Syrnium whiteheadi Sharpe, Ibis (1888), 196, pl. 3; Hand-List
(1899), 1, 294; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 47.
Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).
"Adult male.--General color above chocolate-brown, spotted with white,
the spots arranged in pairs, the one on the inner web often fulvescent;
scapulars forming a light patch of tawny-buff, covered with narrow
bars of chocolate-brown; lesser wing-coverts dark chocolate-brown,
with scarcely any white spots; median and greater coverts more reddish
chocolate-brown, transversely barred with white, slightly tinged with
tawny-buff; alula and primary-coverts uniform blackish brown; quills
brown, crossed with lighter and more rufous-brown bars, whiter near
the edge, especially of the secondaries, which are slightly freckled
externally; the innermost secondaries spotted with white, like the
back; upper tail-coverts like the back, but barred with tawny-buff or
whitish; tail-feathers dark chocolate-brown, barred with tawny-buff or
creamy white, with which the tail is conspicuously tipped, the light
bars, seven in number, on the center feathers, broader and coalescing
on the remainder; crown of head like the back, thickly spotted with
white, the spots arranged in pairs; feathers of the hind neck with
concealed bases of tawny-buff; the mantle somewhat more uniform brown;
sides of face chestnut, deeper about the eyes and on the ear-coverts,
which are whiter posteriorly; ruff dark chocolate-brown, barred across
with rufous; chin rufous, followed by a broad white patch, narrowly
barred with black; remainder of under surface of body tawny-rufous,
narrowly barred across with blackish brown including the thighs
and under tail-coverts; fore neck with broad bands of white and
chocolate-brown; under wing-coverts and axillars like the breast;
quills below dusky brown, barred with yellowish buff, these bars
broader toward the base of the inner web. Length, 444; wing, 330;
tail, 190; culmen, 34; tarsus, 58.
"Of this fine owl Mr. Whitehead obtained several specimens. Its nearest
ally is Syrnium sinense, but it is easily distinguished from that
species by its rufescent under surface, with the absence of white
bars." (Sharpe.)
Female.--In colors similar to the male, but size slightly
greater. "Iris brown; eyelids dark carmine; bill and nails
black." (Celestino.) Length, 460; wing, 340; tail, 200; culmen from
base, 39; tarsus, 50.
"We heard a large owl, in all probability of this species, hooting
at night in the Calamianes Islands; a single specimen was secured in
Palawan; it measured, 432 in length; wing, 202; tail, 186; culmen,
26; tarsus, 61; middle toe with claw, 48." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Family ALUCONIDÆ.
Middle toe pectinate; ruff around eyes and across throat fully
developed; primaries much longer than secondaries; proximal half of
tarsus fully feathered, distal half covered with much shorter, more
hair-like plumes; toes sparsely covered with hairs; plumage very soft
and fluffy.
Genus ALUCO Fleming, 1822.
Characters same as those given for the Family.