276 ASIONIDiE. 



on the crown and nape ; all the uppei' parts are barred ; the lower 

 parts are white at first, and gradually assume the barring. 



Bill greenish horny, bluish near base ; cere plumbeous ; irides 

 deep brown (yellow irides have twice been recorded) ; ends of toes 

 pale leaden ; claws dusky plumbeous, paler at their bases. Toes 

 feathered above, except close to the claws. 



Length of Himalayan birds about 21 inches, tail 8-9-5, wing 

 13-3 to 16-6, tarsus 2-3 to 2-75, bill from gape 1-45-1-6 ; length 

 of South-Indian and Ceylon birds about 18'5, tail 6-5-8, wing 

 11-75-13-5. Males average less than females. 



I do not think the Peninsular and Ceylon form, S. indrani, can 

 be separated from the Himalayan S. neivarense, except as a race or 

 subspecies. The Southern race is considerably smaller, as usual, 

 and the facial disk is as a rule distinctly ochreous, whilst in the 

 Himalayan bird it is whitish ; but the difference is not absolutely 

 constant, as Hume has shown, and ochreous or rufous coloration 

 is a common form of variation in Owls. Very often, too, the 

 superciliary band is less pure white, and the crown and nape are 

 darker and paler in the Southern than in the Northern variety. 

 Birds from the Assam hills and Burma resemble those from 

 Southern India in colour. The Malaccan S. maingayi (Hume, 

 S. F. vi, p. 27) is rather more distinct, but only entitled, I think, 

 to subspecific separation. 



Distribution. Throughout the Himalayas from near the base to 

 a considerable elevation (13,000 feet in Sikhim), also on the 

 Western Ghats from Mahableshwar southward and throughout 

 Ceylon. Blyth received a specimen from Goomsur, and there is 

 one from the Shevroy hills in the Madras Museum. To the 

 eastward this bird has been found in the hills south of Assam, in 

 Manipm% and, very rarely, in Burma, a specimen from the Thoung- 

 gyen valley, east of Moulmein, having recently been sent to me 

 by Mr. Hauxwell, and I find another from the same neighbourhood, 

 collected by Mr. Limborg, in the Tweeddale collection. Swinhoe 

 obtained this species in Pormosa. 



Habits, Sfc. A forest bird, keeping much to the higher hill- 

 ranges, except in Ceylon. The ordinary call is, according to 

 Davison, a quadruple hoot; according to Legge a sound like 

 to-whood : the diabolical shrieks attributed to this species by 

 Layard and others are probably produced by another Owl. Legge 

 has given an excellent account of the bird in captivity. His 

 captives devoured small birds, lizards, and fish with equal zest. 

 The Owl grasped its food, just as a parrot does, in one foot, wdth 

 the inner toe turned backwards, and after nibbling at various 

 parts, as if to taste, jerked the whole headforemost into its 

 mouth and swallowed it. Hume found a nest of sticks belonging 

 to this species on June 6th, in a precipitous valley near Simla, 

 placed on a rocky shelf, and containing three very young birds ; 

 and MandelH obtained a white subspherical egg, measuring 2-07 

 by 1-76, from a female on March 6th. No more is known of the 

 breeding. 



