(528) 



skins from Cherarda and Kanafii in Sonth Morocco. Tiiese three Morocran skins 

 are very dark, still darker than those from Alireria ; but cue collected by Messrs. 

 N. C. Rothschild and F. R. Henley on the f'haphren Pyramid in Egyjit is just 

 as dark, and absolutely indistinguishable, while Sheiidy specimens are as light 

 as any from South Tunisia. 



Mr. Dresser, on Plate 692 in the Supplement to his Birds of Europe, figures as 

 Bubo nscfdaphus an Eagle-owl which, judging from the jilate, is not an cigrrtliiphi's 

 at all. This skin was kindly sent us from the Manchester Museum. It agrees 

 with the ])late, though the latter is a little too dark. This skin was given to 

 Mr. Dresser by the late J. H. Gurney, sen. It is said to be from Egypt, but as 

 it has no original label, date, or e.xaet locality, this maybe doubted. It has only 6ne 

 wing. The bird agrees best with the type of our B/ibo bubo aliaronii, but is a little 

 lighter on the abdomen, neck, and head. It resembles Bubo bubo bevgalensis, 

 but is larger, and stands in many ways between our Eagle-owls of Europe and the 

 African ascrilaphus. Whether it came from Egyi)t, and whatever it may be, 

 it should never have been figured as a typical asralajihus. 



Since describing onr Bubo bubo aharonii we have received, from Mr. Aharoni, 

 other Eagle-owls from Palestine, which are not distinguishable from auralaphxg. 



We have no doubt that axrnlaplius is only found in South Algeria ; all reliable 

 information from Loche to this day jioints to this. Formerly, and ]irobably still, 

 an Owl closely allied to Bubo bubo bubo is found, though very rarely, in the Northern 

 Atlas, but we have not been able to get specimens or reliable information about it. 



146. Asio otus otus (L.). 



In tlie oak-woods above Lambfese, on May 11, l'.)09, a male of the Long-eared 

 Owl was shot, and this was the only instance when we came across it. We 

 have, however, several skins collected in North Tunisia by Paul Spatz during 

 the breeding season. These specimens do not seem to differ from European otus. 

 Iris bright orange. Bill blackish horn-grey; cere dark flesh-colour. Feet jiale 

 bluish flesh-colour, claws dark horn-colour, nearly black. 



147. Tyto alba alba (Scop.). 



The Barn-owl is one of those forms which extend from the Mediterranean 

 countries through Spain, southern and western France, by way of the Channel 

 Islands to England. Therefore we have hitherto called onr English Barn-owl 

 '■'■ Strir flail) inea kirchliolfi" a name given by C. L. Brehm to the Spanish form. 

 This nomenclature, however, is not tenable : the generic name Strix must be 

 confined to the "Brown Owls" (alnco), while the first generic name available 

 for the Barn-owls is Tyto of Billberg. Moreover, the specific name flAimmca 

 Linnaeus 1766 is invalidated by Stria: jiammea Poutopi)idau 1764, a name 

 undoubtedly referring to the Short-eared Owl.* Therefore the next oldest name, 

 Strix alba Scopoli, must be used. 



Algerian, Moroccan, and Tunisian Barn-owls cannot be separated from Italian 

 ones, therefore we must call them T>/to alba alba ! 



Barn-owls are generally by no means common in Algeria. Professor Koeuig 



* Apart from this Linnaeus' name Strix flammea was primarily based on the " StriT capitc laevi 

 mrpore lufeo" of the Fauna Suecica, wliioh was merely taken from one of Ruiibeck's pictures, which 

 represents a Short-eared Owl 1 



