Ninox reyi Oustalet, Bull. Assoc. Sc. France (1880), No. 39, 206;
Sharpe, Ibis (1894), 245; Hand-List (1899), 1, 291; McGregor and
Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 47.
Bongao (Everett); Sulu (Montano & Rey, Marche).
Diagnosis.--Distinguished at once from the common species (Ninox
philippensis) by its greater length (290 mm.), by its much longer
wings passing even the tip of the tail, and finally by its reddish
brown plumage and transverse brown bars on head and on shoulders. [32]
"A female from Bongao. 'Iris light yellow; bill greenish plumbeous;
feet greenish yellow.' The specimen now sent appears to be not
quite adult, but it shows the distinctness of the species from Ninox
philippensis in the barred upper surface. The upper breast is barred
with white and dark brown, and the flanks are white, with longitudinal
pear-shaped mesial streaks of pale rufous-brown. The tail has likewise
ten dark bands, much narrower than in N. philippensis, which has six
broad bands of dark brown." (Sharpe.)