SCOPS. 103 



flew off the nest when my man went up, but I bagged the male, 

 which was sitting on one of the side branches. In this clump of 

 trees the natives said these birds built every year. I took the 

 young one home, and he lived for over a month, feeding on raw , 

 flesh. I had to come away from the factory for a few days, and 

 the foolish servant left the room-door open, when an Imperial Eagle 

 I had got in and tore the unfortunate Owl to pieces." 



The late Mr. A. Anderson furnished me with the following note : 

 " I have acquired a pair of really well-marked eggs of the Dusky 

 Horned Owl, which I took on the 28th of November last from an 

 old nest of Mycteria austral is, shooting one of the parent birds off 

 the nest. 



" The markings consist of indistinct lilac blotches, showingthrough 

 the shell, as it were, on of course a pure white ground ; and they 

 are both profusely though minutely spotted, especially at the extreme 

 end, with brown and lilac spots (or rather specks) of various shades." 



These eggs measured 2-33 by 1-89 and 2-89 by 1-9. 



The eggs of this bird vary surprisingly in size and shape. Ty- 

 pically they are a broad oval, comparatively very large for the size 

 of the bird, but long, oval, pyriform, and nearly spherical varieties 

 occur. I have taken a very great number of these eggs myself, and 

 have extreme sizes of which the cubic contents of the one are fully 

 double those of the other. In colour they are a decidedly creamy 

 white, in texture often somewhat coarse, but withal more or less 

 glossy. I have many specimens greatly exceeding in size the egg 

 of Bubo mcLcimus figured by Hewitson, while I have one specimen 

 scarcely exceeding the egg of S. stridula which he figures. 



The eggs vary from 2'2 to 2*55 inches in length, and from 1*75 

 to 2 inches in breadth ; but the average of fifty-six eggs measured 

 was 2-33 by 1'89 inch. 



Scops pennatus, Hodgs. The Indian Scops-Owl. 



Ephialtes pennatus (Hodgs.}, Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 136. 



Scops pennata, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. $ E. no. 74. 



Of the present species, the Indian Scops-Owl (S. pennatus} I have 

 never yet taken the eggs, but Mr. E. Thompson informs me that 

 " they breed from March till August, in holes of trees, usually at 

 no great height from the ground." He adds, " This is a common 

 bird in our forests (G-urhwal), but I never yet took the trouble to 

 take their eggs. Several pairs used to breed in the Botanical 

 Gardens at Saharunpore. A pair has been breeding for three 

 seasons in a small tree in front of the forest Bungalow at Koted- 

 wara. Four years ago, a young one, in the rufous phase, was 

 brought to me in the month of July." 



This species, at any rate the grey form of it, occurs throughout 

 the well-wooded portions of India and Burma (except perhaps in 

 the Punjab, west of the Beas, from whence I have seen no speci- 

 mens whether from hills or plains), so that there should be no 

 difficulty in obtaining full particulars as to its nidification. 



