DISTRIBUTION OF BARN-OWLS. 291 



vermiculated or wavy bars on the lower parts they also approach the Javan 

 Barn-Owl (S. javanicd), which, again, leads on to the large race of Celebes 

 (S. rosenhergi). Before commenting on our series in the Museum, I give a 

 few notes on the distribution of the bird in India. 



Mr. Hume (Rough Notes, ii. p. 345) says it is found " throughout 

 India, Ceylon, and Burmah." He gives dimensions as follows : — " Total 

 length 13— 15'2 inches, wing ll'l— 12"2, tail from vent 5"8— 6"12, tarsus 

 2-45-2-85, middle toe r3-l-6." 



His notes on the Barn-Owl in Scindh are as follows : — " This Owl is 

 by" no means common in Scindh. The only place at which I saw it was 

 Larkhana, and there I shot a pair. The female measured : — Length 14"25 

 inches, expanse 39"5, tail from vent 5"2, wing 10"8 ; weight 1 lb. 3 oz. ; 

 wings, when closed, reached to within one inch of end of tail ; tarsus 27b. 

 Male: — Length 1325, expanse 37*5, wing 10"7, tail from vent 5"2 ; wings, 

 when closed, reached to within r25 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 specimens illustrated admirably the different stages 

 of plumage of this species. Above, the female was so closely speckled and 

 pencilled with blackish brown and grey as to leave scarcely any buff colour 

 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 pre- 

 dominated 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 

 inconspicuous. The whole lower surface of the female, from the ruflP down 

 to the points of the lower tail-coverts and the tibial plumes, was tinged pale 

 buffy and profusely spotted with comparatively large triangular brown spots ; 

 the whole lower surface of the male, on the other hand, was pure Avhite, 

 with a few minute brown speckles on the breast and down the sides. The 

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



Mr. Adam records it as very rare in the neighbourhood of the 

 Sambhur lake, where he has never shot the bird, A birdcatcher, how- 



2 R 



