OTUS. 259 



dark brown shaft-stripes or spots ; abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts 

 extensively white with very little cinnamon and the brown mostly reduced 

 to fine speckles ; thighs and tarsi cinnamon with cross-lines of dark brown ; 

 upper parts dark rufous finely mottled with blackish brown, producing 

 a rather uniform coloration; lores, continuous with a line above eyes, 

 white; tips of nasal and loral bristles dusky brown or cinnamon, the 

 longest about 20 mm. ; modified feathers of ear-coverts and below eye 

 finely speckled with white and dark brown; behind this the incomplete 

 ruff forms a conspicuous rufous band along side of head, but most of the 

 feathers tipped with dusky brown; feathers of ear-tufts dark rufous with 

 irregular blackish spots toward tips ; wing-coverts and scapulars about 

 same as back, some of the latter with a large white area on outer web; 

 exposed surface of quills and tail similar and a little lighter than back; 

 tail crossed by several irregular lighter bars; quills dusky brown; outer 

 webs of outer primaries notched with pale cinnamon ; inner webs of quills 

 crossed by pale cinnamon bars which become very wide on secondaries; 

 tarsi feathered nearly to toes. Bill, feet, and nails brown, the feet with 

 a slight green wash ; iris bright yellow. Length, 216 ; wing, 169 ; tail, 85 ; 

 culmen, 21; tarsus, 31; middle toe with claw, 29. 



Female. In every way similar to the male. Length, 203; wing, 164; 

 tail, 81; culmen, 21; tarsus, 31; middle toe with claw, 28. In the red 

 phase, the white markings, except a few bars and freckles on abdomen and 

 flanks, are replaced by rufous. 



219. OTUS ROMBLONIS McGregor. 

 ROMBLON SCREECH OWL. 



Otus romblonis MCGREGOR, Publ. Gov. Labs. Manila (1905), 25, 12; Phil. 

 Jour. Sci. (1906), 1, 768; MCGREGOR and WORCESTER, Hand-List 

 (1906), 46. 



Banton (Celestino) ; Romblon (McGregor). 



Adult female, type. Feathers of upper parts rufous with median black 

 stripes on head, neck, and back, heaviest on head; ear-tufts colored like 

 neck and inconspicuous; white spots on scapulars washed with pale ful- 

 vous; lower parts and wings patterned as in 0. cuyensis but more 

 rufeecent; black band on side of head narrower and less marked than in 

 cuyensis. Length, 222; wing, 158; tail, 76; tarsus, 29; middle toe with 

 claw, 28. 



This species is similar to Otus cuyensis from which it differs in having 

 shorter wings and tail. 



