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Show 1879.] MR. R. B. SHARPE ON HELIODILUS SOUMAGNII. 175 7. A Note on Heliodilus sownagnii, Grandidier. By R. B O W D L E R SHARPE, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Department of Zoology, British Museum. [Eeceived February 4, 1879.] The British Museum has recently acquired a skin of Heliodilus soumagnii from Mr. Higgins, of 22 Bloomsbury Street. This very interesting specimen, which I now exhibit, was obtained in the neighbourhood of Antananarivo, and formed part of the same small consignment as the new Dromceocercus, which also lies upon the table. The genus Heliodilus is of very great interest to ornithologists, as having formed the subject of an important communication by Prof. Alphonse Milne-Edwards to the French Academy (' Comptes Rendus,' Dec. 1877); and I have had great pleasure in receiving such a desideratum for our national collection, which gives me the opportunity of comparing together Strix, Phodilus, and Heliodilus. In my ' Catalogue of Birds ' (vol. ii. p. 289) I separated the Stri-gidee as a separate family from the Bubonidce, and included in the first-named family the Barn-Owls and the Phodili, reserving every other Owl for the family Bubonidce, which, of course, greatly predominates in number. I take the present opportunity of acknowledging an oversight, which was unintentional on m y part; and that was, not to have mentioned in the ' Catalogue' that the institution of these two principal groups was derived from Messrs. Sclater and Salvin's notes, as published in Professor Newton's edition of Yarrell's British Birds-a fact that should have been stated at the time. In a previous communication made by Professor Alphonse Milne- Edwards to the French Academy of Sciences on Dec. 17, 1877, he shows that in the form of its sternum and in other peculiarities of the skeleton, Phodilus is one of the Bubonidce, and suggests that it comes near Syrnium. It is curious that every author has placed the genus near tbe Barn-Owls, to which the form of the facial disk and the red plumage somewhat assimilate it. On reexamining our specimen of Phodilus, I also perceive that an important external character, the serration of the inner edge of the middle claw, is wanting; and thereby further evidence is afforded of the correctness of Prof. Milne-Edwards's remarks. From the shape of its nostril, ear-conch, and facial disk, the genus Phodilus appears to be nearly allied to Scops. The new genus Heliodilus looks at first sight very much like Phodilus, as the typical species H. soumagnii is a red bird of the general aspect of the Bay Owl (Phodilus badius). On a more careful examination, however, the bird will be found to possess the serrated claw of a Barn-Owl; and this, with the careful description of the osteology given by Professor Milne-Edwards, conclusively shows that the family of the Barn-Owls, reduced to a single genus Strix by the abduction of its time-honoured ally Phodilus, ought to be compensated for the loss by the addition of the still more remarkable Heliodilus. |