Extinct Birds Part 23

_Tibio-tarsus._

Total length 71 mm.

Length from proximal extremity to end of peronial ridge 25 "

Width of distal extremity 10 "

Width of proximal extremity 9 "

Width of shaft 4 "

_Tarso-metatarsus._

Total length 46 mm.

Width at proximal extremity 10 "

Width at distal extremity 15 "

Width of shaft 5 "

Habitat: Rodriguez.

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SCELOGLAUX RUFIFACIES BULLER.

_Sceloglaux rufifacies_ Buller, Ibis 1904, p. 639; id. Suppl. B. New Zealand II, p. 65, pl. VII (1906).

Original description: "Adult female: Similar to _Sceloglaux albifacies_, but appreciably smaller; face dull rufous brown, instead of being white; crown and nape blackish brown; entire upper surface strongly suffused with rufous; quills marked with regular transverse bars and a terminal edging of rufous brown; tail-feathers uniform yellowish brown, obscurely barred with pale brown; bill lemon-yellow; feet dull yellow."

"Wairarapa district, near Wellington, North Island, in the summer 1868-9."

This supposed "species" is a very doubtful one. A close examination in the Tring Museum of the type (which was offered me for such a high price that I did not feel justified in buying it, fond as I am of possessing extinct forms, types and varieties) by Messrs. Hartert, h.e.l.lmayr and myself proved beyond doubt to all three of us that the specimen was not fully adult, but showed signs of immaturity. If I said to Sir Walter Buller that it was an extremely young, hardly fledged _Sceloglaux_ this was certainly incorrect, and was perhaps just an exclamation after a hasty preliminary examination, for the bird is of course fully fledged and has pa.s.sed, at least partially, through one moult of the feathers. On the other hand, both Professor Newton's and Dr. Sharpe's reputed statements that the owl in question is fully adult are not correct. It certainly shows unmistakable signs of immaturity, as noticed at once by Dr. Gadow (cf. Newton's letter on p. 66, l.c.), by Hartert, h.e.l.lmayr and myself. Moreover Professor Newton--though Buller says he "p.r.o.nounced it to be an adult bird"--also admits that the bird "had moulted, though not necessarily to be in adult plumage," and he continues that he thinks the character of the markings continues to be juvenile.

Having thus discussed the age of this owl, the question must be considered if it is different from _S. albifacies_ from the South Island. This is less easily done. Buller described it as a "new species," and mentions among the distinctive characters (see above) the colour of the tail. The tail, however, is "skillfully" (as Buller calls it, though I should use a less complimentary adverb) stuck in, and does not belong to a _Sceloglaux_, but to an Australian _Ninox_, and also some feathers on the neck are foreign.

The wings being abraded, its slightly smaller length is not very significant. Certainly, however, the colouration in general is slightly more rufous than {78} in _S. albifacies_, though some of my specimens approach it almost completely, and the face is more rufescent. Professor Newton cautiously warned Sir Walter Buller, suggesting that _S. albifacies_ might possibly have a red "phase," like _Syrnium aluco_, and this North Island specimen represented the latter. As for myself, I do not think that _S. albifacies_ has two phases, as I have seen too many specimens, and found them to vary but little. I have now in my collection eight specimens from the South Island. On the other hand, I have not seen juvenile examples; but it is very likely that the rufous face of the North Island specimen is a character peculiar to the North Island form, which would then be a sub-species of _S. albifacies_ from the South Island, and should be called _S. albifacies rufifacies_. The type from Wairapara is said to have been killed in the summer of 1868-9, and, since no further evidence of its existence has come forth, I presume that the North Island race of this owl must be extinct by this time.

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STRIX NEWTONI NOM. NOV.

_Strix sp._ Newton and Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII, p. 287 (1893).

Messrs. Newton and Gadow give the measurements of, and describe a pair of metatarsi procured with the remains described as _Strix sauzieri_, and state that they do not fit in with that species. For, as they are fully adult bones, it is impossible to attribute their much smaller size to youth. They then add a sentence of which this is the first part: "Unless we a.s.sume, what is unlikely, that the Island of Mauritius possessed two different species of _Strix_, we have to conclude that the short pair of metatarsals belonged to a small individual of _Strix sauzieri_, ----."

Evidently Messrs. Gadow and Newton, when they wrote this, did not remember the fact that throughout a very large portion of the range of _Strix flammea_, its various geographical races are found side by side with another species of the group of _Strix_, namely, _S. candida_ and _S.

capensis_, popularly called "_Gra.s.s owls_"; these in nearly every case have the legs considerably longer than in the true _Barn Owls_ (_Strix flammea_ and its races).

Therefore I consider it not in the least unlikely that two species of _Strix_ inhabited Mauritius, and that _Strix sauzieri_ was the Mauritian representative of the "Gra.s.s Owls," while these two short metatarsals belonged to the representative of the "Barn Owls." I therefore have much pleasure in naming this form after the collector of these bones, the late Sir Edward Newton.

Length of tarso-metatarsi, 56 mm.

Habitat: Mauritius. {80}

STRIX SAUZIERI NEWT. & GAD.

_Strix sauzieri_ Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII, p. 286, pl.

x.x.xIII, figs. 11-18 (1893).

Messrs. Newton and Gadow describe this species from four metatarsi, three tibiae, and two humeri. They state that the relative length of the tibia to the metatarsus is very constant and characteristic of the various families and genera of owls. In the present instance this comparison indicates a species of _Strix_.

The longer and higher cnemial process of the tibia and the shortness of the humerus serve amply to justify the specific separation of this Mauritian owl.

The following are the measurements:--

Humerus, length 71 mm.

Tibia-tarsus, length 90-93 "

Tarso-metatarsus, length 63-66 "

Habitat: Mauritius.

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"CIRCUS HAMILTONI" FORBES.

_Circus hamiltoni_ Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 186 (1892--no proper description).

A very large harrier, much larger than _Circus gouldi_, but not so big as _Harpagornis_.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

"CIRCUS TEAUTEENSIS" FORBES.

_Circus teauteensis_ Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 186 (1892--no proper description).

Another very large harrier from Teaute, which has never yet been properly described.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

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ASTUR ALPHONSI NEWT. & GAD.