240 BUBONID^E 



Iris dusky or black ; bill white, yellowish at base ; legs and 

 toes dirty yellow. 



Length 15-5 ; wing 12-25 ; tail 4-55 ; culmen 1-10 ; tarsus 2-90. 



A younger bird has the facial disc tinged with red, a stronger 

 buffy wash on the under parts and marked traces of transverse 

 bands on the tail. 



Distribution. The Grass Owl is rather a rare bird, found chiefly 

 in the eastern and southern half of South Africa, and extending 

 beyond our limits to Angola and Nyasaland. 



The following are recorded localities : Cape Colony Cape divi- 

 sion (Smith and Layard), George division (Atmore), Knysna (Marais 

 and S. A. Mus.) ; Natal Ifafa (Woodward), Umgeni river, near 

 Durban (Shelley), Eichmond Eoad (Eeid), Newcastle (Butler); 

 Basutoland Maseru (Bowker) ; Transvaal Sandspruit in Wak- 

 kerstroom district (Oates), Potchefstroom (Ayres). 



Habits. This Owl is almost invariably found in the grass and 

 rushes along streams or vleis ; here during the day it sleeps on the 

 ground and is sometimes put up by dogs ; it appears to be nowhere 

 plentiful. Mr. Atmore found a nest containing three fully fledged 

 young birds in the Falmiet swamps at Blanco in the George dis- 

 trict in May ; no other information in regard to its breeding habits 

 is available. 



FIG. 81. Sternum of Bubo maculosus, showing the double posterior notch, x \. 



Family II. BUBONID^E. 



Skull short and comparatively broad ; sternum with two deep 

 notches on both sides posteriorly ; furcula entirely free from the 

 keel of the sternum ; second joint of the third toe equal to the 



