260 BUBONID^l SCOTOPELIA 



Distribution. East and south Africa from about the latitude of 

 Zanzibar southwards. A rare bird in South Africa. The type is 

 said by Smith to have been obtained in a forest district of the 

 eastern province of Cape Colony, but I have not heard of the 

 occurrence of this Owl south of the Orange river since. It is noted 

 from the Vaal river in Griqualand West by Ortlepp ; in the Trans- 

 vaal from the Oliphant river in Zoutspansberg by W. Ayres. In 

 Ehodesia it was obtained by Bradshaw on the Chobe river and by 

 Ayres on the Umfuli ; Andersson had an example from the Cunene. 

 In Portuguese east Africa Alexander obtained several specimens 

 between Tete and Chishombe on the Zambesi, and Francis one at 

 Inhambane. 



Habits. Very little is known of the habits of this rare Owl. 

 Ayres states that though rarely seen by daylight it was often heard 

 at night on the Umfuli river, but that even on moonlight nights 

 and guided by its soft "kro kro," it was difficult to see and shoot. 

 He found insects in the crop, while Ortlepp found the bones of mice. 



Genus VI. SCOTOPELIA. 



Type. 

 Scotopelia, Bp. Consp. i, p. 4 (1850) S. peli. 



Owls of large size without any ear tufts ; tarsi naked throughout 

 the great part of their extent ; covered with small rounded scales ; 

 the soles of the toes covered with sharp pointed spicules. Three 

 species of this purely African genus have been described; one of 

 these alone reaches our limits. 



502. Scotopelia peli. Pel's Fishing Owl. 



Scotopelia peli, Bp. Consp. i, p. 44 (1850) ; Gurney, Ibis, 1859, p. 445, 

 pi. 15 ; Kirk, Ibis, 1864, p. 317 [Zambesi] ; Sharpe, ed. Layards B. 

 S. Afr. pp. 69, 801 (1875-84) ; id. Cat.B. M. ii, p. 10 (1875) ; Shelley, 

 Ibis, 1894, p. 465 ; id. B. Afr. i, p. 144 (1896) ; Alexander, Ibis, 1900, 

 p. 434 [Zambesi] ; Beichenoiv, Vog. Afr. i, p. 648 (1901). 



Description. Adult. Above, including the wings and tail 

 rufous-bay, with numerous black cross bars, most of the feathers 

 of the head and neck with black terminal spots only ; sides of the 

 face and lower surface ochreous-yellow with distinct longitudinal 



