RUFOUS OWL. 
brown, broadly barred and tipped with pale smoke-brown, the bars widening out 
and inclining to buff on the inner webs towards the base ; tail similar, but the 
bars rather narrower ; crown of head similar in colour to the back, but the bars 
narrower, the feathers on the fore-head white at the base ; the bristly feathers at 
the base of the upper mandible white at the base and black at the tip, like those 
on the cheeks, those surrounding the eye black ; throat and entire under-surface 
bright tawny-rufous narrowly barred with buffy-white ; thighs and tarsi sandy- 
buff ; toes sparsely covered with hair-like feathers which are whitish in colour. 
Bill bluish-grey ; eyes yellow ; feet Hght yeUow. Total length 550 mm. ; culmen 30, 
wing 344, tail 220, tarsus 47. Figured. Collected at Admiralty Gulf, North-west 
Austraha, on the 14th oi November, 1911. 
Adult male. Similar to the adult female from the same locality. 
Adult male. General colour above brown, including the head, back, wings and tail, with 
narrow smoky, or white, bars which are wider on the primary- and secondary-quiUs 
and tail-feathers ; edge of wing more or less white ; bastard-wing and primary- 
coverts darker and more uniform than the back ; edge of wing for the greater part 
white ; primary- and secondary-quills brown, broadly barred with smoky-brown, 
which widens out on the inner webs and becomes more or less white ; tail-feathers 
very similar to the flight-quills in colour and edged with whitish at the tips ; base of 
fore-head, fore part of cheeks and throat white at the base, with black hair-like 
tips to the feathers ; ear-coverts and feathers surrounding the eye black in colour 
and bristly in texture like those at the base of the bill ; under-surface brown but 
somewhat paler than the upper-surface, the white bars on the throat, fore-neck 
and under wing-coverts narrow, becoming wider and more pure white on the breast, 
abdomen and under tail-coverts ; the feathers on the vent and lower flanks fluffy 
and al m ost uniform white ; thighs and tarsi buff with black tips to the feathers 
on the front aspect ; hinder aspect uniform buff or creamy-white, toes sparsely 
covered with hair-like feathers. Bill horn, base blue; eyes yellow; feet yellowish. 
Total length 520 mm. ; culmen 30, wing 347, tail 220, tarsus 50. Figured. Collected 
at Mackay, North Queensland, and is the type of Rhahdoglaux humeralis 
queenslandica (Mathews). 
Immature. Resembles the adult female from North-west Australia. 
Nest. A hollow in a tree. 
Eggs. Clutch, two or three, white and roundish, 53 mm. x 45. mm. 
Nothing whatever appears to be known concerning the habits of this bird, 
but quite a literature has grown round it through its rarity and consequent 
unfamiliarity. Gould received a specimen from Gilbert procured at Port 
Essington and described it as follows : 
“ Facial disc dark brown ; aU the upper-surface dark brown, crossed 
by numerous narrow bars of reddish-brown, the tints becoming paler and 
the barrings larger and more distinct on the lower part of the body, wings and 
tail ; all the under-surface sandy -red, crossed by numerous bars of reddish- 
brown, the feathers of the throat with a hne of brown down the centre ; 
vent, legs and thighs of a paler tint, with the bars more numerous but not 
so decided ; bill horn colour ; toes yellowish, slightly clothed with feathers. 
Total length 20 inches ; bill 1.75, wing 13.5, tail 9.5, tarsi 2.25. 
“ Habitat. Port Essington. 
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