28 Strioes. 



Adult (type of species). General colour above dark chocolate- 

 browii, everywhere on the upper surface crossed with indistinct 

 bars of paler brown, rather more distinct on the scapulars and on 

 the sides of the hind-neck ; head darker than the back, and nearly 

 uniform, the cross-bars very indistinct, excepting on the sides of 

 the crown, above the ear-coverts, and on the sides of the neck, 

 which are brown, distinctly rayed with fulvous cross-bars ; ear- 

 coverts black ; cheeks rayed liiie the sides of the neck, the fore- 

 part whitish like the lores, the latter having very distinct blackish 

 shaft-stripes forming overhanging bristles ; under surface of body 

 orange-buff, barred across with light brown, more dingy on the 

 chest; the abdomen white, barred across with pale orange-brown, 

 these bars disappearing on the under tail-coverts, which are pure 

 white, with only a slight indication of pale bars at the tips of the 

 long feathers ; leg-feathers orange-buff, with a few indistinct 

 brown markings ; under Aving-coverts orange-buff or fulvous, 

 barred across with light brown, with a brown patch near the 

 outside of the wing, this being pure white, the lower series 

 brown, barred with white, so as to resemble the inner lining of 

 the quills, Avhich are dark brown below, with pale greyish bars on 

 the inner webs ; the wings above chocolate-brown, with the same 

 indistinct cross-bars as on the back, less distinct on the external 

 coverts and on the least series, which are almost uniform ; prim- 

 ary-coverts uniform blackish-brown ; quills dark brown barred 

 across with lighter brown, the secondaries paler and the cross- 

 bars rather lighter on the extreme edge both of the primaries 

 and secondaries; upper tail-coverts like the back, but the cross- 

 bars a little paler ; tail dark brown narrowly tipped with whitish, 

 and barred across with lighter brown, about eight bars being 

 distinguishable. Total length 18 inches, wing 13"4, tail 9. tarsus 

 IS {Mus. Paris).* 



[The above is Dr. Sharpe's description of the type specimen in 

 the Paris Museum, of which a figure is given in the Atlas of the 

 "Voyage au Pole Sud." It was in an Appendix to the " Annual 

 Eeport on British New Guinea for 1894-," that Mr. De Vis,t the 

 Curator of the Queensland Museum, first drew attention to the 

 existence of this species in Australia, and he there states his 

 belief that it is identical with Ninox rufa of Gould. Mr. De Vis 

 has kindly sent me for examination a specimen obtained in the 

 scrubs of north-eastern Queensland. It is a male and is labelled 

 Herbert Gorge, October, 1886. This specimen cannot be dis- 

 tinguished from typical examples of N. humeralis, obtained in 

 New Guinea. In all the specimens examined belonging to this 

 species, the ear-coverts are black and the tail feathers crossed 

 with eight pale brown bars. 



Habitat. New Guinea, North-eastern Queensland. 



* Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ii, p. ISO (1S75). 

 t De Vis, Ann. Rep. Brit. New. Guin., App. E.E., p. 99 (1S94). 



