230 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE OENITHOLOGT OF NEPAL. 



Bill bluish at base, greenish horny white at tip ; cere 

 pi umbeous ; irides deep brown ; claws pale grey horny at 

 base, leaden colour at tip. 



Female, Valley, July. — Length, 21*3 ; expanse^ 54 ; wing, 15'8 ; 

 tail, 9"3 ; tarsus, 2"7 ; bill from gape, 1"8 ; bill at front, 

 1"73; depth of closed bill at anterior margin of cere, 085; 

 width at gape, 1*5 ; length of cere, 0"95 ; foot — greatest length, 

 4'4, greatest width, 4-75 ; closed wings short of tail, 2-5 ; 

 weight, 21bs. 2"5ozs. 



Bill greenish horny, bluish near base ; cere plumbeous ; 

 irides deep brown ; ends of toes pale leaden ; claws dusky 

 plumbeous, paler at their bases. 



Nestling, Valley, l^th June. — Wing, 14*8 ; tail, 9*0; tarsus, 

 25 ; bill from gape, 1"7 ; bill at front, 1'6. Irides blackish brown. 



The Brown Wood-Owl is tolerably common in the valley of 

 Nepal throughout the yeai', and is found in the Nawakot Dis- 

 trict in winter. It is always found in the interior of woods, 

 and generally in pairs. On the 7th of July I found a pair of 

 these Owls at Nil Barahi, a thickly-wooded knoll situated nearly 

 in the centre of the Great Valley. There is a deep indentation in 

 the hill and wood on one side, and at the entering angle of this 

 space is a level grassy plot, which is prolonged into the wood and 

 up the hill as a narrow little ravine whose banks on each side are 

 rarely higher than about six feet. This ravine or nullah leads up 

 to a temple on the top of the hill, and its sides are thickly 

 covered with bushes, ferns and trees. About half way np the 

 nullah, on a small tree, were a couple of Wood-Owls quite conceal- 

 ed by the foliage, and they allowed me to approach within a 

 few yards of them. I was first apprised of their whereabouts 

 when they flew down one side of the nullah, very noiselessly for 

 birds with such a stretch of wing and in a forest so dense. I 

 shot one bird, and as it fell to the ground the loud and repeated 

 snapping of its mandibles directed me to the spot where it was. 

 I failed to secure the companion bird ; it could see me very 

 distinctly, apparently, in the subdued light of the forest, and 

 flew away (never very far) threading its way through the forest 

 with the greatest ease. 



Dr. Jerdon gives the native name of this species as " Newar of 

 the Nepalese.'' This is no doubt an error or a misprint. The 

 Newars are the true Nepalese — the aboriginal inhabitants of 

 the valley — and they call this species, and I believe all 

 other owls, '' JBulaca.^^ 



Syrnium, Sp. 



Male, Residency grounds, JSfepal Valley, hth December. — 

 Length, 20 ; expanse, 49 '5 ; wing, 14*4 ; tail^ 9*0 ; tarsus, 2*5 ; 



