304 BULLETIN 3 5 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



habitats. Thus, Blanf ord ^^ found a pair on a rocky clift* ; 

 Erlanger °* found the species numerous in the vicinity of the periodic 

 stream beds in Somaliland as well as in thick bush country, Euphor- 

 bia and Acacia tangles, and the more luxuriant vegetation of south- 

 ern Gallaland. It does not seem to occur in the highlands, its alti- 

 tudinal limit being about 5,500 feet. 



This owl, like so many of its genus, is somewhat dichromatic 

 but the two phases, reddish and grayish, are less distinct than in 

 some other species. Neumann ^^ wrote that males were reddish 

 while females were grayer. Two years later ^'^ he said that this was 

 a mistake, the reddish birds being the females. Zedlitz ^^ noted 

 Neumann's first statement and, apparently overlooking the second 

 one, produced independent evidence to the effect that females tended 

 to be more reddish than males. The material of cinerascens that I 

 have examined shows no dichromatism as all are grayish birds (four 

 males and 1 unsexed, [type]), but the typical race is certainly 

 dichromatic and the phases can not be correlated with sex. 



According to Lynes ^^ this species breeds in the spring and early 

 summer in Darfur and the postnuptial molt occurs in autumn. 



The specimen collected by Mearns had been feeding on some very 

 large beetles, several of which were found in its stomach. 



BUBO LACTEUS (Temininck) 



Strix lactca Temminck, PI. Col., livr. 1, vol. 2, pi. 4, 1820: Senegal. 



Specimens collected: 

 Male, Cofali, Ethiopia, March 2, 1912. 



Two males and one female, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, 

 April 6-28, 1912. 



Soft parts: Iris, hazel; cere, greenish gray; bill, greenish white; 

 toes, pale greenish gray; claws, greenish brown, black at the tip. 



I have examined a series of 13 sj)ecimens from Ethiopia, Kenya 

 Colony, Tanganyika Territory, Uganda, and South Africa, and can 

 find no differences between them. Considering the enormous range 

 of this species (Senegal to Ethiopia and Bogosland, south to the 

 Cape of Good Hope) and the well-known variability of owls in 

 general, it is rather surprising to find no constant geographic forms. 

 Furthermore, the absence of recognizable races is not due to unsually 

 excessive nongeographic variations which might make subspecific de- 



«3 Geol. and Zool. Abyss., 1870, p. 302. 

 «<Journ. f. Oi-nltli., 1904, pp. 228-229. 

 MBull. Brit. Ornith. CI., vol. 12, 1902, p. 74. 

 MJourn. f. Ornith., 1904, p. 373. 

 •" Idem, 1910, pp. 733-734. 

 8»Ibis, 1925, p. 3SS. 



