256 BtTBONIDj;. 



back, the whitish margins not so broad, the greater series dull brown, 

 barred with lighter brown, inclining to white at the tips ; quills brown, 

 tipped with whitish and broadly banded across with lighter brown, 

 these bands being paler and more ashy white on the outer webs, 

 especially of the primaries, where the external white markings are 

 ver}- large and give a chequered appearance to the outer aspect of the 

 wing ; upper tail-coverts pale brown, mottled all over ^vith irregular 

 spots and bars of ashy white ; tail-feathers dull brown, and crossed 

 with six broad bands of ashy brown, the last subterminal and pre- 

 ceding a whitish tip to all the feathers ; frontal plumes dark brown 

 and not distinctly streaked like the hind neck and back ; facial as- 

 pect dusky white, with a few indistinct dark brown streaks on the 

 ear-coverts, the loral plumes with black shaft-lines ; facial ruff very 

 distinct and complete, white, with brown bases and central streaks 

 branching out into small bars near the apex of the plumes, and thus 

 producing somewhat of a mottled appearance on the lower portion of 

 the ruff, the brown being entirely confined to a central streak ; rest 

 of under surface whitish, some of the feathers washed with yellow, 

 and all of them very broadly streaked down the centre witii dull 

 brown, blacker on the flanks and abdomen ; leg-feathers uniformly 

 whitish ; under wing-coverts white, streaked with brown at a little 

 distance from the outer edge of the wing, the greater series dark 

 brown, whitish at base, resembling the inner lining of the wings, 

 which are dark brown, broadly barred with yellowish or yellowish 

 white on the inner web. Total length 27'5 inches, wing 15"7, tail 

 12-5, tarsus 2-3. 



Obs. A specimen from the Ussuri River, collected by Dr. Dybowski 

 and now in the iluseum, differs from the European birds examined 

 by me in being a much darker bird everywhere, the brown predo- 

 minating and the white margins not so broad, the scapulars, secon- 

 daries, and upper taQ-coverts inclining to clear ashy grey on the 

 margins ; sides of the neck and facial ruff purplish brown, the latter 

 mottled and spotted with white ; under surface of body much more 

 broadly streaked than in the European specimens. It measures as 

 follows — total length 24-5 inches, wing 14-3, tail 11-5, tarsus 2-2. 

 The feathers of the foot seem to me to be thicker and longer than in 

 the Swedish and Styrian birds in the Museum ; and the Japanese 

 specimen also seems to me to be equally thickly clothed as regards 

 the feet. 



Hah. Northern Europe and Siberia. 



a. 2 ad. St. Lappmark, Sweden. Prof. Wahlberg [0.]. 



b. § ad. st. Styria. Purchased. 



c. S ad. sk. Ussuri River, Nov. 5th, Warsaw Museum [E.]. 



1873 l^DybowsM). 



Subsp. o. Syrnium fuscescens*. 



Strix rufescens, Temm. ^- 8chl. Faun. Japon. Aves, p. 30 ; Midd. 

 Sibir. Reise, p. 130. 



* This species is ealled rufescens in the test vmA fuscescens on the plate in the 



