288 ASIONIDJE. 



Scully. S. F. viii, p. 231 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 131 ; Davison, 

 S. F. x, p. 343 ; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 152 ; Hume, S. F. xi. p. 20. 



Huhua nipalensis, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. vi, p. 362 ; Jerdon, B. I. i, 

 p. 131 ; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 254 ; 1872, p. 89 ; Beavan, P. Z. S. 

 1868, p. 400 ; Hume, Eough Notes, p. 378 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, 

 p. 346 ; Hume, 8. F. i. p. 431 ; Blanford, J. A. S. B. xli, pt. 2, 

 p. 154 ; Blyth # Wald. Birds Burm. p. 65; Qodw.-Aust. J.A.S. B. 

 xlv, pt. 2, p. 68 ; xlvii, pt. 2, p. 12 ; Gurney fy Fitzgerald, Ibis, 

 1878, p. 119 ; Gurney, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 558, pi. lii. 



Huhua pectoralis, Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. x, p. 89, pi. i ; Holds- 

 worth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 416. 



Bubo orientalis, Blyth, Cat. p. 34 ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 790 ; 

 nee Strix orientalis, Horsf. 



Ptiloskelos amherstii, Tickell, J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 448 (1859). 



Huhu, Huhu Chil, Nepal ; Migdori, Bliot. ; Uman, Malayalim ; Loho, 

 Bakamuna, Cing. ; Peria-anda, Tarn. (Ceylon). 



Coloration. Lores, cheeks, and ear-coverts greyish or brownish 

 white, shafts and tips of lores and ear-coverts blackish brown ; 

 long-pointed aigrettes blackish brown, the inner webs or some- 

 times the whole barred with white or buff; upper plumage 

 throughout dark brown, the feathers barred, edged, and mottled 

 witn buff, least, and frequently not at all, on the crown, back, and 

 smaller wing-coverts, most on the neck, scapulars, and larger wing- 

 coverts ; sides of neck, outer scapulars, and upper tail-coverts buff, 

 barred with brown, the scapulars forming a distinct buff band on 

 each side ; quills and tail-feathers dark brown, with pale bars and 

 tips, more distinct on the secondaries than on the primaries, the 

 pale bars on the inner webs near the base, except on the middle 

 pair of tail-feathers, very broad and nearly or quite white ; lower 

 plumage white, often tinged fulvous, the feathers broadly barred 

 with dark brown, the subterminal bar on each feather forming a 

 crescentic or heart-shaped spot. 



Young birds are white or buff, with crescentic dark brown bars 

 on all feathers of both the upper and lower surface ; the quills 

 and tail-feathers as in adults. Even after a change of plumage (by 

 a moult) the aigrettes are barred throughout at first and the dosral 

 feathers have more buffy bars and markings than those of older 

 birds. 



Bill yellow : irides brown ; toes yellow ; claws dusky at the end, 

 pale at base. 



Length about 24 inches (21-5-27) ; tail 9 ; wing 17 (15-3-19) ; 

 tarsus 2-75 ; bill from gape 2. Females are generally larger than 

 males and Himalayan birds than those from Southern India and 

 Ceylon. 



Distribution. This Owl is found in the forests of the Himalayas as 

 far west as Kumaun, and probably farther, at elevations not ex- 

 ceeding 7000 feet, also in the hill-forests of the Nilgiris and Malabar 

 and in the higher parts of Ceylon. To the eastward it has been 

 obtained in the Assam hills, and in Burma near Toungngoo, in 

 Karennee, and from Bilugyun Island opposite Moulmein. There can 

 now be no question that Jerdon's Huhua pectoralis, from Malabar, 



