BUBO ASCALAPHUS. 



(EGYPTIAN EAGLE-OWL.) 



Bubo ascalaphus, Savigny. Ois. de l'Egypte, &c. p. 50. no. 25, pi. v. (1810). 



Strix ascalaphus (Savigny), Cuvier, Begne Animal, p. 328 (1817). 



Otus ascalaphus (Savigny), Steph. in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. part 2, p. 56 (1826). 



Asio ascalaphus (Savigny), Lesson, Man. d'Orn. i. p. 115 (1828). 



Ascalaphia savignii, Geoff. St.-Hilaire, fide Gray, List of Gen. of B. p. 7 (1841). 



Ascalaphia, Lafresn. in d'Orbigny's Diet. Univ. d'Hist. Nat. ii. p. 203 (1844). 



Ascalaphia ascalaphus (Savigny), Gray, Hand-1. of B. i. p. 44. no. 455 (1869). 



Figurce notabiles. 

 Savigny, I. c; Temm. PL Col. ii. pi. 57; Fritsch, Vog. Eur. pi. xii. fig. 3; Schlegel & 

 Susemihl, Vog. Eur. pi. xl. 



Ad. supra rufescenti-cervinus, nigro-fusco et albido striatus et variegatus : nucha, minus notat& : uropygio 

 et supracaudalibus rufescenti-cervinis, fusco transfasciatis : rectricibus mediis dorso concoloribus, 

 reliquis fulvidis fumoso fasciatis, extimis pallidioribus et obsoletius fasciatis : mento et macula magna 

 gulari albis : corpore subtus reliquo cervino, pectore nigro-fusco notato, hypocbondriis et abdominis 

 plumis dimidio apicali delicate f usco vermiculatis : subcaudalibus magis fulvido lavatis : tarsis et digitis 

 pallide fulvido plumatis et indistincte fusco fasciatis : rostro nigro : iride laete aurantiaca. 



Adult (Egypt). Upper parts warm rufous buff, mottled with blackish brown and white, the nape less 

 mottled than the rest of the upper parts; rump and upper tail-coverts rufous buff, barred with 

 blackish brown ; tail rufous buff, barred with dark brown, the middle feathers rather paler and more 

 broadly barred and mottled with brown ; chin and throat white, the rest of the underparts buff, the 

 breast and upper flanks with large, long, brown blotches ; the abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts 

 narrowly barred with dull brown ; legs and feet covered with close, short, downy buff feathers, and 

 barred with pale brown : beak black; claws dark horny blackish; iris deep yellow. Total length about 

 20 inches, culmen 2-2, wing 157, tail 9'5, tarsus 2-7. 



This species, a southern representative of the Eagle-Owl, inhabits North Africa from Egypt to 

 Algeria and Palestine, and though it was stated to have occurred in Sicily {fide Temminck, 

 Bonaparte, and Malherbe) and in Sardinia {fide Malherbe), more recent investigation has shown 

 that this statement is based on error, and there does not appear to be any record of its having 

 been met with north of the Mediterranean. I may here remark that Senor Graells informed 

 Lord Lilford (Ibis, 1866, p. 180) that it had been obtained in the province of Catalonii, Spain, 

 but I think this highly doubtful. 



It is said to occur close to the town of Algiers, and there is a specimen in the museum of 

 that town. Dr. Koenig states (Journ. f. Orn. 1888, p. 163) that he saw a specimen at Tunis 



