168 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



swarming. They breed in December and January, and I have found their 

 eggs both in holes of trees and in holes in the ground. They probably 

 nest also in old wells and dilapidated pagodas. The eggs are usually five 

 in number. 



547. STRIX CANDIDA. 

 THE GRASS-OWL. 



Strix Candida, Tick. J. A. S. B. ii. p. 572 j Jerd. B. 2nd. i. p. 118 ; Sharpe, Cat. 

 Birds B. Mus. ii. p. 308 j Bl. B. Burm. p. 68 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 46 ; 

 Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 27 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 83 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 181. 

 Scelostrix Candida, Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 345 ; Anders. S. F. iii. p. 388. 

 Glaux Candida, Hume, Nest and Eggs, p. 60. 



Description. Male and female. The whole upper plumage, with median 

 and greater wing-coverts, dark glossy brown ; the feathers yellow at the 

 base, this colour being more or less mixed with the brown, according to the 

 disarrangement of the plumage ; each feather with a small spot of white 

 near the tip ; lesser wing-coverts pale orange-buff spotted with brown ; tail 

 bufiy white ; the central tail-feathers completely barred across with dark 

 brown, the others successively less barred, the outermost feathers being 

 nearly pure white ; quills in general orange-buff, barred with brown, and 

 the tips also brown ; the whole of the face and sides of the neck white ; a 

 patch of black in front of the eye ; whole lower plumage pure white ; the 

 abdomen, under wing-coverts, sides of the breast and body spotted with 

 brown. 



Irides very dark brown ; bill horny ; legs livid. (Jerdon.) 



Length 14 inches, tail 5 '2, wing 13, tarsus 3 '2. 



The Grass-Owl was procured at Tonghoo by the late Colonel Lloyd. It 

 has not yet been known to occur elsewhere in the Province. 



It is found in the hill-tracts of Eastern Bengal and in a great portion oJ 

 the Indian peninsula, and it ranges into China and Cochin China. 



This species inhabits places covered with thick grass, and it is said to la^ 

 its eggs on the ground in November or December. 



