NINOX 495 



NINOX, Hodgson, 1837. 



705. HAIKY OWL. 

 NINOX SCUTULATA 



Ninox scutulata (Raffl.), Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 280 (1822) ; Sharpe, Cat. 

 B. Br. Mus. ii. p. 156 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iii. p. 309 ; N. 

 hirsuta (Temm.), PI. Col. i. pi. 289 (1824) ; N. japonica (Bp.), 

 Consp. G. Av. i. p. 41 (1850) ; (Temm. and Schlegel), F. Jap. Aves, 

 pi. 9B ; David and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 36 ; N. lugubris (Tickell), 

 J.A.S.B. ii. p. 572 (1833) ; Sharpe, torn. cit. p. 154 ; N. lurmamca 

 Hume, Str. Feath. iv. p. 285 (1876) ; N. innominata Hume, op. 

 cit. iv. p. 286 (1876) ; N. affinis Beavan, Ibis, 1867, p. 316 ; Shaipe, 

 torn. cit. p. 155. 



Choyliad besra, Hind. ; Kal-pecliak, Beng. ; Aoba-cfcuktt, 

 Jap. 



< ail. (Japan). Ruff and facial disk obsolete ; upper parts rich choco- 

 late brown, less rufous in tinge on the head and neck ; scapulars and inner- 

 most secondaries slightly marked with btiffy white ; tail boldly barred 

 with blackish on a f greyish brown ground ; chin white, the hair-like 

 feathers round the bill white, with black shafts ; under parts chocolate 

 brown, broadly striped with white ; under tail-coverts white, sparingly 

 streaked with pale chocolate brown ; bill bluish black, cere dull green ; 

 feet dull yellow, claws horn brown ; iris bright yellow ; tarsus feathered, 

 the toes sparsely covered with bristles. Culmen 0'97, wing 7 '4, tail 4'2, 

 tarsus 0*98 inch. Female similar but larger. 



Hob. Sidemi in S.E. Siberia, the island of Askold, Corea, 

 Japan; India, China, Burma, Ceylon, and the Indo-Malayan 

 region generally. 



This Owl is chiefly nocturnal, keeping in the dense woods 

 during the day time. It feeds on insects, mice, lizards, etc. Its 

 call-note is a not unmelodious hoot, whoo-wuk, whoo-wuk, and it 

 is said when wounded to cry like a hare. It is also said to 

 evince a marked preference for the vicinity of water. It breeds 

 early in the year, but little is known of its breeding habits. 

 An egg found in Ceylon was in the hollow of a dead cocoa-nut 

 tree, on an irregular bed of dried leaves, and was pure white, 

 with a fine compact but scarcely glossy shell, in shape nearly 

 spherical, and measured T45 by 1*27. 



