( 110) 



NOTES ON EAGLE-OWLS. 

 By the HON. WALTER ROTHSCHILD and ERNST HARTERT. 



ABOUT a year ago we were told that a form of the Egyptian Eagle-Owl 

 occurred in Asia Minor. We therefore asked Mr. Carl Hilgert, who lias a 

 correspondent in Asia Jlinor, to procnre ns some specimens. This he did, and 

 we received four adnlt Eagle-Owls from Eregli, north of the Taurns Mountains. 

 They were, however, in no way like the Egyptian Eagle-Owl, bat very closely 

 allied to Bubo bubo turcomanus. They led us to compare the series of Eagle-Owls 

 in the Tring Museum, in which we have been particularly interested for some time, 

 with the following results : 



Bubo bubo bubo (L.). 



Sirix Bulm Linnaeus, Si/tt. Nat. ed. x. p. 92 (1758—" Habitat in Europa." Terra typica : " Sweden," 

 from the first quotation : " Fn. svec. 45 "). 



We have examined thirt3'-eight skins from Europe which we consider to 

 belong to this form. We are not able to separate any subspecies, except from 

 the farthest south-west (Spain) and the south-eastern parts of Russia (Southern Ural 

 and Caucasus). A good series from Norway and Sweden, and numerous skins 

 from Germany, show these birds to be absolutely the same, and examples from 

 Dalmatia, Croatia, Greece, and Italy are inseparable. Far from being in any way 

 smaller, we find very large examples among the series from Southern Europe. 

 This form is the darkest of all. The black shaft-stripes on the chest are broad, 

 and there are generally very distinct cross-bars. It extends into Northern and 

 Central Russia. 



An Eagle-Owl which must be very closely allied to B. bubo bubo is found 

 in Northern Algeria. Loche distinctly says that he had specimens, and 

 Taczanowski saw a stuffed one in the possession of an officer. Probably the 

 Algerian Eagle-Owl will he found to differ slightly from the North European 

 one. We suspect that it will only be found in the Northern Atlas Mountains, 

 while B. b. ascalaphus inhabits the southern ranges. 



Bubo bubo hispanus subspec. no v. 



? Bnbn maxhims ncculrnlnlis A. E. Brehm, Vei-. Santinl. p. 2 (ISStj — Nomen nudum !). 



The examination of seven Spanish Eagle-Owls, from Aguilas (Gray coll.), 

 Malaga, and Madrid, shows that they differ slightly from B. bubo bubo. As long 

 ago as 1857 A. E. Brehm remarked {Naturh. Zeitung iii. p. 441) that he was 

 almost inclined to consider the Spanish Eagle-Owls as synonymous with B. sibiricus. 

 Also, Professor Koenig remarked to one of us {in litte)-i-s) that he thought the 

 Si)anish form was separable. 



This is indeed the case, for the under surface is as a rule much paler, and 

 the wing averages from 2 to o cm. shorter. The black longitudinal marks on 

 the chest are sharply defined, and generally without cross-markings laterally. 



No name is available for this form. A. E. Brehm, in the list of C. L. Brehm's 

 collection, mentions a "Bubo maximus occidentalis" without description and 

 locality. This name was probably meant for the Spanish race, as it is scratched 

 on the label of the Spanish Eagle-Owl in the Brehm collection. 



The type of Bubo bubo hispanus is a male in the Tring Museum shot at a 

 nest containing two eggs near Aguilas, February 12, 1898, by Mr. Graj'. An 

 adult female from the same place, also shot from a nest, resembles more the 



