C 533 ) 



not in the least separable. As Brehm has named and described the form from 

 Southern Spain as 



Strix flammea kirchhofii, 



this name mnst doubtless be nsed for the British Barn Owl.* 



The distribution of this form is not yet certain. I am inclined to think that it 

 extends along the Mediterranean to Egypt. I have an individual from Sardinia 

 before me in the Tring Museum which is extremely light above, but one from 

 England can hardly be distinguished from it. Therefore more material must be 

 compared to say whether the Sardinian, Corsican, etc., birds are separate from 

 kirchhoffi or not. In Italy the usual form of the Barn Owl is white below with a 

 pale rusty shade across the chest which is seldom absent, with few small spots 

 on the sides of the body, which are often absent, but mostl}' present. Sometimes 

 individuals occur with many spots below, like Egyptian individuals. In the Turati 

 collection in Milan such examples are represented from Lombardy. Dark 

 examples, like those from Germany, are extremely rare in Italy. They are 

 probably foreign to Italy and do not breed there. I have seen one from Lombardy 

 and one from Genoa. This latter individual has the face quite dark, and can hardly 

 be distinguished from the very constant and well-marked insularis from the Cape 

 Verd Islands I The spots in the centres of the feathers are black with white tips. 

 The wing measures 275 mm. 



Algerian and Tunisian Barn Owls are like our lurchhqfp, and perhaps not 

 separable from it. A series from Algeria (Loche coll.), in Milan (coll. Turati), 

 varies very much. Some are darker, some lighter above, but all are white below, 

 though spotted and punctulated in a very different degree. It would be worth 

 while to find out whether the coast-region, the mountains and towns on the borders 

 of the Sahara all have the same form or not ! The Algerian form has been well 

 described and named paradoxa by C. L. Brehm, and it is by no means necessary 

 to refer to his collection to recognise this name. Strixjlammea var. meridionalis 

 Koenig is clearly a synonym of paradoxa. Egyptian examples must— if separable 

 — bear the name splendens of Brehm, but from the material seen I do not see how 

 they can be separated from kirchhoffi ; I have, however, not seen many. Probably 

 they are more spotted with tiny black spots below, and the metatarsus is more bare. 

 I believe, however, that this latter character is not true, as it might be due to the 

 feathers of their legs being more worn. The same peculiarity is more or less seen 

 in those from Tunis and Morocco. 



South of Egypt proper, near Khartum, a very peculiar form occurs, a large long- 

 legged one with pale but not pure white undersurface, with arrow-shaped spots, 

 and with a strongly spotted beautiful uppersnrface. This is maculata of Brehm. 



Brehm's maryaritata (ex Paul of Wiirttemberg's MS.) is hardly clear. The 

 type is a bird labelled " Egypt," exactly like maculata, but smaller. With this 

 Brehm unites a bird from Saxony and one from Gera, in Reuss, of which he says 

 that it is the one formerly described by him as Strix guttata ! 



A very interesting form inhabits Madeira and probably also the Canary 

 Islands. It has the dark colouratit)n above of Strix j/ammea from Central Europe, 

 but the face is whitish with very dark spots round the eyes, combined with a very 



* This is not the only instance of Mediterranean forms reaching England via France. A similar 

 ase is that of the Dartford Warbler (Melizophihis viulalus). 



