9 [Vol. xii. 



' Cabure" Brasiliensibus/ does not apply to it, but certainly to 

 Glaucidium ferox (Vieill.) ! 



" There is not the slightest doubt that Marcgrave's de- 

 scription refers to the Glaucidium which is known in Brazil 

 under the name of ' Cabure/ and all descriptions of subse- 

 quent authors cited by Gmelin are simply copied from that 

 of Marcgrave. 



" The error has evidently arisen from the fact that Brisson 

 makes a ( Hibou ' of Marcgrave's ' Cabure/ and that 

 Buffon, having never examined the bird himself (' Marcgrave 

 est le seul qui ait decrit cet oiseau '), says ' L'oiseau Cabure ou 

 Caboure par les lndiens du Bresil qui a des aigrettes des 

 plumes sur la fete,' while Marcgrave makes no mention of 

 ear-tufts. Latham, following these authors, calls it the 

 c Brazilian Eared Owl ' ; but his description is taken from 

 the same source, viz., that of Marcgrave, as is also the 

 diagnosis given by Gmelin himself. 



" It follows that the common South American Megascops 

 ought to be called M. choliba (Vieill.), 1817, ex Azara (typ. 

 ex Paraguay), and that the Glaucidium otherwise called 

 G. ferox (Vieill.) ought to bear the name G. brasiliense 

 (Gml.), 1788, ex Marcgrave (typ. ex Brasil or.). 



" Regarding Megascops choliba, I may remark that the 

 typical form occurring from Paraguay through Bolivia and 

 Eastern Peru to Colombia (and perhaps through Central 

 America to Mexico) has a distinct rufous (fox-red) phase and 

 also a dark rufous-brown one. 1 have in my collection fox-red 

 birds from Paraguay, Upper Amazons, and Colombia (Bogota). 



" The eastern forms seem to have no fox-red phases. 

 There is a large race from Southern Brazil (Sta. Catharina 

 and Rio Grande do Sul), named by Mr. Salvin S. santa- 

 catarince. In size it hardly differs from true M. choliba of 

 Paraguay and Bolivia, but in the pattern of the plumage 

 there are some slight discrepancies. It has a dark blackish- 

 brown phase and a lighter rufous- brown one. It should 

 stand as M. choliba santa-catarincs (Salv.). 



"Another form occurring in the environs of Bahia, of 

 smaller dimensions and with a distinct greyish-brown phase 



