SCOPS SUNIA. 



(THE RUFOUS SCOPS OWL.) 



Scops simia, Hodgs. As. Res. xix. p. 175 ; Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv. p. 182 ; Jerd. 111. Ind. Orn. 



pi. 41 (1847) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. ii. p. 67 (1875). 

 Ephialtes sunia, Gray, Cat. Mamm. &c. Nepal, Coll. Hodgs. p. 51 ; Kelaart, Prodromus, p. 96, 



et Cat. p. 116 ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 106 ; Horsf. & Moore. 



Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 70 (1854); Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 418. 

 Scops aldrovandi, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 36 (1849). 

 Ephialtes pennatus, Jerd. B. of Ind. i. p. 136 (1862); Hume, Rough Notes, p. 386 (1870); 



Jerd. Ibis, 1871, p. 347. 

 Ephialtes bakkamwna, Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 255; Jerd. Ibis, 1871, p. 347. 

 Scops pennatus, Gould, B. of Asia, part 22 (pt.) ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, i. p. 65 (1873). 

 The Indian Scops Oivl, apud Jerdon ; Choghad Busial, Simya Rusal, Nepal ; Chitta gtcba, 



Yeria chitta guba, Tel. (Jerdon). 

 Bassa, Punchi-Bassa, Sinhalese. 



Adult female (Ceylon). — Length (estimated from skin) 6-8 inches; culmen from cere 05 ; wing 5 - ; tail 2-4; tarsus 

 0-75 ; mid toe - 7, its claw (straight) 0-34. 



The above measurements are taken from an adult specimen shot in the Kandy district. The dimensions of a " reddish 

 Owl" shot in Haputale last January, concerning which Mr. Bligh writes me, which may appertain to this species 

 (though more probably referable to the rufous phase of the nest), are as follows : — Length 6-2 inches ; wing 4'S ; tail 

 2-25 ; tarsus 0-9. Weight 2\ oz. 



Iris " bright yellow ; bill ' horny,' darker at tip " ( Wliyte) ; feet fleshy green ; cere olive-brown. 



Head, entire upper surface, sides, and lower part of throat fine rufous-chestnut ; forehead and part of crown and ear- 

 tufts with broad black mesial stripes, diminishing to narrow lines on the occiput and hind neck : back and lower 

 scapulars with irregular black shaft-lines and transverse pencillings of the same hue ; least wing-coverts with the 

 concealed bases of the feathers blackish, the median and greater series with narrow pointed central stripes ; lateral 

 scapulars with most of the outer webs white, and a black terminal patch confined to the outer web ; a few of the 

 outer feathers of the median and greater wing-coverts with white lateral patches ; edge of carpal joint white : 

 outer webs of primaries and secondaries crossed with wavy black marks, developing on the inner webs into broader 

 but ill-defined bars, the basal portions of the webs much mottled with blackish ; tail crossed with fine, skeleton, 

 wavy bars of blackish, those on the inner webs of the 3 lateral feathers being darker and more complete than 

 the rest. 



Most of the loral plumes and some of the feathers at each side of the forehead white at the base ; terminal portions of 

 the loral shafts black ; chin fulvous ; ruff -feathers with deep black tips, forming a prominent border ; the upper- 

 most series white at the centre ; chest-feathers with broad mesial stripes ; ground-colour of the breast and flanks 

 white, each feather with a black mesial stripe of varying width at the centre, breaking up into transverse pencil- 

 lings on a rufous ground patch, these markings so arranged as to have an incomplete and clear white bar across 

 the centre of the feather ; underlying abdominal plumes, thighs, and under tail-coverts buffy white ; knees and 

 front of tarsus rufous, posterior part of tarsus whitish ; a few longitudinal dark marks on the tail-coverts ; under 

 wing mingled buff and rufous, the outer feathers marked with black. 



Foung. An immature male shot in the cinnamon-gardens in May last, and which is just beginning to acquire its 

 yearling plumage, measured as follows in the flesh : — Length 6-0 inches ; wing 5-0 ; tail 2-25 ; tarsus 075. 



Iris bright yellow. 



Above a paler rufous than the adult, the feathers of the forehead and crown with narrow mesial lines of black as in 

 the adult, and all the feathers of the body with indistinct white terminal margins, preceded by a blackish but 

 inconspicuous and narrow bar. The shorter lateral scapulars have the outer webs white, but not so pure as in 

 the adult ; the longer series with central blackish markings ; the winglet with white spots on the outer webs of 



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