146 KECENTLY-DESCRIBED SPECIES. 



" Iris yellow ; bill olivaceous brown ; cere greenish ; feet 

 fleshy brown. 



" Above, the general hue is dark brown ; the feathers of the 

 head, back, rump, scapulars, tertials, and wing-coverts crossed 

 at the centre with transverse spots of ochraceous, spotted finely, 

 and closely vermiculated on the rest of their surfaces with 

 grey and ochraceous grey, surrounding transverse irregular 

 markings of blackish ; the feathers of the hind neck are crossed 

 with bold wavy markings of whitish, and margined with 

 rufescent buff; the outer scapulars are white externally, with 

 blackish terminal spots and oblique central bars of the same 

 edged with rufous ; the primary and outer secondary coverts 

 have their dark markings mingled with rufous patches and 

 set off with white spots near the tips of the outer webs; 

 primaries and secondaries brownish rufous, mottled with 

 blackish brown, and the inner webs banded broadly with the 

 same ; the outer webs of the first five primaries crossed with 

 five white blackish-margined bars ; the tip paler than the rest 

 of the feather, and mottled with dark brown ; tail brownish, 

 washed with rufous on some of the feathers near the base, 

 mottled with blackish brown, and crossed with five or six bars 

 of buff-white with black edges ; ear tufts concolorous with the 

 head, and rufous at the base of the feathers. 



" Loreal plumes black, with white bases ; facial disc grey, 

 pencilled with blackish ; ruff pale rufous, the feathers edged 

 and centred with dark brown ; chin whitish ; foreneck and 

 under surface, with the flanks, closely stippled with iron-grey 

 on a white ground ; the feathers with broadish central stripes 

 of blackish, and crossed on their concealed portions with fine 

 wavy transverse black marks ; on the lower parts the stippling 

 is more open, the under tail-coverts being chiefly white, with 

 the markings confined to the tips ; legs rufescent, with wavy 

 brown transverse marks ; under wing-coverts whitish, shaded 

 with rufescent, and crossed with irregular markings of 

 brown. 



" The example sent home by Messrs. Why te & Co., of 

 Kandy, differs in the bolder nature of the transverse white 

 spottings on the upper surface, and in the blackish markings 

 taking the form of distinct shaft lines ; the ruff is more con- 

 spicuously edged, and is of a deeper buff than in the Museum 

 specimen ; the under surface is not so closely stippled, and 

 does not present the same " pepper-and-salt" appearance, the 

 markings taking the form of vermiculations, and the centre 

 stripes being very bold. 



" This little Owl comes nearer to Scops malayanus than any 

 other Indian member of the genus, but differs from it in its 



