POWERFUL OWL. 
“With reference to the two varieties of the Powerful Owl, Mr. Kendall 
Broadbent, in his most interesting article ‘ Cardwell Birds,’ writes : 
‘ The Great Scrub Owl {N. strenua) may also be expected to occur in the 
Cardwell scrubs, but rarely so. It has been shot by me at Freshwater Creek, 
near Cairns, and seen commonly in the Brisbane scrub and in Gippsland. The 
Rufous Owl {N. Tufa) is essentially a frequenter of mountainous country, 
being shot by me in the high land at the back of Cardwell. It seems always 
to occur in dense scrubby gullies, and to live habitually in pairs.’ ” 
As might be anticipated in the case of a rare bird with a restricted 
range, little synonymy is met with. I separated the Victorian bird but here 
regard it as inseparable ; though these are larger than typical specimens, the 
difference is not sufficient to require emphasis at the present time. It may 
be remarked that the known range of the genus and species is as here given ; 
Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria ; the additional localities. 
Northern Territory, Cape York, South Australia, quoted by Ramsay, North 
and Campbell being due to the confusion between this bird and Athene (?) rufa 
Gould, as explained under the latter species. 
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