116 BUBONID^E. 



Gen. Symium. Savigny, 



Head not so large as in the Striges. No ear-tufts ; toes thickly feathered, 

 with hair-like bristles or entirely bare ; feet stout. Ears moderately large and 

 operculate. 



212. Syrnium Butleri, Asia ButleH, Hume, Str. F, vii, 1878, 



p. 316; Tristram, Ibis, 1880, p. 245. THE MEKRAN Wooo-OwL. 



Chin, cheeks, entire space inside the ruff white, tinged fawny below and 

 behind the eye ; some few of the loral bristles dark-shafted towards their tips, 

 but inconspicuously so ; feathers of the ruff across the throat and as far as 

 opposite the gape, are grey brown, margined throughout their length pretty 

 broadly, and tipped with cream colour, more rufescent and fawny towards the 

 tips ; the rest of the feathers of the ruff from gape round and behind the eye are 

 very peculiar ; when examined closely they are rather pale, French grey on one 

 surface, warm brown on the other, and obscurely tipped with rufescent 

 fawn ; forehead, crown, occiput and nape pale rufescent fawn obscurely 

 mottled with dusky brown ; when the feathers are closely examined, the 

 basal portions are bluish dusky, the rest pale rufescent fawn or buff with an 

 obscure ill-defined dusky brown bar, some little distance from the tip, and 

 another imperfect bar or spot of the same colour near the tip; lesser-wing 

 coverts from the carpal joint uniform smoky brown, somewhat intermediate 

 between a hair brown and an earth brown ; scapulars, back, median and 

 greater-wing coverts dull pale rufescent fawn, clouded and streaked with 

 brown, most of the secondary, median and greater coverts having more or less 

 pure white spots or blotches on the outer webs near the tips. First primary 

 almost uniform brown, edged creamy white on the outer web, and a mottling 

 of the same towards the middle of the inner web near the base ; rest of the 

 quills lighter brown, regularly barred with pale fawn colour, duller and shaded 

 with grey brown on the inner webs towards the tips becoming white away from 

 the shaft towards the bases ; tail tipped with nearly pure white, and exactly of 

 the same character as the quills, but the bars on the two central feathers are 

 reduced to mere blotches on either side of the shaft ; breast and abdomen 

 .creamy, the sides of the breast with a few indistinct transverse dusky bands, 

 and those of the latter with narrow brown shaft stripes. Entire wing-lining, 

 basal portions of the quills, vent, lower-tail coverts, legs and Jeet pure white ; 

 lower surface of the tail grey brown barred with white. 



Bill and cere blackish horny; culmen and tips of both mandibles pale 

 yellowish horny ; feet greenish olive. 



Length. 14 inches ; wing 9-95 ; tail 6; tarsus 2-05; bill from gape 2'O; 

 from margin of cere to point o'6. 



JJab. Oormara on the Mekran Coast. 



