Page:Rothschild Extinct Birds.djvu/114

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80



STRIX SAUZIERINEWT. & GAD.

Strix sauzieri Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII, p. 286, pl. XXXIII, figs. 11-18 (1893).

Messrs. Newton and Gadow describe this species from four metatarsi, three tibiae, and two humeri. They state that the relative length of the tibia to the metatarsus is very constant and characteristic of the various families and genera of owls. In the present instance this comparison indicates a species of Strix.

The longer and higher cnemial process of the tibia and the shortness of the humerus serve amply to justify the specific separation of this Mauritian owl.

The following are the measurements:—

Humerus, length 71 mm.
Tibia-tarsus, length 90-93 "
Tarso-metatarsus, length 63-66 "

Habitat: Mauritius.