The Bahama barn owl

Vol.

XXVI,

pp. 153-154 June 30, 1913

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

THE BAHAMA BARN OWL.

BY

^J. H.

RILEY.

[Publishedbj permission^oithe Secretarj oitheSmithsonianInstitution.]

When

writing the bird report

on

the birds collected

upon

^the

Geographic

Society^of

Baltimore's expedition

^{to the}

Bahamas,

I

prepared some remarks upon

^a

specimen

^{of the}

Barn Owl

shot at

Nassau,

but

when _copying my ^paper

^to

^send

^to

^The Auk,*

through an unaccountable

oversight they

were

_entirely

omitted.

Mr. Ridgway ^with

the addition of

two Bahaman _specimens

in the collection of

Outran) Bangs, kindly loaned him

for study, lias called

my

^{attention to the fact that the}

^Bahaman

^bird

differs

from

that of the eastern

United

States

and

has

kindly permitted me

to describe it. It

may

^lie

^known

^as:

Tyto

perlatus lucayanus subsp.

now

Type, ^{I'. S.} National

Museum,

^No. 189,671, adult male,

New

Provi- ilenre. Bahamas,

June

30, L903. Collected by^J.

H.

_{Riley (original} No.

•'»(i).

Subspecific characters.

—

_Similar to Tyto perlatus pratincola, hut with less

amount

of the grayish black-vermiculated tipped leathers of the upper part-.

Description.

— _Top

of head, neck,and upper hack tawny ochraceous witha lew blackish _{spots or} mottlings and

some

minute grayish white spotsalongthe shaft of the_feathers; feathers ofthe interscapularregion, grayish basally,

tawny

^ochraceous subterminally with irregular black mottlings,

and

grayish terminallywith black vermiculations and with a white shaft spot near the _tip;

rump

^ami upper-tail coverts

tawny

ochraceous with a few blackmarkings and minute ^white spotsalong the shaft; bend of wing

tawny

^{ochraceous with black} markings and ^small white _spots along the shaft; ^rest of wing-coverts largely

tawny

^ochra-

ceous, with black _spots,

some

of the feathers grayish terminally with black vermiculations and a white shaft spot near the _tip, the primary

*XXII.1905,pp.::i-!60

.,

—

Pkoc.Biol. SOC.\\ASH.,Vol.XXVI, ^1913. (153)

154

Proceedings of ^the Biological Society of

Washington

^.

coverts deepening^intorather deep

tawny

externally with black mottlings along the outer

web and

tip

and

a whitish shaftspot terminally

and

with indications of interrupted black bars along the shaft; flight feathers ochraceous-buff on the outer

web and

_along the shaft, whiteinternally, the ochraceous-buff deeper on the primariesand_lighteron the second- aries, with minute black _fleckings on the outer

web and

tip,

and

with interrupted black bars along theshaft; under wing-covertswhite with a fewsmallblack_spots; tailochraceous-buff with_irregularblack bars and black _fleckings towards the _tip, theinnerwebs ^{of all} the tail feathers, except the middle _pair, mostly white, the outer feathers entirely white without_bars, the two _distally only indicated bysmall black spots along theshaft

and

with a few obscure_fleckings nearthe_tip; face white, with a slight vinaceous tinge, this latter color deepening ^{into liver}

brown

just above the _eye, forming^a prominent

mark

; the feathers of the ruft'

white tipped with

tawny

^or

tawny

ochraceous and from justforwards of the eye around under the chin terminallyedged with black; the lower jugulum,breast,andsides ochraceous-buff,witli minuteblack dotswhich also extend

upon

^the upper

abdomen;

remaining underparts white;

thighs light ochraceous-bufl' externally, white internally. ^Ving, :'>24;

tail, 135; culmen from _cere, 22; tarsus, 74; middle_toe, 40

mm.

Remarks.

— _The

_type differsfromtheother

Bahaman

specimens ^before

me

ⁱⁿ being

much

deeper colored above, the ochraceous-bufl' on the breast, and in

some

other particulars, which on account of the great variation in birds of this genus ^arenotworth mentioning.

From

_Tyto

pertains pratincota the

Bahaman

^bird does notseem to differ

much

in size.

The

averageⁱⁿmillimetres ofasmallseriesisgivenbelow:

Males.