A New Subspecies of The Athene brama (Spotted Little Owl)——A.B.Poikila (Belly-mottled Little Owl)

In our avifaunal survey of the Meridional Himalayan Region,we founda a new subspecies of the Athene brama,which we propose to name:Belly-Mottled Little Owl Athene brama poikila subsp.nov.Holotype:Adult male (field no.6079) collected from Rao Ji of Bao Xing County in western Sichuan province,alt.2,200 m.;December 6,1964.Allotype:Adult female (field no.820222) from Ba Jiao Lou of Ya Jiang County,alt.3,100 m.in the same province,September 26,1982.Type specimens have been deposited in the Sichuan Agricultural University (Holotype),and Kunming Institute of Zoology,Academia sinica (Allotype).Diagnosis:Differs from other subspecies of the Athene brama (Spotted Little Owl) in having on abdomen mottled with dark brown,not forming transversely barred as in other subspecies;chin and throat dark brown,lower throat mottled with white but not forming white throat-patch;breast more mottled with dark brown;above,dark brown with small white spots on the crown and wing;first primary shorter than sixth and seventh;skull and feet distinctly smaller than those of A.noctua (Little Owl).A photograph of the new subspecies (Athene brame poikila) is provided in the Chinese text (Fig.2).Measurements: Weight Wing Bill Tarsus Tail Holotype♂ 87 169 19 22 106Allotype♀ 115 166 19 22 111Habits:Roosts on trees of the mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests.Distribution:Bao Xing County and Ya Jiang County of western Sichuan Province of China,as shown on the map (Fig.1).