302 Mr. J. H. Gurney on an apparently 



As Mr. Hamilton saw young birds in the nests on 

 November 9^ and I found each nest containing eggs on 

 December 21 following^ it is quite evident that the Spotted 

 Shag breeds twice in the same season. 



In this part of New Zealand Is. 6d. is paid by the Accli- 

 matisation Society for each pair of feet of the Black Shag 

 {Ph. novee-hollandite), as this species is reputed to destroy the 

 imported fish, Now^ a Shag is a Shag with the general 

 public, irrespective of species ; in fact, according to them, a 

 Gannet [Dysporus serrator) is, as shown by the feet sent in 

 as those of the Black Shag ! However, it is to be hoped 

 that this colony will not be " wiped out/^ as has been the 

 case with several " Shaggeries " of the Black Shag and of 

 the White-throated Shag that I once knew of. 



XXXI. — On an apparently undescribed Species of Owl from 

 the Liu Kiu {or Loo Choo) Islands, pjroposed to be called 

 Scoj)s pryeri. By John Henry Gurney. 



Mr. Leonhard Stejneger has satisfactorily shown, in the 

 'Proceedings of the United States National Museum" for 

 1886, p. 639, that the Scops Owl described by the late 

 Mr. Cassin under the title of " Ephialtes elegans " is a good, 

 and distinct species, resident in the Liu Kiu Islands. 



I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Henry Seebohm for 

 the opportunity of examining a specimen in his collection of 

 this rare species, and agree with Mr. Stejneger^s conclusion 

 as to its specific distinctness. 



This, however, is not the only Scops Owl to be found in 

 the Liu Kiu group, and my present object is to describe two 

 specimens of the second Liu Kiu species, which were obtained 

 from that locality by the late Mr. Pryer, in commemoration 

 of whom, I would propose for this hitherto undescribed Owl 

 the name of Scops pryeri. 



Of the two specimens which I have examined, one is an 

 adult, now preserved in the Norwich Museum, the other a 

 young bird which I have no doubt had left the nest, but 



