Part 95

Genera.

a1. Toes without bristles.

b1. Larger; wing, 230 mm. or more, but relatively shorter, falling short of the end of tail. ... Pseudoptynx (p. 249) b2. Smaller; wing, 220 mm. or less, but relatively longer, when folded reaching nearly or quite to tip of tail. ... Otus (p. 252)

a2. Toes scantily clothed with rather stiff bristles. ... Ninox (p. 260)

Genus PSEUDOPTYNX Kaup, 1848.

Large; ear-tufts moderate; primaries but little longer than secondaries; plumage full and streaked; legs closely feathered to the toes; toes naked.

Species.

a1. Larger; wing, 330 to 380 mm.

b1. Smaller and lighter; wing, about 350 mm. ... philippensis (p. 250) b2. Larger and darker; wing, about 375 mm. ... mindanensis (p. 251)

a2. Smaller and darker; wing, about 235. ... gurneyi (p. 250)

206. PSEUDOPTYNX PHILIPPENSIS Kaup.

LUZON HORNED OWL.

Pseudoptynx philippensis Kaup, Cont. Orn. (1852), 117. Bubo philippinensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1875), 2, 43. Pseudoptynx philippensis Walden, Trans. Zool. Soc. (1875), 9, pt. 2, 144, pl. 25, fig. 2; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 284; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 46. Bubo philippensis Grant, Ibis (1894), 503.

Luzon (Cuming, Heriot, Möllendorff, Steere Exp., Whitehead, McGregor).

"Adult (type of species).--Above tawny-rufous, the feathers mesially dark brown, giving a closely striped appearance; the wing-coverts rather darker, some of the scapulars and greater-coverts externally creamy buff, forming a kind of longitudinal bar down the latter; entire head and auricular-tufts colored like the back, but somewhat more narrowly streaked; quills dull brown, tipped with fulvous, more plainly on the secondaries, the primaries spotted on the outer and barred on the inner web with pale tawny-rufous, the bars more distinct on the secondaries; tail-feathers dull brown, tipped with fulvous and crossed with a few bars of tawny-buff, the middle feathers nearly uniform, with only one bar and indications of a second, the bars gradually increasing in number toward the outer tail-feather, which has five bars on the inner web, and is externally tawny-buff; lores white, the anterior bristles black toward tip; sides of face tawny, with white shafts; facial disk tawny, with central streaks of brown to the feathers, which are fulvous at base; under surface of body buffy white, longitudinally streaked with dark brown centers to the feathers, each mesial streak having a narrow edging of rufous on each side, and decreasing in width toward the abdomen and under tail-coverts, the tarsal feathers entirely uniform; under wing-coverts buffy white, the outermost longitudinally spotted with dark brown, the greater series whitish at base, brown at tip, resembling the inner lining of the wing. Bill horn-blue at base, yellow at tip; feet fleshy brown, claws light horn-color. Length, 546; auricular-tufts, 33; culmen, 58; wing, 356; tail, 178; tarsus, 68." (Sharpe.)

An adult male was taken near Irisan, Benguet Province, Luzon. Iris yellow; bill pale horn-blue, cere similar but darker; feet pale dingy blue; nails blackish. Length, 483; wing, 350; tail, 185; culmen from base, 47; tarsus, 77.

207. PSEUDOPTYNX GURNEYI Tweeddale.

GURNEY'S HORNED OWL.

Pseudoptynx gurneyi Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), 940, pl. 58; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 284; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 46.

Mindanao (Everett).

Adult male.--"Sides of face bright pure unmarked rufous; lengthened stiff plumes springing from base of maxilla rufous, mixed with tawny, and many with dark brown shafts and tipped with dark brown; space above front of eyes, uniting on forehead and extending back over eyes, pale tawny-rufous; crown and occiput dark rufous, many of the feathers with a broad dark brown mesial stripe; nape and sides of neck pure rufous; lengthened ear-tufts rufous, some with very narrow brown mesial linear markings near their apices; plumes bordering facial disk albescent tawny, some almost pure white, tipped with dark brown; chin and upper throat tawny-rufous; middle of throat white; breast and remainder of lower surface pure rufous, more dilute on lengthened tibial plumes and under tail-coverts; a few pectoral plumes with large, dark brown, terminal drops; many abdominal plumes, with elongated dark brown, central stripes; back rufous, minutely freckled with brown, each feather with a bold, irregular, dark brown central stripe; scapulars like back, but some of the shorter and outer ones albescent tawny on outer webs; dark brown central marks so arranged that the back, together with the scapulars, appears to have three parallel dark brown stripes running down it; rump and upper tail-coverts rufous brown, with darker shafts; rectrices brown, minutely freckled with pale rufous, and with eight or nine rufous cross-bands; lesser and median wing-coverts brown, freckled with rufous, each with a narrow central brown line; greater coverts brown on inner web, freckled with rufous on outer web; quills brown, alternately banded with freckled brown and pale rufous; tertiaries pure rufous, with traces of dark brown along the shafts; edge of wing white; lining yellowish white; some of the under carpal coverts rufous; thigh and tarsal coverts pale rufous and tawny white. 'Iris warm brown; bill grayish white; feet pale gray; claws white tipped with dark gray.' (Everett.) Wing, 236; tarsus, 46; culmen without cere, 28; middle toe, 35." (Tweeddale.)

This species differs from P. philippensis in its smaller size, more rufous under surface, darker upper surface, and finer dark markings of the mantle.

208. PSEUDOPTYNX MINDANENSIS Grant.

MINDANAO HORNED OWL.

Pseudoptynx mindanensis Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1906), 16, 99; Ibis (1906), 496.

Mindanao (Goodfellow).

Adult male.--"Nearly allied to P. philippensis, from which it differs in being somewhat larger and in the following points: General color of upper parts much darker, the feathers being brownish black, and rather narrowly margined with sandy rufous, instead of bright tawny-buff; primary quills dark brown, with only faint traces of buff markings; secondaries similar with faintly indicated grayish buff transverse markings; tail-feathers brown, with whitish or whitish buff transverse markings, rather faintly indicated on outer webs; under parts more heavily streaked with blackish. 'Iris light brownish gold; bill whitish toward the tip, bluish gray at base; feet pale gray; nails white at base, gray at tip.' (Goodfellow.) Length, about 495; culmen, 51; wing, 371; tail, 185; tarsus, 76." (Grant.)

Genus OTUS Pennant, 1769.