Genus NINOX. 

 Head small, with the disk almost obsolete. Bill short, cere tumid. Nostrils oval, and near 

 the anterior margin. Wings long and pointed, the 1st quill falling short of the 3rd, which is 

 the longest, by more than the length of the tarsus. Tail moderately long. Tarsus stout, slightly 

 longer than the anterior toe, scantily feathered to the base of the foot. Toes covered with hairy 

 plumes to the tips, which are covered with one or two transverse scales. 



NINOX SCUTULATA. 



(THE BROWN HAWK-OWL.) 



Strix scutulata, Raffl. Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 280 (1822). 



Strix Mrsuta, Temm. PI. Col. i. pi. 289 (1824). 



Athene malaccensis, Eyton, Ann. Nat. Hist. xvi. p. 228. 



Athene scutulata, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 35 (1844); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 116 (1852); 



Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 68 (1854). 

 Athene scutellata, Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 106. 

 Ninox scutulatus, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 38 (1849); Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 147 



(1862, in pt.) ; Hume, Rough Notes, p. 420 (1870); Armstrong, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 303. 

 Athene Mrsuta, Bp. Consp. i. p. 41. 

 Ninox Mrsutus, Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 543; Hume, Str, Feath. 1874, p. 151; 



id. 1875, p. 40. 

 Ninox Mrsuta, Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 418; Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, pp. 333 & 383; 



Bligh, J. A. S. (Ceylon Br.), 1874, p. 66; Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 279; id. Str. Feath. 



1875, p. 368. 

 Ninox scutulata, Sharpe, Cat. B. ii. p. 156 (1875); Hume, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 285. 

 Ninox scutellata, Inglis & Hume, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 373, 

 The Brown Wood-Owl, Tickell, J. A. S. B. ; The Hairy Owl, G. R. Gray. 

 Choghad besra, Hind.; Kulpechak, Beng., lit. "Death-Owl;" Paim ganti vestam, Tel.; 



Tangh ' perchiok, Lepch. (Jerdon); Kheng-Booj), Arracan; Baja ivali, Malacca (Horsf.). 

 Bassa, Punchi-Bassa, Sinhalese ; Anda, Tamils in Ceylon. 



Adult male and female. Length to front of cere 9-8 to 10-3 inches ; culnien from cere Ooo ; wing 7"5 to 8-3 ; tail 4-5 : 

 tarsus 1-0 to 1-1 ; middle or outer anterior toe 1*1, its claw (straight) 053; height of bill at cere 0-27. 



The above measurements are taken from eight Ceylonese examples. The average length of wing is about 7"8 : one 

 example in my collection measures 8"0, and another of a pair in the Poole collection 8 - 3, quite an abnormal 

 dimension. 



Iris golden yellow ; cere dusky greenish ; bill blackish blue on the sides of the upper mandible, the tip and the lower 

 mandible paler; feet dusky yellow, the soles richer yellow than the upper surface of the toes; claws blackish, 

 bluish at the base. 



Above glossy chocolate-brown, the hue of the head, back, and sides of neck darker than the rest and pervaded with a 

 cinereous tint ; lower scapulars, greater wing-coverts, and rump slightly paler than the back ; the outer scapulars 

 marked with a largish concealed white patch, chiefly on the outer webs of the feathers ; the tertials barred on 



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