Ninox philippensis Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. (1855), 41, 654;
Walden, Trans. Zool. Soc. (1875), 9, 144, pl. 25, fig. 1; Sharpe,
Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1875), 2, 167; Hand-List (1899), 1,
290; Grant, Ibis (1896), 531; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 47.
Bu-caó, Ticao and Masbate.
Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Leyte (Whitehead); Luzon (Meyer, Heriot,
Steere Exp., Whitehead, McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.);
Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Steere Exp.,
Whitehead); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino);
Ticao (McGregor).
"Adult.--Above brown, the head slightly darker and more
chocolate-brown, the scapulars with large oval marks on the outer webs,
some of the inner ones barred with ochraceous; wing-coverts dark brown,
slightly washed with ochraceous, all of them distinctly spotted with
white or ochraceous white, those on the median and greater series large
and oval in shape; quills brown, margined narrowly with ochraceous,
and barred across with paler brown, almost obsolete on the inner web,
but indicated on the outer one by a distinct white spot, very plain,
and producing a checkered appearance; upper tail-coverts rather more
ochraceous brown than the back; tail-feathers sepia-brown, crossed
with six narrow bands of pale ochraceous, the last one subterminal;
frontal plumes whitish at base, but this color not visible; sides of
the face brown like the head, the ear-coverts rather more dusky; under
surface of body ochraceous brown, the chin whitish, and the throat
marked with a few blackish streaks; the abdomen whiter, the centers
to the feathers being ochraceous-brown, producing a broadly streaked
appearance; under tail-coverts white; leg-feathers ochraceous-brown;
under wing-coverts ochraceous, the edge of the wing white, those
coverts nearest the margin being marked with dark brown; the lowest
series sepia-brown, barred with pale ocher on the inner web, thus
resembling the inner lining of the quills. Length, 216; wing, 176;
tail, 102; tarsus, 51.
"Young.--Above rufous-chocolate, the upper surface almost entirely
uniform, with the exception of a few buffy white bars on the outer
scapulars; wing-coverts uniform like the back, and only a little
darker, the greater series distinctly spotted on the outer web with
ochraceous or white; primary-coverts uniform dark brown; quills dark
brown, notched on the outer web with ochraceous or buffy white; tail
darker brown than the back, with a fulvous tip and crossed with six
narrow bars of fulvous-brown; forehead whitish, with long hair-like
black bristles over the lores; side of face uniform rufous-chocolate
like the head; under surface of body fawn-color, the feathers of the
chest margined narrowly with whitish, causing a slightly streaked
appearance, the abdominal plumes white, with broad fawn-colored
centers, causing this part to appear very broadly streaked; thighs
fawn-color; under tail-coverts white; under wing-coverts fawn-color
excepting the lower series, which are brown, spotted with fulvous
on the inner web, exactly resembling the inner lining of the
quills. Length, 203; wing, 164; tail, 86; tarsus, 30." (Sharpe.)
"Five specimens average, 206 in length; wing, 177; tail, 89; tarsus,
28; middle toe with claw, 35; culmen, 14. Iris yellow; legs and
feet light yellow; bill yellow at tip, greenish at base. Food
insects." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
"Mr. Whitehead's Negros collection contains three adult examples of a
little hawk owl, and I am in considerable doubt as to whether this form
should not be separated from typical examples of N. philippensis from
Luzon. I have before me at the present time nine examples from Luzon,
two from Guimaras, four from Negros, and one from Siquijor. All seven
birds from the last three mentioned islands differ very considerably
from Luzon specimens. The latter have the chest and breast mostly
tawny brown, shading into pale tawny toward the edges of the feathers,
and the belly and flanks whitish, with rather ill-defined brownish
red middles. In Negros birds, as well as those from the other central
islands already mentioned, the feathers of the breast and chest are
chocolate-brown edged with white, and the rest of the under parts
are white, with fairly wide and clearly defined shaft-stripes of a
dark brownish red color.
"The general impression conveyed is, that the Luzon birds have the
under parts tawny brown, suffused with white on the belly and flanks,
while in birds from the central islands, the chest and breast, as well
as the rest of the under parts, are white, clearly striped with reddish
brown. These birds remind one of small examples of Ninox japonica,
though of course the latter has the stripes on the underparts of a much
darker color. It is quite possible that it may be found necessary to
separate the birds from Negros, etc., under some distinctive name,
but before doing this I should like to have more material from the
adjacent islands." (Grant.)