Ordeb ACCIPITKES.] [Pah. STEIGID^E. 



SPILOGLAUX NOVJ1 ZEALANDIJ1. 



(NEW-ZEALAND OWL OR MOREPORK.) 



New-Zealand Owl, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 149 (1781). 



Strix novas seelandias, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 296 (1788, ex Lath.). 



Strix fulva, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 65 (1790). 



Noctua zelandica, Quoy & Gaim. Voy. de l'Astrol. Zool. i. p. 168, t. 2. fig. 1 (1830). 



Athene nova? seelandice, Gray, Voy. Ereb. & Terror, p. 2 (1844). 



Athene nova? zealandias, Gray, Cat. Brit. Mus. Accipitr. p. 52 (1844). 



Noctua venatica, Peale, U. S. Expl. Exp. p. 75 (1848). 



Spiloglaux novas seelandice, Kaup, Isis, 1848, p. 768. 



Ieraglauoc nova? zealandice, Kaup, Tr. Zool. Soc. iv. p. 218 (1852). 



Native names. 

 Ruru, Koukou, and Peho ; " Morepork" of the colonists. 



Ad. supra chocolatinus, scapularibus maculis fulvis plus minusve celatis notatis : loris, genis anticis et super- 

 cilio distincto fulvescentibus : regione auriculari chocolatina : tectricibus alarum medianis et majoribus 

 extus fulvo vel albo ruaculatis : remigibus brunneis, extus albo maculatis, et saturate brunneo trans- 

 fasciatis : Cauda, supra bnmnea, subtiis pallidiore, fasciis distinctis saturate brunneis transnotata : collo 

 laterali et corpore subtus toto lsete fulvis, medialiter late brunneo striatis : abdomine imo, hypochondriis 

 et subcaudalibus pulchre albo marmoratis : cruribus et tarsorum plumis lsete ferrugineis : rostro nigro, 

 culmine albicante : pedibus flavis, digitis setis nigricantibus indutis : iride aureo-flava. 



Adult male. Crown of tbe bead and all tbe upper parts dark umber brown, obscurely spotted on tbe scapulars 

 and wing-coverts witb fulvous wbite ; lores and region of the bill white, with black produced filaments ; 

 forehead, fore neck, and upper part of the breast light fulvous, mixed with brown ; underparts generally 

 fulvous, with triangular spots of dark brown disposed in rows and blending ; under tail-coverts fulvous, 

 barred with white ; quills and tail-feathers dark brown obscurely banded, the former touched on the 

 outer webs with fulvous white ; feathers covering the tarsi fulvous. Irides golden yellow ; toes yellow, 

 with dark hairs; bill black, white on the ridge. Length 12" 5 inches; extent of wings 25; wing, from 

 flexure, 8 ; tail 5 - 75 ; bill, along the ridge, 1, along the edge of lower mandible "75 ; tarsus 1-5 ; middle 

 toe and claw L25. 



Female. The female is slightly smaller, and the markings of the plumage are less distinct than in the male. 



Nestling. In their earlier condition the young birds are covered with whitish down, plumbeous beneath ; but 

 they assume the full plumage before quitting the nest. 



Varieties. Examples from different localities present slight but uniform differences of plumage. Specimens 

 from the Nelson Province are, on comparison with those from the north side of Cook's Strait, invariably 

 found to be more largely marked with white around the eyes and on the feathers surrounding the bill. 



D 



