121 



except in the uniform darli plumbeous of the lower parts it is exactly like 

 dark Ecuador examples of N. ventralls, while the type of the supposed 

 species is from the Quito Valley. In his recent work on the Owls,* 

 Mr. Sharpe mentions (on p. 23) a specimen of Bubo, supposed to be 

 B. virpinianus, in the Salvin-Godman collection, from Ecuador, " which 

 is so black as to suggest the possibility of its being a case of melanism". 

 Should this remarkable bird prove to be indeed a melanism of either 

 B. virginianus or B. magcllaniciis, the case will be a unique one in this 

 family, so far as we know; and allowing the probability of this proving 

 to be really its character, it is reasonable to suspect a similar exceptional 

 case in the bird under consideration. 











List of specimens in United States National Museum. 





6 



<D 

 3 

 bO 

 o 



3 



oil 



a 



<s c 



o 



6 

 To 





6 



CO 



Locality. 



When col- 

 lected. 



Fromwbo.ni received. 



Collected by — 



67344 







s. 



M. 



9 ad. 

 9 juv. 





G. B. Goode 





61943 

























Oilier specimens examined. — Mus. O. Salviu, 8; G. X. Lawrence, 2; Philad. Acad., 

 6; total uuiiiber examined, 18. 



Measurements. 



01942 



O.S 

 -do . 

 -do. 

 .do. 

 -do. 

 ..do . 

 U. S 

 .do . 

 O.S. 

 .do . 



w 



<S ad. 

 d ad. 

 cT ad. 

 d ad. 

 cTjuv. 

 ? ad. 

 ? ad. 

 ?juv. 

 $jnv. 



Locality. 



Venezuela (ilerida) 



Ecuador 



!New Granada 



New Granada (interior) . 

 Ecuador (near Quito) . . . 

 'New Granada (interior) . 



Ecuador 



" Soiith America'' 



Colombia (Antioquia) .. 

 do 



6.80 



5.80 



6. 75 



6.00 



C. 80 



0.00 



6.95 



5.70 



6.60 



6.00 



8.00 



7.00 



7.80 



7.00 



7.80 



H. SO 



7.75 



6.90 



6.80 



6.20 



0.40 

 0.40 

 0.45 

 0.40 

 0.40 

 0.50 

 0.50 

 0.50 

 0.55 

 0.42 



1.90 

 1.90 



2.00 

 1.95 



2.15 

 2.20 

 2.15 

 2.10 



Collected bv- 



1.25 



1.25 

 1.30 

 1.40 

 1.45 

 1..50 

 1.50 

 1.30 



Goering. 



Higgina. 



^Verreaux.) 



Triibner. 



Hijcsins. 



Triibner. 



T. K. Salmon. 

 Do. 



NISUS SALVINI. 



XisHS salvini, Ridgw. sp. nov. 



Wing, 7.60-7.80; tail, G.90-7.00 ; culmen, 0.50; tarsus, 2.15-2.20; mid- 

 dle toe, 1.45-1.50. Fourth and fifth quills longest; first shortest; outer 

 five with inner webs emargiuated. Tail nearly even or very slightly 

 rounded ( 2 ), 



Adult [female f). — Above, including the auriculars, uniform plumbeous, 

 the scapulars and upper tail-coverts with concealed w^hite spots ; tail 

 black, narrowly tipped with pale gray, and crossed hy four narrow 

 bands of light brownish-gray. Tibijv uniform cinnamon-rufous; rest 

 of lower parts white; the feathers with dark-brown shafts, except on 

 thecrissum. Wing, 7.00 ; tail, 0.90. (Coll. O. Salvin.) 



Young {female f). — Above, dark sepia; the feathers with distinct ter- 

 minal borders of rusty. Tail narrow!}' tipped with white, and crossed 



* Catalogue of the Striges, or Nocturnal Birds of Prey, in the Collection of the British 

 Museum, By E. Bowdler Sbarpe. London : 1875. 

 No. "2 3 



