MASKED OWL. 
hinder-cheeks, those on the sides of the crown and behind the ear-coverts orange- 
buff minutely tipped with black ; chin and throat creamy -white ; fore-neck, vent 
and short under tail-coverts silky white ; middle and sides of breast, abdomen and 
sides of the body white with dark brown markings on the middle of the feathers, 
all of which are tinged with orange-buff ; long under tail-coverts white with pale 
brown markings like the thighs ; tarsi tinged with buff ; axillaries and under 
wing-coverts white spotted with blackish-brown, the outer or marginal coverts 
tinged with orange-buff. Bill white ; eyes dark hazel ; feet whitish. Total length 
535 mm. ; culmen 27, wing 343, tail 155, tarsus 79. Figured. Collected at 
Warrnambool, Victoria, on the 24th of January, 1907, and is the type of Tyto 
novcehoUandicB riordani. 
Immature. General colour above blackish-brown minutely mottled with white, and 
arrow-head marks of the same colour at the tips of the feathers, the latter sharply 
contrasting with the dark pattern, the base of the feathers dark ash-colour and the 
sub-apical portion irregularly marked with ferrugineous-buff ; scapulars, upper 
wing-coverts, crown of head and hind-neck like the back, as are also the bastard- 
wing and primary-coverts ; primary- and secondary-quills somewhat paler than 
the back blotched with ferrugineous on the outer webs, while the inner webs are for 
the most part buff, more especially towards the base ; on a great many of the quills 
the dark pattern assumes the form of bars, the innermost secondaries are hke the 
back ; tail-feathers barred and mottled with brown and ferrugineous, more or less 
whitish at the tips, and an indication of narrow whitish bars ; facial disc cinnamon- 
brown, darker on the outer margin where the feathers are edged with black, a black 
spot immediately in front of the eye ; the feathers surrounding the base of the 
biU are coarse and bristly in texture ; under-surface pale rufous with brown spots 
and whitish markings to the feathers on the breast, abdomen, axillaries, thighs and 
under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts similarly marked, but the rufous rather 
more uniform and brighter like the edge of the wing ; greater series of the under 
wing-coverts and quiU-hning isabeUiue-buff barred and mottled with brown, which 
is darker and more intense towards the tips of the quills ; lower aspect of tail 
somewhat similar. Total length 460 mm. ; culmen 25, wing 301, tail 125, tarsus 63. 
Collected at Warrnambool, Victoria, on the 9th of May, 1914. 
Nest. “ A hole 8 inches across by 18 inches deep, 45 feet high, in a red gum tree, the 
floor of the nest about 4 feet down ” (D’Ornbrain). 
Egg. Clutch, two ?. “ Pearly-white. SHght lustre and smooth fairly even surface and 
fine texture. Rounded, breadth 1.5 inches : length about 2 inches.” (D’Ombrain, 
Casterton, Victoria.) 
Breeding-season. December. 
Adult female. General colour of the upper parts blackish-brown, minutely specl^ed with 
greyish-white, and with pale tawny or sandy-rufous profusely intermixed, including 
the head, entire back, upper tail-coverts and upper wing-coverts, as also the bastard- 
wing and primary-coverts ; primary- and secondary-quiUs paler than the back, 
mottled with rufous on the outer webs, which fades out on the secondaries, inner 
webs with coarsely-mottled bars and notched with white, the white increasing 
in extent on the inner secondaries, the innermost secondaries like the back ; middle 
tail-feathers dark brown like the back barred with tawny-rufous, these bars are 
almost obsolete on the outermost feathers which have the outer webs and tips 
more or less whitish ; facial disc smoky-white, the outer margin cinnamon-rufous 
with dark brown tips to the feathers on the fore-head and behmd the eyes becoming 
dull white with blackish tips on the chin and lower cheeks ; entire under-surface, 
including the under tail-coverts, thighs, axillaries, sides of body and under wing- 
coverts sandy-rufous, much paler and inclining to white on the vent and under tail- 
coverts, deeper m colour and inclining to tawny on the under wing-coverts with 
375 
