THE DUSKY HORNED OWL. 151 



the thighs and long feathers of the flanks almost unmarked, some of the 

 feathers of the upper abdomen and sides of the body streaked down the 

 shaft. 



Iris orange-yellow ; bill horny black ; visible portion of toes greyish 

 horny ; claws blackish. 



Length 22 inches,, tail 9, wing 15, tarsus 3, bill from gape T7. The 

 female is of about the same size. 



The Rock Horned Owl is said by Mr. Blyth to occur in Arrakan. I 

 have not heard of its occurrence elsewhere in the Province. 



It occurs over the whole peninsula of India down to the extreme south 

 and westwards as far as Afghanistan. It will probably be met with in the 

 Indo-Burmese countries. 



The four Burmese Owls of this genus are birds of very large size, with 

 long ear-tufts and with the whole of the tarsus and toes feathered. They 

 are not likely to be confounded one with the other, each having a very 

 distinct style of coloration. 



This species affects by preference rocky hills and ravines in well-wooded 

 localities, and feeds, as indeed do all the larger Owls, on rats, snakes, crabs, 

 and large insects. In India this Owl breeds from February to April, 

 laying four white eggs on the bare soil in holes of river-banks and cliffs ; 

 and sometimes it appears to deposit its eggs on the level ground under a 

 bush. The cry of this bird, according to Dr. Jerdon, is a loud solemn 

 hoot. 



532. BUBO COROMANDUS. 

 THE DUSKY HORNED OWL. 



Strix coroxnanda, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 53. Urrua coromanda, Jerd. B. Ind. 

 i. p. 130 ; David et Oust. Ois. Cliine, p. 40. Ascalaphia coromanda, Jlmnc, 

 Hough Notes, ii. p. 371 ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 65. Bubo coromandus, Sharpe, Cat. 

 Birds B. Mus. ii. p. 35 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 83. 



Description. Male and female. The whole upper plumage, scapulars, 

 tert;arics and wing-coverts greyish brown, freckled with a lighter shade of 

 the same, and each feather with a narrow dark brown shaft-stripe ; quills 

 greyish brown barred with dark brown; tail fulvous, broadly barred with 

 brown and tipped whitish ; car-tufts nearly entirely dark brown, contrasting 

 with the plumage of the head; sides of the head, disk, and the whole 

 lower plumage greyish brown with a tinge of fulvous, each feather mottled 

 with brown specks, which assume the shape of fine wavy irregular cross 

 lines in places, and with a dark brown shaft-streak. 



