266 STBIGIDJE. 



the Andaman Islands with the wing only 9'8, the face suffused 

 with ferruginous, and even the spots on the back dark tawny 

 instead of white. No other skin of this race has been obtained, 

 but all the points of difference are repeated in other insular races 

 of S.flammea. 



Distribution. Almost all tropical and temperate regions. The 

 Barn-Owl is found throughout the greater part of India and 

 Burma, though it is rare in forest-regions, on the higher hills, and 

 in desert tracts. It has not been observed in Tenasserim, and in 

 Ceylon has been obtained only in the north of the island. 



Habits, $c. From its habit of haunting roofs of buildings, out- 

 houses, wells, and ruins, the Barn-Owl, though thoroughly noc- 

 turnal, is one of the most familiar species of the order. It lives 

 almost entirely on rats and mice. Its cry, a peculiarly weird 

 shriek or screech, chiefly uttered at the pairing-season, sometimes 

 on the wing, has caused the Barn-Owl to be looked upon as a bird 

 of evil omen in many countries. Several of the Indian names 

 mean " bad bird " or " death-bird." The eggs are more oval and less 

 spherical than those of other Owls, white with a creamy tinge, and 

 measure about 1-69 by 1-28. The number varies from 3 to 6 ; and 

 they are generally deposited in holes in buildings or trees, or 

 occasionally in the ground, and are frequently laid and hatched 

 at intervals of several days. The breeding-season in the Indian 

 Peninsula and Burma is from November to January, in Northern 

 India from February to June. 



1153. Strix Candida. The Grass-Owl. 



Strix Candida, TicMl, J. A. S. B. ii, p. 572 (1833) ; Jerdon, III. Ind. 

 Orn. pi. 30; id. B. I. i, p. 118; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xxxix, 

 pt. 2, p. 93 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. ii. p. 308 ; Blyth $ Wald. Birds 

 Burm. p. 68 ; Fairbank, S. F. iv, p. 253 ; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi, 

 p. 27 ; Ball $ Hume, S. F. vii, p. 200; Hume, Cat. no. 61 ; Reid, 

 S. F. x, p. 14 ; Davison, ibid. p. 341 ; Terry, ibid. p. 469; Oates, B. B. 

 ii, p. 168 ; id. in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 95 ; Hume, S. F. 

 xi, p. 18. 



Strix longimembris, Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. x, p. 86 (1839). 



Glaux javanica, Blyth, Cat. p. 42 (1849) ; nee Strix javanica, Gmel. 



Glaux Candida, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xix, p. 513 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 60. 



Scelostrix Candida, Kaup, Tr. Z. S. iv, p. 248 ; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, 

 p. 251 ; 1870, p. 160; Hume, Rough Notes, p. 345 ; A. Anderson, 

 S. F. iii, p. 388. 



Coloration. Disk either white or suffused with pale pinkish 

 ferruginous, a blackish-brown spot in front of each eye ; ruff dark 

 brown above, white or buff at the sides of the head and below, 

 some of the feathers often tipped with brown ; upper plumage 

 dark brown, each feather with a minute white spot ; basal portion 

 of feathers orange-buff, this colour is conspicuous in places, es- 

 pecially on the neck ; smallest wing-coverts orange-buff, with small 

 brown spots ; quills buff, tipped with brown, mottled above the tip 

 and with some imperfect dark bars farther up, inner webs mostly 



