Pallid Scops-Owl

SCI Name:  Otus brucei
Protonym:  Ephialtes Brucei Str.Feath. 1 p.8
Taxonomy:  Strigiformes / Strigidae / Otus
Taxonomy Code:  pasowl3
Type Locality:  Rahuri, Ahmednagar.
Author:  Hume
Publish Year:  1872
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

OTUS
(Strigidae; Ϯ Indian Scops Owl O. bakkamoena) L. otus  small eared owl  < Gr. ωτος ōtos  eared owl; "III.  OTUS BAKKAMOENA.  The Little Horn Owl.   THIS elegant species is found in Ceylon, is called there Bakkamoena, and is a scarce species even in that island.   It is represented of its natural size. The irides are scarlet: the horns take their origin from the base of the bill, and point to the sides of the head: on their inner side they are dusky, on their exterior white.  The bill is dusky, surrounded with long bristles: the circle of feathers round the eyes is of a very pale ash-color: the external circle of a yellowish brown.  The head of a deep ash-color: the back dusky: coverts of the wings grey, marked with narrow lines of black, pointing downwards: the quil feathers regularly barred with black and white: the breast buff-colored, marked with small sagittal black spots: the legs feathered half way down: the naked part of a reddish yellow." (Pennant 1769); "Otus Pennant, Indian Zool., 1769, p. 3. Type, by monotypy, Otus bakkamoena Pennant." (Peters 1940, IV, 86).  
Var. Otis.   
Synon. Acnemis, Athenoptera, Ephialtes, Gymnoscops, Heteroscops, Lempijius, Pisorhina, Scops, Scototheres, Zorca.

otus
L. otus  eared owl  < Gr. ωτος ōtos  eared owl; "42. STRIX.  ...  Otus.  4. S. capite auriculato pennis senis. Faun. svec. 47.  Otus s. Asio. Bell. av. 25. 6. Aldr. orn. 1. 8. c. 3. Will. ornith. 64. t. 12. Raj. av. 25. Frisch. av. t. 99. Alb. av. 2.. p. 10. t. 10.  Habitat in Europa.  Cristæ auritæ albidæ fasciis sex fuscis." (Linnaeus 1758) (Asio).

brucei
● Revd. Henry James Bruce (1835-1909) US missionary to India 1862-1909 (subsp. Alcippe poioicephala, Otus).
● James Bruce (1730-1794) Scottish explorer in Abyssinia 1768-1773 (syn. Campethera abingoni) (see brucii).

SUBSPECIES

Pallid Scops-Owl (brucei)
SCI Name: Otus brucei brucei
brucei
● Revd. Henry James Bruce (1835-1909) US missionary to India 1862-1909 (subsp. Alcippe poioicephala, Otus).
● James Bruce (1730-1794) Scottish explorer in Abyssinia 1768-1773 (syn. Campethera abingoni) (see brucii).

Pallid Scops-Owl (obsoletus)
SCI Name: Otus brucei obsoletus
obsoleta / obsoletum / obsoletus
L. obsoletus  plain, worn out, forgotten  < obsolescere  to wear out.
● ex “Plain Falcon” of Pennant 1785 (syn. Falco rusticolus).

Pallid Scops-Owl (semenowi)
SCI Name: Otus brucei semenowi
semenovi / semenowi
● Pyotr Pyotrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914) Russian geographer, explorer in Central Asia 1856-1857, entomologist, Vice-Chairman/ Chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society 1873-1914 (syn. Cettia cetti albiventris, subsp. Ketupa zeylonensis, syn. Oenanthe chrysopygia, syn. Oenanthe monacha, syn. Phoenicurus phoenicurus samamisicus, syn. Sylvia mystacea rubescens).
● Andrei Pyotrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (1866-1942) Russian entomologist, taxonomist, explorer in Transcaspia and Turkistan 1888-1889 (subsp. Coracias garrulus, subsp. Emberiza cineracea, syn. Otus brucei).

Pallid Scops-Owl (exiguus)
SCI Name: Otus brucei exiguus
exigua / exiguus
L. exiguus  small, short  < exigere  to drive away  < agere  to drive.