Fascial disc deep chestnut, becoming deeper at the margin and encircled with black; upper surface, wings and tail fine rufous brown, each feather irregularly and broadly barred with dark brown, with a few minute white spots on the head and shoulders; under surface uniform deep sandy brown; sides of the neck and flanks sparingly marked with round blackish spots; thighs and legs the same, but destitute of spots; bill yellowish brown; feet light yellow. The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. [Illustration: STRIX PERSONATA: _Vig._ _J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._ ] STRIX PERSONATA, _Vig._ Masked Barn Owl. _Strix personata_, Vig. in Proc. of Com. of Sci., and Corr. of Zool. Soc., Part I. p. 60.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III. _Strix Cyclops_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 140; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III.? It will be recollected that the habitat of the _Strix castanops_ is Van Diemen’s Land, to which island it is probably restricted; on the other hand, the bird here figured, although nearly allied to the preceding, not only differs in so many essential characters as to leave little doubt in my mind of its being specifically distinct, but is confined to the continent of Australia, over which it enjoys a wide range. With the exception of the north coast, I have received specimens from every part of the country. During my visit to the interior of South Australia, numerous individuals fell to my gun, which upon comparison presented no material variation in their colour or markings from others killed in New South Wales and Swan River. If I were puzzled with respect to the changes to which the _Strix castanops_ is apparently subject, I am not less so with those of the present bird; for although I find the tawny and buff colouring of the face and under surface is generally lighter, I also find a diversity in the colouring of the different parts of the under surface; I have specimens in my cabinet with the face, all the under surface and the ground-colour of the upper pure white, and prior to my visit to Australia I characterized specimens thus coloured as a distinct species under the name of _Strix Cyclops_, but I have now some reason to believe them to be fully adult males of the bird here figured. I may remark, that out of the numerous examples I killed in South Australia in the month of June, I did not meet with one in the white plumage. The _Strix personata_ is almost a third smaller than the _S. castanops_, and as the sexes of both species bear a relative proportion in size, the male of the one is about equal to the female of the other. The white spottings of the upper surface of the former are larger than those of the latter, and the surrounding patches of dark brown and buff are not so deep, giving the whole of that part of the bird a more marbled or speckled appearance.