180 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxvn. 



tawny; all the feathers of the upper parts with the subbasal portions 

 tawn}^, the exterior webs of scapulars also of this color; wing-coverts 

 like the back, but with more whitish; wing'-quills fuscous, with broad, 

 broken, buii'y bars on the outer webs, and bars of ochraceous buff on 

 the inner vanes, these markings becoming distal ly more obsolete and 

 brownish; tail fuscous, the middle feathers very irregularl}' barred 

 and mottled with buffy and whitish, the rest vermiculated and more 

 regularly barred with buffy and ochraceous; forehead and supraloral 

 region mixed white, buff3'^, ochraceous, and dark brown; facial disk 

 tawny, mixed with whitish and blackish, bounded behind by a black 

 bar which is almost continuous with the black and tawny "horns;" 

 chin and throat white, between them a band of dark brown and tawny 

 feathers; chest deep tawny with vermiculations and large spots of 

 blackish, mixed with some white; rest of lower parts deep tawnj^, 

 with some admixture of white medially, and thickly barred with dark 

 brown; lining of wing white and tawn}', barred and spotted with 

 blackish; tibiae tawny, slightly spotted posteriorly with dusky; feet 

 and tarsi dull buff', almost unmarked. 



This form is much more different from all of its nearest geographic 

 relatives than it is from Asio m. virglnianus^ with which it closely 

 agrees in color, though much inferior in size. 



ASIO MAGELLANICUS MELANCERUS, new subspecies. 



Chars, subsp. — Similar to Asio magellanicus mesemhrin'us^ but rufes- 

 cent colors paler and less extensive both above and below, par- 

 ticularly on abdomen, thighs, and feet, the last more spotted; face 

 somewhat lighter. 



Type locality, — Tehuantepec City, Oaxaca, Mexico. 



Geographical dlstr'ihution. — Guatemala, and Mexico north to Jalisco, 

 Guanajuato, and southern Tamaulipas. 



Measurements {1 male). — Wing, 320 mm.; tail, 180 mm.; exposed 

 culmen, 36 mm.; culmen without cere, 26. {3 females.) — Wing, 

 345-355 (average, 3-11)) mm.; tail, 205-210 (average, 207.3) mm.; 

 exposed culmen, 39-41 (average, 40) mm.; culmen without cere, 

 27-29 (average, 28) mm. 



Bescription.~TjY>^^ n^nXt female. No. 59497, U.S.N. M.; Tehuan- 

 tepec City, Oaxaca, Mexico, October 16, 1869; F. Sumichrast. Upper 

 surface brownish black, mottled and vermiculated with white, buffy, 

 and deep ochraceous, this mai'king least extensive on the head; wing- 

 coverts like the back; wing-quills fuscous, with wide broken bars, 

 exteriorl}' of whitish or light brownish, interiorly of ochraceous or 

 ochraceous buff'; tail fuscous, broadly barred with whitish and ochra- 

 ceous, most irregularly on the middle feathers; forehead and supra- 

 loral region brownish black, mottled with white and buffy; facial disk 

 grayish, mixed with ochraceous and blackish, bounded behind by a 



