410 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 97 
the Serra Imeri bird and not with the one from the Upper Orinoco. 
Similarly, our east Ecuadorian male agrees with the present Brazilian 
one. None of the birds seen approach the figure of O. w. usta Sclater 
(Trans. Zool. Soc. London, vol. 4, 1859, pl. 61), but Chapman (Amer. 
Mus. Nov., No. 332, 1928, p. 3) states that “Sclater’s plate suggests 
watson watsoni rather than the bird for which I accept the name 
usta.”’ Much more material is needed to elucidate the variations of 
this owl; at present it is not feasible to tell whether it is a species 
that breaks up into a number of local races or is merely very variable 
individually. 
PULSATRIX PERSPICILLATA PERSPICILLATA (Latham): Spectacled Owl 
Striz perspicillata Laruam, Index ornithologicus, vol. 1, 1790, p. 58 (Cayenne). 
SPECIMEN COLLECTED 
lad. o, Venezuela, Puerto Ayacucho, Rio Orinoco, January 2, 1930. 
Apparently rare or local throughout the Rio Negro—Orinoco 
country. 
CLAUCIDIUM BRASILIANUM PHALAEN OIDES (Daudin): Trinidad Ferrugineous Pygmy Owl 
Strix phalaenoides Daupin, Traité d’ornithologie . . - Vol. 2, 1800, p. 206 
(Trinidad). 
SPECIMENS COLLECTED 
lad. o&, Venezuela, Cerro Yapacana, Upper Orinoco, March 23, 1931. 
3 ad. 9, Venezuela, Puerto Ayacucho, Rfo Orinoco, May 18-20, 1931. 
These four specimens show a mixed assortment of characters that 
are difficult to reconcile with each other. They were submitted to 
Dr. John T. Zimmer for his expert opinion and for comparison with 
the fine material in the American Museum of Natural History, and 
he found them all to be referable to phalaenoides, although by no 
- Means all typical of that race. Thus, one of the Puerto Ayacucho 
birds he found to be very similar to duidae in respect to its dark color 
and unmarked mantle, but with the streaks on the top of the head 
less obvious than in that race. These streaks are sometimes absent 
in phalaenoides where the mantle is usually more strongly marked, 
but not always so. Since duidae, as currently understood, is a form 
of high elevations, it appears that this specimen may be looked upon 
as phalaenoides but showing a trend toward duidae. Another one of 
the Puerto Ayacucho birds, however, has larger spots on the head 
than it should have, and can be matched in this respect only with 
typical brazilianum. Zimmer writes me that his series of phalaenoides 
come fairly close in this regard and the bird is probably phalaenoides 
at one extreme of its variational range. The third example from 
Puerto Ayacucho is considerably larger than the other two, but not 
beyond the range of the series in the American Museum. The Cerro 
Yapacana bird appears to be a fairly normal phalaenoides. 
