Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 
247 
is to retain the out-of-date nomenclature to be found in the <f Catalogue 
of Birds in the British Museum,” or, of another school, in Reichenow’s 
works on the ornithology of Africa. It is therefore a great pity that it 
becomes necessary to indicate that the same careful scrutiny has not been 
applied to all the races and even some species of African birds. I note also 
with regret that Grant has not touched upon the generic status of species, 
an important matter which it is to be hoped will soon be investigated. 
In dealing with Otus capensis , Grant writes as follows (p. 253) : — 
“ There appears to be three phases of plumage of this bird : 1st, grey, 
that which might be designated the normal ; 2nd, a rufous phase 
(cf. Sclater, Ibis, 1912, p. 5) ; and 3rd, a slatey-grey phase. 
“ Messrs. Gunning and Roberts, in the Annals of the Transvaal Museum , 
Vol. Ill, 1911, p. Ill, describe three new subspecies of this owl as follows : 
Pisorhina capensis intermedia : Modderfontein,* Transvaal. 
Pisorhina capensis grisea : Bethulie, Orange Free State. 
Pisorhina capensis pusilla : Boror, Portuguese East Africa. 
“ The series in the National Collection shows that great individual 
variation occurs in this owl, and I cannot see any constant character 
sufficiently well marked to warrant separation into races, and therefore, 
without more convincing proof, I must place Gunning and Roberts’ names 
as synonyms.” 
In the first place, I presume Grant means by “ phase,” shades of colour 
arising as stages in the age of adult individuals. If my interpretation of 
the phrase is correct, then Grant is decidedly wrong, for amongst those 
in the Transvaal Museum Collection the characters given in the diagnoses 
are constant and readily distinguishable ; the differences are due neither 
to age nor season, but to the climatic conditions of the normal habitat of 
the species. A few specimens acquired since these subspecies were described 
in every case support my first conclusion, with one exception, that of the 
juvenile specimen from Matatiele. Lieut. C. G. Davies has kindly pre- 
sented to the Museum an adult specimen from Matatiele, which proves to 
be that of “ grisea ” ; but as the juvenile specimen still retains part of its 
downy plumage, and the young are naturally not necessarily coloured like 
the adults, this does not affect the status of the races. There are in the 
collection twenty specimens of this owl from the following localities : — 
Otus capensis capensis. 
2 Grahams town. 
Otus capensis intermedia. 
13 Transvaal. 
Otus capensis grisea. 
1 Bethulie, O.F.S. ; 1 ad., 1 juv., Matatiele, East Griqualand. 
Otus capensis pusilla. 
2 Boror ; 1 Beira. 
* The type is from Pretoria, as stated in the original description. — A.R, 
