Ornithology of Northern Borneo. 79 



its length bebind, but the feathers come clown on the front 

 almost to the junction of the toes. It is not quite so tliickly 

 feathered as in /S. rufescens, but is more so than in S. ballL 

 Neither of the last-named sjiecies has tlie whitish abdomen 

 of Scops lud(E, and the rufous coloration and rufous eyebrow 

 also distinguish it from them, as well as the curious bristly 

 elongations of the shafts of the facial plumage^ which 

 have induced me to separate the bird as a distinct genus 

 from Scops. 



[I first met with this small Owl in the dark and gloomy 

 forests which occur in large patches at about 9000 feet 

 on Kina Balu. The male (No. 1973) had the iris greenish 

 yellow, the green showing especially round the pupil; skin 

 round eye pinkish brown ; bill pale yellow, almost white ; 

 feet dull white and bare. I never heard the note of any 

 small Owl during my residence of a month at my camp at 

 8000 feet, and I only got three specimens during my eight 

 months^ residence on the mountain. I only met with it at 

 all during my second expedition, and fancy that it must be 

 very rare. 



The circumstances under which this little Owl was pro- 

 cured were quite different from those under which I found 

 Scops lempiji. The latter bird is always to be seen in the 

 neighbourhood of villages up to about 1000 feet, and its call 

 {' Pwok,^ whence the native name) is quite a feature of the 

 localities which it frequents. On the other hand, I never 

 heard H. lucice utter a sound.] 



23. Scops lempiji. 



Scops lempiji (Horsf.) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. ii. p. 91 ; Salvad. 

 Ucc. Born. p. 19 (1874); Sharpe, Ibis, 1879, p. 238; id. 

 P.Z. S. 1881, p. 791. 



a. (J ad. Kina Balu, Feb. 1888. Wing 5 65 inches. 



b. ? ad. Kina Balu, March 20, 1887. Wing 6*2 inches. 



c. S ad. Kina Balu, March 20, 1887. Wing 6-1 inches. 



d. ? ad. Abai, N.Borneo, Feb. 11, 1886. Wing 5-55 inches. 

 The series exhibits both brown and rufous phases. In 



the pair procured on the 20th of March the male is rufous 



