28(5 ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL 



buff ; the rest of the under surface white, with very large triangular spots ; 

 face silvery grey, with a strong shade of vinous ; gular plumes of the ruff 

 very conspicuously tipped with black. Total length 11-5 inches, tarsus 2-45, 

 middle toe ri5. 



B'. Another Gambian skin in the Museum, bought of Mr. Whitely, 

 appears to be an ordinary pale-coloured European bird, and is perhaps 

 a migrant from Europe. (N.B. — Messrs. Jaubert and Barthelemy- 

 Lapommeraye speak of a migration taking place in the south of France, 

 as also does Mr. Wright in Malta.) It has more orange on the upper 

 surface than either of the other two Senegambian specimens in the National 

 collection ; the mottling is rather brown than grey, and the spots are small ; 

 face white ; ruff pale, almost bulFy white, the gular plumes broadly tipped 

 with brown ; under surface pure white, the spots on the breast small but 

 distinct ; bars on quills four^ the end one dissolving ; bars on tail four. 

 Total length 12-5 inches, wing ir4, tail 4-8, tarsus 27. 



C. A bird presented to the Museum by the Rev, D. F. Morgan, differs 

 from the other two Gambian examples, and approaches the small form of 

 the Cape-Verde Islands (^Strix insularis of Pelzeln). It is peculiarly brown 

 in coloration, being, in fact, as remarkable for its brown plumage as the 

 Ruffisque bird is for its rich grey one. The spotting on the upper surface is 

 small,, and the spots on the breast are likewise minute, the colour of the 

 under surface being a very deep rich orange-buff; quills very deep orange, 

 the bars four in number (three only on first primary), very broad ; bands on 

 tail four, not counting the terminal brown mottling, which here forms a fifth 

 paler band ; face buffy white, rufous round the eye ; rufP deep orange, the 

 gular plumes of it tipped with brown. Total length 13 inches, wing 110, 

 tail 4-4, tarsus 2-35, middle toe 1"15. 



This specimen is exactly like the Cape- Verde Islands Owl, called Strix 

 insularis, which we shall next consider. 



Cape-Verde Islands. The Barn- Owl of these islands has been separated 



