300 



BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



As long ago as 1895, Sharpe/^ when reporting on the birds col- 

 lected by Donaldson Smith in Somaliland, noted that the Somali 

 birds were darker than the figure given by Von Heuglin for 

 spilogaster **^ and that the rufous streaks on the underparts were 

 broader than in the latter. He did not attempt to separate them, 

 however, but it is very clear that the birds he had were somaliensis 

 and not sf Hog aster. 



But little has been recorded of the habits of this owl. It appar- 

 ently lives in fairly open country where termite mounds are found, 

 as both Hawker *^ and Shelley *^ record that it breeds in hol'es in these 

 mounds. Lort Phillips *^ found it to be common, as did both the 

 other writers just mentioned, but found it breeding in hollow trees 

 as well as in white-ant hills. 



Inasmuch as this bird is rather rare in collections, I append the 

 measurements of the three sexed specimens seen. 



All the birds are in fresh plumage. 



These measurements agree fairly well with those given by Er- 

 langer ^*' except that his figures foi" the culmen are slightly larger as 

 are also those for the tail, but the difference is not great. 



GLAUCIDIUM PERLATUM (Vieillot) 



8.trix perlata Vieillot, N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., vol. 7, p. 26, 1817: Senegal. 

 Specimens collected : 



Two females, Gato Kiver near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 16 to May 

 13, 1912. 



One female, Yebo, Ethiopia, June 21, 1912. 



Soft parts: Eyelid, black; cere and bill, greenish yellow; bare 

 chin and toes yellow. 



A careful study of the plumage variations of this owl and a 

 survey of the literature have convinced me that it is not possible to 



« proc. Zool. Soc. Lend., p. 504. 



"Orn. Nordost Afr., vol. 1, pi. 4, 1869. 



« Ibis, 1899, p. 77. 



«ldem, 1885, p. 392. 



«Idem, 1898, p. 418. 



MJouin. f. Ornith., 1904, pp. 238-239. 



