121 
except in the uniform dark plumbeous of the lower parts it is exactly like 
dark Ecuador examples of N. ventralis , while the type of the supposed 
species is from the Quito Valley. In his recent work on the Owls,* 
Mr. Sharpe mentions (on p. 23) a specimen of Bubo , supposed to be 
B. virginianus , in the Salvin-Godman collection, from Ecuador, “ which 
is so black as to suggest the possibility of its being a case of melanism’ 7 . 
Should this remarkable bird prove to be indeed a melanism of either 
B. virginianus or B . magellanicus , the case will be a unique one in this 
family, so far as we know ; and allowing the probability of this proving 
to be really its character, it is reasonable to suspect a similar exceptional 
case in the bird under consideration. 
List of specimens in United States National Museum. 
Other specimens examined. —Mus. O. Salvia, 8; G. X. Lawrence, 2; Philatl. Acad., 
0; total number examined, 18. 
Measurements. 
£5 
© 
cc 
k-H 
© 
3 
Sex .and age. 
Locality. 
tic 
% 
a 
H 
Culmen. 
Tarsus. 
Middle toe. 
Collected by— 
0 . s . . 
r? ad. 
Venezuela (Merida). 
6. 80 
5. 80 
0. 40 
1. 90 
1. 25 
(rOPri n c* 
. .do. 
<S ad. 
Ecuador. 
0. 75 
6. 00 
0. 40 
1. 90 
H io* fin s. 
.. do_ 
rf ad. 
New Granada. 
0. 80 
0. 00 
0. 45 
(Verreanx.) 
--<lo. 
d ad. 
New Granada (interior) .. 
0. 95 
5. 70 
0. 40 
2. 00 
1.25 
Trubner. 
..do. 
cfjuv. 
Ecuador (near Quito)_ 
0. 00 
6. 00 
0. 40 
1.95 
1.30 
Higgins. 
.. do_ 
9 ad. 
New Granada (interior).. 
8. 00 
7. 00 
0. 50 
1. 40 
Triibner. 
073-14 
U. S .... 
$ ad. 
Ecuador. 
7. 80 
7. 00 
0. 50 
2.15 
1. 45 
01942 
.. do. 
Qjiiv. 
“ South America”. 
7. 80 
0. SO 
0. 50 
2. 20 
1. 50 
o.s. 
?jav. 
Colombia (Antioquia) ... 
7. 75 
0. 90 
0. 55 
2. 15 
1. 50 
T. K. Salmon. 
..do. 
cfjuv. 
.do. 
0. 80 
6. 20 
0. 42 
2. 10 
1.30 
Do. 
NISUS SAL VINE 
Nisus salvini, Ridgw. sp. nov. 
Wing, 7.GO-7.80; tail, 0.90-7.00 ; culmen, 0.50; tarsus, 2.15-2.20; mid¬ 
dle toe, 1.45-1.50. Fourth and fifth quills longest; first shortest; outer 
five with inner webs emarginated. Tail nearly even or very slightly 
rounded ( 2 ), 
Adult (female ?). —zVbove, including the auricnlars, uniform plumbeous, 
the scapulars and upper tail-coverts with concealed white spots; tail 
black, narrowly tipped with pale gray, and crossed by four narrow 
bands of light brownish-gray. Tib ire uniform cinnamon-rufous; rest 
of lower parts white; the feathers with dark-brown shafts, except oil 
thecrissum. Wing, 7.GO ; tail, G.90. (Coll. O. Salviu.) 
Young {female?). —Above, dark sepia; the feathers with distinct ter¬ 
minal borders of rusty. Tail narrowly tipped with white, and crossed 
* Catalogue of tlieStriges, or Nocturnal Birds of Prey, in the Collection of the British 
Museum. By R. Bo wdler Sharpe. London: 18/5. 
No.'2-3 
