STRNIUM. 273 



Genus SYRNIUM, Savigny, 1810. 



No aigrettes (ear-tufts) ; ear furnished with an operculum. Bill 

 stout. Tarsus thickly feathered throughout ; toes feathered above 

 in all Indian species to base of last phalanx ; claws strong. Buff 

 narrow, incomplete above ; facial disk well developed, extending 

 almost as far above the eyes as below. Wings rounded, 3rd, 4th, 

 or 5th quill longest ; tail of moderate length, rounded. Irides 

 always dark. 



The Owls of this genus are of moderate size, and are generally 

 found in trees during the day : all are thoroughly nocturnal. In 

 Sharpe's ' Catalogue ' 27 species were enumerated, scattered over 

 the greater part of the world, and two or three have since been 

 described ; six are Indian. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Lower surface with longitudinal as well as 



transverse markings. 

 a'. All tail-feathers with pale cross-bands : 



wing 12 S. nivicola, p. 273. 



b'. Middle tail-feathers not banded : wing 



13-5 S. biddulphi, p. 274, 



b. Lower surface with transverse bars alone. 



c'. Bars on abdomen inch or more apart. 

 a". Upper parts mottled with black and 



white S. ocdlatum, p. 277 



It TT 'j_l 1 *J_ 1 A 



ipp 



phi 

 6". Upper parts with white spots, but not 



mottled S. seloputo, p. 278. 



d'. Bars on abdomen much less than inch 



apart S. indrani, p. 275. 



c. Lower surface with longitudinal shaft-stripes 



alone S. butleri, p. 279. 



1158. Syrnium nivicola. The Himalayan Wood-Owl. 



Mesomorpha nivicola, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 82 (descr. 



nulla). 

 Syrnium nivicolum, Hodgs., Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv, pp. 185, 550 



(1845) ; xv, p. 9 ; xvi, p. 464 ; id. Cat. p. 41 ; Horsf. $ M. Cat. 



i, p. 84 ; Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 124 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, 



p. 16 ; Hume, Rough Notes, p. 359 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 345 ; 



Sharpe, Cat. B. M. ii, p. 250 ; Hume, Cat. no. 66 ; id. S. F. ix, 



p. 37 ; C. H. T. Marshall, Ibis, 1884, p. 407. 



Kashi-op tak-pum, Lepcha ; Uko, Bhot. 



Coloration. Loral feathers white or fulvous, with black bristly 

 ends; facial disk greyish or fulvous, white-shafted, indistinctly 

 barred with brown; a white or fulvous superi'ilimn ; ruff indis- 

 tinct, dark brown, more or less banded and spotted \vith white or 

 fulvous ; middle of crown dark brown, uniform in old birds ; upper 

 parts dark brown, vermiculated and speckled with whitish or 



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