NINO.X. 303 



in the She-oaks, through which the road runs eastwards, beyond Rokeby. I saw them as I 

 drove by, and tried to catch them, but they were too strong on the wing." 



Mr. IMalcohn Harrison sends me the following notes from Ilobart, Tasmania :—" The 

 Spotted Owl (Niuos maculata) is widely distributed throughout Tasmania, there being few parts 

 in which its call may not be heard. The nesting place, however, is not by any means easily 

 located, and the two almost round, pure white eggs are looked upon as somewhat of a rarity. 

 ( )n one occasion only have I seen a set of three, and this clutch was obtained for me by Mr. A. 

 L. Morrisby, of Sandford, in November, 1899. These eggs, which are still in my cabinet, are 

 much larger than any other specimens I have seen, and this fact, together with the unusual 

 number, led me to believe that they might be those of Nino.x boobook, and caused me to take 

 a special trip to Sandford to convince myself. The bird proved to be an example of .V/;w.v 

 maculal,!, and was well known to Mr. Morrisby as living in the homestead barn during the 

 wmter. It had, moreover, an old wound on one of the eyes, which enabled him to identify it 

 with the nesting bird. When living at Newtown, near Hobart, one of these birds look up its 

 abode in a Cypress-tree, within a few feet of my front door, and remained there for several 

 months quite undisturlied by passers by." 



While in Tasmania I had an opportunity of examining the two sets of Spotted Owls eggs, 

 referred to by Mr. Harrison, in his collection. A set of two taken by Mr. E. H. Morrisby, on 

 the 8th November, 1897, from a nesting-place in the trunk of a White Gum-tree, about thirty 

 feet from the ground, are a very rounded oval in form, dull white, the shell being comparatively 

 close-grained, smooth and slightly lustrous, and having a few small limy excrescences. Length 

 (A) 1-52 X 1-3 inches; (B) v--,i x 1-33 inches. A set of three taken by Mr. A. L. Morrisby 

 from the same pair of birds, on the ist November, 1899, are larger and not so pronouncedly a 

 rounded oval in form, and measures : — Length (A) 1-63 x 1-37 inches ; (B) 1-65 x 1-37 inches; 

 (C) 1-65 X 1-37 inches. While resident at Table Cape, on the North-western coast of Tasmania, 

 Mr. E. D. Atkinson sent me an egg for examination, taken by Mr. Massey at JJridgewater, on 

 the 7th October, 1886. It measured 1-58 x 1-37 inches. 



Erom the preceding notes it will be seen that this species breeds much later than does 

 Niiwx counivciis, October and the three following months apparently constituting the breeding 



season. 



Ninox connivens. 



WINKING OWL. 



Faho connivens, Lath., Gen. Syn., Suppl. II., p. o3 (ISQ-J). 



Athene connivens, (ioM\(\,Bds. Anstr., fol. Vol., pi. 34 (1848). 



Hieracoglau.c conniven.-', Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 71 (1865). 



lYinox connire7is, Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. II., p. 175 (1875); v/., Hand-1. Bds., Vol. 

 I., p. -291 (1899). 



Adult male.— Genera/ colour above brown, ivith small roinulejl while gpots on (he hind-neck, 

 the lesser upper wing-coverts similarhj marked, and the median and upper greater iving-coverts and 

 scapulars conspicuously blotched with while ; quills brown, with broken paler brown cross-bars, which 

 pass info white on the inner webs of the innermost secondaries ; the outer webs of the primaries 

 slightly notched with white, and some of the paler brown bars on the basal portion of the primaries 

 freckled ivith darker brown : tail-feathers hro>cn, barred across and tipped with whif>/-broivn : crown 

 of the head and ear-corerts brown ; forehead, base of the feathers around th.' eye and the chin white ; 

 lores while, Ih-ir apirn' half black ; all the under surf tee lohite, each feather with a broad loagitndina.l 



