282 ASIONID^. 



paler mottled whity-brown bands and tips ; throat white; remainder 

 of lower parts whitish, narrowly and closely transversely barred 

 with brownish rufous, each feather, including those of the throat, 

 with a fusiform dark brown shaft-line ; larger under wing-coverts 

 white, with dark brown ends. 



Bill dusky yellow-green, dark brown on the culmen ; cere pale 

 dusky green ; iris bright yellow ; legs dusky yellow (Oates). 



Length about 22 ; tail 8 ; wing 16 ; tarsus 2'75 ; bill from 

 gape 2. 



Males are generally smaller than females, and Himalayan birds 

 are considerably larger than those from Southern India, Ceylon, 

 and Southern Burma. 



Distribution. A common bird throughout India, Ceylon, and 

 Burma in well-wooded tracts near the sea, rivers, or large pieces 

 of water. This Owl is rare in the Himalayas, where it is replaced 

 by the next species ; but it has been found on the tops of the 

 Nilgiri and Palni hills in Southern India. It is, of course, rare 

 or wanting in the drier parts of Eajputana, the Punjab, Sind, &c. ; 

 but I shot one by a stream in the Western Sind hills. It does 

 not appear to range south of Tenasserim, though it occurs to the 

 eastward in China and far to the west near Acre in Palestine. It 

 has not yet been observed in Persia or Arabia. 



Habits, <$fc. The Common Indian Fish-Owl generally passes the 

 day in a thick tree, and wings its way at sunset to the water's edge 

 to search for food. It lives chiefly on fish and crabs, but also kills 

 birds and small mammals at times. It has a loud dismal cry, like 

 haw, haiu, haw, ho. It breeds from December to March, and lays 

 usually two white broad oval eggs, measuring about 2-38 by 1-88, in 

 a hollow tree, the deserted nest of a Fishing-Eagle, or occasionally on 

 a ledge of rock, a small stick nest being made in the latter case. 



1165. Ketupa flavipes. The Tawny Fish-Owl. 



Cultrunguis flavipes, Hodgson, J. A. 8. B. v, p. 364, pi. 25 (1836). 

 Ketupa flavipes, Gray, Gen. B. i, p. 38 ; Blytli, Cat. p. 37 ; Horsf. $ 



M. Cat. i, p. 76; Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 135; id. Ibis, 1871, p. 346; 



Bulger, Ibis, 1869, p. 155 ; Hume, Hough Notes, p. 385 ; id. S. F. 



iii, pp. 327, 416; xi, p. 21; id. Cat. no. 73; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. 



ii, p. 5 ; Godw.-Aust. J. A. 8. B. xlvii, pt. 2, p. 12. 

 Lak-kyo-o-mung (the Kyo-o-calling Devil), Lepcha. 



Coloration. Lores white ; cheeks and ear-coverts orange or 

 brownish buff, all with black shafts ; feathers of the upper parts 

 with broad blackish-brown median bands and rich orange-buff 

 edges, the orange-buff in parts forming indentations or spots on 

 the dark brown ; outer scapulars and some of the larger wing- 

 coverts with the outer webs chiefly buff ; quills and tail-feathers 

 dark brown, with buff bars and tips ; lower parts rich orange-buff, 

 with dark brown shaft- stripes, broadest on the breast ; usually a 

 white patch in the middle of the throat. 



