the base. Cere and bill green, the tip of the latter dusky; feet grayish or reddish yellow; iris bright golden yellow. Length, 343; wing, 232; tail, 145; tarsus, 34.

"Adult male.--Smaller than the female, and having only five blackish bands on the tail. Length, 292; wing, 216; tail, 142; tarsus, 29." (Sharpe.)

"The two specimens collected measure 294 in length; culmen, 15; wing, 222; tail, 123; middle toe with claw, 30; tarsus, 28. Iris yellow; legs and feet yellow; bill black along gape, elsewhere dirty greenish. Food insects." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

222. NINOX SCUTULATA (Raffles).

RAFFLES'S HAWK OWL.

Strix scutulata Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1822), 13, pt. 2, 280. Ninox scutulata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1875), 2, 156 (part); Hand-List (1899), 1, 290; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 329; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 47.

Palawan (Platen). Southern India, Malay Peninsula, Greater Sunda Islands, Ceylon, Tenasserim.

"Adult (type of Athene malaccensis ).--Above deep chocolate-brown, the head slightly darker, the scapulars with concealed white bars; wing-coverts exactly like the back and equally uniform, the primary-coverts blackish, quills dark brown, slightly washed externally with ocherous, the primaries inclining to rufous-ocherous toward their tips, all the wing-feathers nearly uniform, with no lighter cross-bands, the inner secondaries barred with white, but these bars entirely concealed; upper tail-coverts uniform chocolate-brown like the back; tail-feathers ashy brown, rather paler at tips, and crossed with five blackish bands (one basal and concealed); sides of face chocolate-brown, as also the sides of the neck, the latter slightly washed with rufous; forehead and lores whitish, the latter obscured by blackish shaft-lines; chin whitish, slightly streaked with brown; rest of under surface rufous-chocolate, the throat washed with buff, the breast varied with white, generally as if streaked, the margins to the feathers being whitish; on the abdomen the white predominating and cutting across the feather, so as to form an oval spot of brown at the tips of the abdominal plumes, leg-feathers brown; under tail-coverts whitish; under wing-coverts rufous-chocolate, the inner feathers washed and barred with ochraceous-buff, the edge of the wing whitish; the greater series sepia-brown, nearly uniform, excepting for a few ochraceous bars near the base, thus resembling the inner lining of the wing, which is sepia-brown, with a few ochraceous bars near the base of the quills. Length, 317; wing, 213; tail, 122; tarsus, 28." (Sharpe.)

223. NINOX JAPONICA (Temminck and Schlegel).

JAPANESE HAWK OWL.

Strix hirsuta japonica Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Aves (1850), 29, pl. 9 B. Ninox scutulata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1875), 2, 156 (part). Ninox scutulata japonica Meyer and Wiglesworth, Bds. of Celebes (1898), 1, 96. Ninox japonica Grant, Ibis (1896), 111; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 290; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 330; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 47; McGregor, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 283.

Cuá-go, Manila; cok-cok, Calayan; ngi-ngi-aó, Cuyo.

Basilan (Mearns, McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (Bourns & Worcester); Cuyo (McGregor); Fuga (Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Everett, Celestino); Mindoro (Whitehead). China, Japan, Indo Malayan islands; in winter to Celebes, Ternate, and Sangi Islands.

Adult.--"Above vandyke-brown, washed on the head with grayish, and with rufous on the back, sides of neck, throat, and wings; wing-coverts unspotted, the outer ones dark purplish brown, the inner ones like back, scapulars with concealed white spots; outer web of primaries light cinnamon-rufous with two or three partially obliterated yellowish bars; tail reddish brown crossed with five dusky bars and terminally margined with buff; under parts white with long oval light chestnut-brown spots; under side of wing banded on the inner webs of the feathers with yellowish isabelline except on the ends of the primaries. 'Iris golden yellow; bill dark lead-gray; feet light yellow.' (Platen). Wing, 218 to 235; tail, 115 to 136; tarsus, 25 to 29; culmen from cere, 13 to 17." (Meyer and Wiglesworth.)

"A male of the Japanese hawk owl was obtained on the Island of Fuga. It differs from the typical N. japonica from Japan and the Loo Choo Islands in having the predominating color of the under parts white instead of reddish brown, all the feathers being white, with an oblong reddish brown spot, about 15 mm. long, at the end of each. Examples from Luzon and Mindanao, however, approach the Fuga Island bird, having less reddish brown and more white on the under parts.

"N. japonica appears to be perfectly distinct from the Indian N. scutulata, the markings on the sides and flanks in the latter species taking the form of wide bars with a detached heart-shaped spot or bar at the tip of each feather. The sides and flanks thus appear spotted, not longitudinally streaked, as in N. japonica." (Grant.)

The Japanese hawk owl is a common species. In Calayan Island I killed a number of specimens on the beach and in both Fuga and Camiguin I found it common in the forest. The number of bars on the wings and tail is by no means invariable and must not be depended upon in identifying this species.

224. NINOX PHILIPPENSIS Bonaparte.

PHILIPPINE HAWK OWL.

Ninox philippensis Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. (1855), 41, 654; Walden, Trans. Zool. Soc. (1875), 9, 144, pl. 25, fig. 1; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1875), 2, 167; Hand-List (1899), 1, 290; Grant, Ibis (1896), 531; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 47.

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.)