THE NIPAL SCOPS-OWL. 155 



536. SCOPS LETTIA. 



THE NIPAL SCOPS-OWL, 

 i 



Scops lettia, Iloclgs. As. Res. xix. p. 176 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 167 ; SJmrpc, 

 Cdf. Birds B. Mm. ii. p. 85 ; El. 8f Wold. B. Burm. p. 65 ; Oates, S. F. vii. p. 4o ; 

 II mm, S. F. vii. p. 357, viii. p. 83 ; Scully, S. F. viii. p. 232 ; Gates, S. F. x. 

 p. 183. Ephialtes lempiji, apud Jerd. B. 2nd. i. p. 138. Ephialtes lettia, 

 Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 393. 



Description. Male and female. General colour of the upper plumage 

 rich fulvous, vermiculated and freckled with brown and black ; the bases 

 of the feathers on the upper back pure fulvous, forming a broad collar ; 

 forehead and sides of the crown pale creamy fulvous, almost unmarked ; 

 eyebrow rich chocolate-brown ; chin and cheeks white ; ruff fulvous, 

 fringed with black ; lower plumage fulvous, delicately stippled with brown, 

 most of the feathers with black centres. 



The above is the ordinary plumage of the Burmese bird ; there is, how- 

 ever, another plumage, which is usually called the grey phase ; it is not 

 of very common occurrence. In this phase the bird is marked in much 

 the same wny as above described, but the brown marks on the plumage 

 arc replaced by a greyish brown, giving the whole bird a different aspect. 



Bill pale green, the gape yellowish ; cere dusky pink ; iris dark brown ; 

 eyelids plumbeous, the edges dusky red; toes pale brown; claws pale 

 horn-colour, the tips dark. 



Length 9 inches, tail 3'1, wing 6*5, tarsus 1*2, bill from gape *9. The 

 female is rather larger. 



This species and the next may be recognized by their general rufous or 

 fulvous coloration, and by the presence of a broad pale half-collar round 

 the hind neck ; and whereas in S. lempiji the junction of the toes with the 

 tarsus is bare, in S. lettia the junction is concealed by feathers. 



The Nipal Scops-Owl is recorded from Arrakan by Mr. Blyth, and it 

 appears to be common over the greater part of Pegu, for I found it 

 abundantly near Kyeikpadein and the town of Pegu, and Capt. Wardlaw 

 Ramsay procured it at Rangoon and on the Karin hills east of Tonghoo. 

 The specimens sent to Mr. Hume from Thayetmyo by Capt. Feilden are 

 stated (S. F. iii. p. 38) to belong to S. lempiji, but their dimensions are 

 very large for this species. 



This Owl appears to be found in Nipal and Sikhim, and probably in the 

 Indo-Burmese countries. 



This species was very common near my house at Kyeikpadein, making 

 its appearance at sunset and retreating in the morning to the shelter of 

 thick clumps of bamboo. I found its nest in March in a hole of a mango 

 tree. 



