S T R IX C A P E N S IS .
, ' (A-ves_Pla te 45 ) ■
STRIX CAPENSIS.—S m it h .
A v e $ ,— P l a t e XLY.—M a l e .
a . Supra bruuneo-rubra, maoulis parvis albis parc4 notatis; inM paffide rufo-ochrea maculis parvis
oordatis notatis; fascia brunnco-flava; circulo cervicaB isabellino, plumis plurimis brunneo-termi-
natis; remigibus snbochreis brunneo-fasciatis; oculis nigro brunneis; rostro, pedibusque livido-flavis.
Longitudo 16 unc.
Strix capensis, Smith.—South African Quarterly Journal, New Series, 1836.
C o lo u r .— The upper surface of the head and neck, the interscapulars, the
back, rump, upper tail coverts, lesser wing coverts, scapulars and secondary
quill coverts, intermediate between yellowish brown and brownish red, and
variegated with a number of white, more or less spear-shaped spots, one
towards the point of each feather, those on the head and neck smallest and
least distinct. Many of the feathers are also blotched or mottled towards their
base with ochre-yellow, which is most distinctly seen when the plumage is
deranged. Edges of shoulders and inner surface of wings anteriorly pale
Dutch-orange spotted with brown. Primary quill coverts the same colour as
the back, each towards the base mottled with reddish orange ; the inner vanes
of secondary quill coverts dusky white barred with brown. The points of
all the primary quill feathers and the outer vanes of the two outermost ones
brown, the latter with a few reddish orange variegations towards their base,
the remaining primaries, and the secondaries reddish orange externally!
cream-yellow internally, both the vanes barred with brown. Sides of the’
neck and under parts of a colour intermediate between ochre-yellow and
pale reddish orange, and each feather, towards its point, is marked with
a small heart-shaped pale brown spot; tarsi spotless. Facial disc a pale
fawn colour with a pink tint, the bases of the feathers at the inner canthus of
the eye brownish black. The cervical collar pale buff-orange with many of the
feathers, particularly of its inferior portion, tipped with brown. The two
middle tail feathers of the same colour as the back, without variegation ; the
outer vanes of the three next of each side nearly the same colour, only lighter;