( n-^ ) 



Bubo bubo sibirica (ISc.hlegel & Susemihl). 



'• Slrix fiihiririi Lichtenstein " on plate H of "Die \'ili/'l Enrojxis" by Susemihl, with text by 

 Schlegel and others (1843. No text, but the plate is evidently taken from the specimen 

 marked Slrix .■ubirira by Lichtenstein, in the Berlin Museum, from the '■ Ural "). 



This beautiful Eagle-Owl is easily recognisable by its inucli lighter coloration, 

 the brownish yellow ground-colour being for the most part replaced by white. 

 The feet are very heavily feathered, and the size is very large. 



Instructive plates and very detailed descriptions of D. b. sibirica and B. b. 

 turcomana are to be fonnd in Menzbier's Ornitholoi/ie (In. Titrkfstnn, 4 livr. (1804). 



The Siberian Eagle-Owl breeds in Siberia, and appears partially to wander 

 southwards in the winter. 



Bubo bubo aharonii subspec. nov. 



This is by far the most interesting form of Eagle-Owl known to us, inasmuch 

 as it connects the northern Eagle-Owls with the ascalaphus group. It dift'ers 

 from the latter by the sides of the head and neck being distinctly barred with 

 blackish ; the feathers of the nape are dift'erently marked. In the northern 

 Eagle-Owls there are almost straight, wide black longitudinal stripes, while in 

 B. b. ascalaphus there are roundish light cream-coloured lateral patches to the 

 feathers which invade the black shaft-stripes, so that they become somewhat 

 crenated ; in B. b. aharonii these crenations are visible, but not so well developed 

 as in B. b. ascalaphus, and they are much more distinct in the supposed male, 

 less so in the supposed female. Altogether the supposed male is much more like an 

 ascalaphus, the female more like a bubn. The underside of the wings is marked 

 as in ascalaphus. In the supjiosed male the abdomen is marked as in ascalaphus, 

 while in the other specimen it is more distinctly and more frequently cross-barred 

 than in any ascalaphus, more as in bubo. The tarsus in ascalaphus is uniform, 

 while it is barred in bubo. In the supposed female of the new form the tarsus 

 is marked with narrow but distinct broad arrow-shaped cross-lines, while in the 

 male there are merely indications of cross-markings. The two specimens are alike 

 in size, the wings measuring 41 — 42 cm. 



We have received one pair from Mr. Aharoni in Jerusalem. They were 

 obtained on the Wadi Suenit, in the valley of the Jordan in Palestine, on April oth 

 or 6th, 1909. The supposed female (the type-specimen) is now in the Tring 

 Museum, while the other one had to be returned to Jerusalem. The specimen-? 

 were not sexed ; but it would seem that the lighter, more ascalaphus-\ike^ 

 specimen is a less heavy bird, its beak being somewhat slenderer, and therefore 

 we think that it must be the male, the other the female, as the two are said to 

 be a pair. "We have named this most interesting form in honour of Mr. Aharoni, 

 who is an enthusiastic naturalist. 



Bubo bubo ascalaphus Sav. 

 The late Huron von Erianger separated two subspecies— a northern, darker, 

 and a more southern, lighter one, in Tunisia ; while he also kept separate the 

 Egyptian form as a third subspecies. We are at jiresent unable to decide finally 

 whether the separation of these three races is possible or not, but we hope to 

 discuss this question in fnll. We obtained a dark form near El Kantara in 

 Algeria, and it seems as if more southern examples are lighter. 



