A New Spotted Screech Owl from Guerrero, Mexico
A New Spotted Screech Owl from Guerrero, Mexico
Study of the Salvh~ and Godman collections of Mexican birds in the British Museum has resulted in the discovery of an astonishing number of unexpected novelties, even from supposedly fairly well known areas. one of these is here described, based on a pair of Spotted Screech Owls (Otus trichopsis) collected in the isolated Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero by Mrs. H. H. Smith, who spent some time there in the Salvin-Godman interests. These two specimens are very distinct from triciropsis of the Valley of Mexico and northward, and are named as
Otus trickopsis guewerensis, new subspecies
Type.-Adult female, no. 90.5.16.46, British Museum; Omllteme, Guerrero, Mexico; July, 1888; altitude 8000 feet; collected by Mrs. H. H. Smith.
Subspecific ckaracters.-Similar to Otus trichopsis trichopsis, but coloration very much paler throughout, the white markings everywhere at a maximum, the brown, gray, and black, at a minimum; thighs and tarsi immaculate, the former pale cinnamon, the latter white.
Range.-Known only from the two specimens from the type locality.
Remarks.-Both specimens are fully adult and have completed the annual molt. They are in the gray phase.
The comparative color differences between trichopsis and guerrerensis are much the same as between Otus asio cineraceus and the palest specimens of Otus asio mccallii.
A. J. Van Rossem
Dickey Collections, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, August 2, 1938
