This supposed "species" is a very doubtful one. A close examination in the Tring Museum of the type (which was offered me for such a high price that I did not feel justified in buying it, fond as I am of possessing extinct forms, types and varieties) by Messrs. Hartert, Hellmayr and myself proved beyond doubt to all three of us that the specimen was not fully adult, but showed signs of immaturity. If I said to Sir Walter Buller that it was an extremely young, hardly fledged _Sceloglaux_ this was certainly incorrect, and was perhaps just an exclamation after a hasty preliminary examination, for the bird is of course fully fledged and has passed, at least partially, through one moult of the feathers. On the other hand, both Professor Newton's and Dr. Sharpe's reputed statements that the owl in question is fully adult are not correct. It certainly shows unmistakable signs of immaturity, as noticed at once by Dr. Gadow (cf. Newton's letter on p. 66, l.c.), by Hartert, Hellmayr and myself. Moreover Professor Newton--though Buller says he "pronounced it to be an adult bird"--also admits that the bird "had moulted, though not necessarily to be in adult plumage," and he continues that he thinks the character of the markings continues to be juvenile. Having thus discussed the age of this owl, the question must be considered if it is different from _S. albifacies_ from the South Island. This is less easily done. Buller described it as a "new species," and mentions among the distinctive characters (see above) the colour of the tail. The tail, however, is "skillfully" (as Buller calls it, though I should use a less complimentary adverb) stuck in, and does not belong to a _Sceloglaux_, but to an Australian _Ninox_, and also some feathers on the neck are foreign. The wings being abraded, its slightly smaller length is not very significant. Certainly, however, the colouration in general is slightly more rufous than {78} in _S. albifacies_, though some of my specimens approach it almost completely, and the face is more rufescent. Professor Newton cautiously warned Sir Walter Buller, suggesting that _S. albifacies_ might possibly have a red "phase," like _Syrnium aluco_, and this North Island specimen represented the latter. As for myself, I do not think that _S. albifacies_ has two phases, as I have seen too many specimens, and found them to vary but little. I have now in my collection eight specimens from the South Island. On the other hand, I have not seen juvenile examples; but it is very likely that the rufous face of the North Island specimen is a character peculiar to the North Island form, which would then be a sub-species of _S. albifacies_ from the South Island, and should be called _S. albifacies rufifacies_. The type from Wairapara is said to have been killed in the summer of 1868-9, and, since no further evidence of its existence has come forth, I presume that the North Island race of this owl must be extinct by this time. {79}