SURNIIN.E. 75 



and a narrow streak over the eye, is white ; and these parts 

 instead of being silvery- white, as in bakkamwna, are fulvous ; 

 again, the chin, throat, ruff-feathers, abdomen, and breast, 

 instead of being white or creamy- white, as in bakkamuna, 

 are a rich buffy-fawn. Altogether the bird is a good deal 

 smaller, and the lower parts conspicuously more buffy than 

 in any specimen of S. bakkamuna. 



The Malabar Scops Owl is said to be a permanent resident in 

 Ratnagiri, and it also occurs in Sind, but is uncommon in both 

 districts ; it has not been recorded from any other part of the 

 Presidency. It is often confounded with the preceding 

 S. bakkamuna. 



SUB-FAMILY Surniinae, Kaup. 



Ear orifice small, oval, no operculum ; disc incomplete, or nearly 

 obsolete ; no ear- tufts. 



GENUS, Carine, Kaup. 



Cere swollen ; first primary much lengthened ; fifth scolloped 

 on the outer web like the fourth ; hind tarsus plumed ; nostrils 

 pierced near the anterior margin of the cere ; bill short, curved 

 from the base, hooked ; lower mandible notched. 



Carine brama, Tern. 



76. Athene brama. Tern. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 142 ; 



Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 450 ; Deccan, 



Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 377 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology 



of Sind, p. 99 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, 



p. 59; Hume's Scrap Book, p. 404. 



THE SPOTTED OWLET. 



Length, 8 to 9*5 ; expanse, 20*05 to 22*5 ; wing, 615 to 6'65 ; 

 tail, 275 to 3'5 ; tarsus, 1 to 11 ; bill from gape, 078 to 0'84. 



Bill horny-green ; cere dusky ; irides bright or golden pale- 

 yellow ; feet dingy-greenish. 



Above earthy grey-brown, each feather with two white spots ; 

 beneath white, broadly barred, or with cordate brown bars ; tarsal 

 feathers not spotted ; wing with five or six white interrupted 

 bars, and tail with five ; disc white, edged externally with' brown ; 

 a dusky-brown patch outside the eye, and a small dark spot 

 at the inner can thus ; ear-coverts barred. 



The Spotted Owlet is spread universally throughout India, 

 and is exceedingly common in all parts of the Bombay Presi- 

 dency, with the exception of the hills, which it does not ascend 

 to any great height, its place there being taken by one of the 

 next two species ; it is a permanent resident, and breeds 

 during March and April. Eggs are occasionally found in February, 

 but the majority of them are laid in March. It is not parti- 

 cular in its choice of a site for a nest ; an old decayed tree will 

 afford a lodging to several pairs ; in fact, holes in trees are their 



