SXRNIUM. 273^ 



Genus SYRNIUM, Savigny, 1810. 



No aigrettes (ear-tufts) ; ear furnished with an operculum. Bill 

 stout. Tarsus thickly feathered throughout ; toes feathered above 

 in all Indian species to base of last phalanx ; claws strong. Ruff 

 narrow, incomplete above ; facial disk well developed, extending 

 almost as far above the eyes as below. Wings rounded, 3rd, 4th, 

 or 5th quill longest ; tail of moderate length, rounded. Irides^ 

 always dark. 



The Owls of this genus are of moderate size, and are generally 

 found in trees during the day : all are thoroughly nocturnal. In 

 Sharpe's ' Catalogue ' 27 species were enumerated, scattered over 

 the greater part of the world, and two or three have since been, 

 described ; six are Indian. 



Key to the Sjjecies. 



a. Lower surface with longitudinal as well as 

 transverse markings. 

 a'. All tail-feathers with pale cross-bands : 



Aving 12 . ._ S. nivicola, p. 273. 



b'. Middle tail-feathers not banded : wing 



13-5 ^S-. hiddulphi, p. 274. 



h. Lower sm'face with transverse bars alone. 

 c'. Bars on abdomen \ inch or more apart, 

 a". Upper parts mottled with black and 



white _ S. ocellatwn, p. 277 



h" . Upper parts with white spots, but not 



mottled S. seloputo, p. 278. 



d'. Bars on abdomen much less than \ inch 



apart S. indrani, p. 275. 



e. Lower surface with longitudinal shaft-stripes 



alone 8. butleri, p. 279. 



1158. Syrnium nivicola. The Himalayan Wood-Owl. 



Mesomorpha nivicola, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 82 (descr, 



nulla). 

 Syrnium nivicolum, Hodgs., Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xiv, pp. 185, 5-50 



(1845) ; XV, p. 9 ; xvi, p. 464 ; id. Cat. p. 41 ; Horsf. 8)- M. Cat. 



i, p. 84 ; Jerdon, B. I. \, p. 124 ; 8toliczka, J. A. 8. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, 



p. 16 ; Hume, Rough Notes, p. 359 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 345 ; 



8harpe, Cat. B. M. ii, p. 250 ; Hihrne, Cat. no. 66 ; id. 8. F. ix, 



p. 37 ; C. H. T. Marshall, Ibis, 1884, p. 407. 



Kashi-oj) tak-2'>um, Lepcha ; ITko, Bhot. 



Coloration. Loral feathers white or fulvous, with black bristly 

 ends; facial disk greyish or fulvous, white-shafted, indistinctly 

 barred with brown ; a white or fulvous supercilium ; ruff indis- 

 tinct, dark brown, more or less banded and spotted with white or 

 fulvous ; middle of crown dark brown, uniform in old birds ; upper 

 parts dark brown, vermiculated and speckled with whitish or 



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