46 Major J. Biddulph on the Birds of Gilgit . 



ignavus in the Indian Museum^ the present species appears so 

 well marked as to be worthy of more than the subspecific dis- 

 tinction assigned to it by Sharpe. 



[It may be noted that Mr. Hume possesses a " pale " Eagle- 

 Owl (which has been suspected to be a specimen of B. turco- 

 manus) from Kulu, for which he some time ago proposed a 

 provisional name, but added that ^'itis of precisely the same 

 type of coloration as B. maxhnus { = B, ignavus of Europe) /^ 

 Now B. turcomanus is not precisely of the same type of colo- 

 ration as B. ignavus ; it differs in style as well as in tone of 

 markings, I have seen Mr. Hume's specimen ; and, speaking 

 from memory and after seeing the Gilgit specimen, I am 

 inclined to believe that the Kulu bird is merely a male of B. 

 igyiavus. 



Again, Mr. Blanford, in his ' Zoology of Persia,' notices a 

 female Eagle-Owl which he identifies as B. sibiricus {=B. 

 turcomanus) ,o\it'<i\nedi near Shiraz, and adds that it is possibly 

 the species referred to by Isiv. Hume as above. The wing of 

 the Shiraz bird is 17 inches, and the tail 9'5. These dimen- 

 sions appear to be too small for any bird of either of these 

 two types, and rather to correspond with those of a specimen 

 of B. ascalaphus, also from Shiraz, which is now in the Indian 

 Museum. 



It does not seem probable that either of these birds could 

 be rightly identified with B. turcomanus, to which species the 

 Gilgit bird belongs. The dimensions of the latter (also a 

 female) are — wing 19" 1 inches, tail 12'3, expanse 70, length 

 27, bill from gape 2-1. Weight 4 lb. 9-25 oz.— G. F. L. M.] 

 Since my leaving Gilgit Dr. Scully has written to tell me 

 that he has secured a specimen of a large Owl which appears 

 to be too dark for B. turcomanus. 



28. Scops pennatus (Hodgs.). 



One specimen was procured in Ponyal by Dr. Scully on 

 the 21st May. Length 7'Q inches, expanse 19, wing 6*1, 

 tail 2'8, tarsus "85, middle toe '7, bill from gape -JQ, bill 

 from cere '45, cere '34, wings beyond tail '35. Irides pale 

 bright greenish yellow, bill dingy plumbeous, toes dull plum- 

 beous, cere dull plumbeous. 



