Contributions to the Ornithology/ of India, Sfc. 163 



59.— Elanus melanopterus, Daud. 



This species is plentiful enoug'h in the Western Punjab, but 

 it is comparatively rare in Sindli. I only procured one specimen, 

 and only saw two or three others, and all these exclusively in 

 Upper Sindh. 



60.— Strix indica, Bhjth. 



This owl is by no means common in Sindh. The only place 

 at which I saw it was Larkhana, and there I shot a pair. The 

 female measured, length, 14*25 ; expanse, 39 '5 ; tail from 

 vent, 5'2; wing, 10"8; weight, lib. 3 oz. ; wing, when closed, 

 reached to within 1 of end of tail. Tarsus, 2*75. Male 

 kngth, 13*25 ; expanse, 37*5 ; wing, 10*7; tail from vent, 5*2; 

 wings, when closed, reached to within 1*25 of end of tail; tarsus, 

 2*6; weight, 1 lb. In both the bills were pearly white, the feet 

 horny grey ; claws blackish, and irides brown. The two speci- 

 mens illustrated admirably the different stages of plumage of this 

 species. Above, the female was so closely speckled and jDencilled 

 with blackish brown and grey, as to leave scarcely any buff color 

 visible from the forehead to the tips of the upper tail coverts, 

 and the black and white spots were very large and numerous. 

 In the male the buff predominated on the nape, back of the 

 neck, and upper back, and was abundantly visible over the whole 

 surface, and the black and white spots were small and incon- 

 spicuous. The whole lower surface of the female from the ruff 

 down to the points of the lower tail coverts and the tibial 

 plumes, was tinged pale buffy, and profusely spotted with com- 

 paratively large triangular brown spots ; the whole lower surface 

 of the male on the other hand was pure white, with a few mi- 

 nute brown speckles in the breast and down the sides. The 

 male I take to be an old bird, the female quite a young one. 



? 65.— Bulaca ocellata. Less. 



I did not myself see any specimen of this bird, but Capt. 

 Maiden told me that he had shot a syrniiim, which he believed 

 to belong to this species at Jacobabad. It was, however, he 

 had noted, only 15*25 inches in length, so this identification is 

 doubtful. Mr. Gray separates our Indian species under Latham's 

 name of sinensis, from Lesson's ocellata, which he gives from 

 Southern Asia, As the British Museum contains no specimen 

 of what Mr. Gray considers Lesson's bird, I hesitate to adopt 

 this view. So far as I can make out, the two are identical, 



69,— Bubo bengalensis, FranJd. 



I obtained a fine specimen of this owl at Jhelum. Saw it again 



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