18*2 Notices and Descriptions of various new [No. 159, 



more ferruginous shade of general colouring than the adults. In a 

 living specimen which I saw, the most remarkable feature (for an Owl 

 of this genus) was its very dark irides, appearing black : and Mr. Hodg- 

 son, in his description of the species, remarks, " Iris variable, yellow 

 in the young, brown in the old birds". It inhabits the sub-Himalayan 

 ranges, extending to those of Sylhet and Arracan, and doubtless to 

 all those of Assam. 



3. Sc. lettioides, Jerdon, MS. Differs from the last in its constant- 

 ly smaller size, and more ashy colouring ; the short tarsal plumes 

 appear to be always white, with at most obscure traces of mottling. 

 From the next it also differs in its predominant ashy tinge. Length 

 of wing five inches and a quarter to five and three-quarters. Peculiar 

 to the Coromandel coast, and it would seem there generally common. 



4. Sc. lempiji, (Horsfield) : Strix noctula, Reinwardt ; Scops java- 

 nicus, Lesson. Specimens which (from Mr. Strickland's description of 

 Dr. Horsfield's Javanese bird,) I refer to this, from the vicinity of the 

 Straits, are often deeply imbued with ferruginous- brown throughout : 

 some of these being evidently in nestling dress, from the flimsy texture 

 of the feathers ; and the others are perhaps in second plumage. Others, 

 again, have merely a weak shade of ferruginous- brown like the young of 

 Sc. lettia ; and the mottling of the upper parts is coarser and more 

 blotched. The latter are perhaps distinct ; for while the former seem to 

 be peculiar to the Malay countries, these occur not only in Malasia, but 

 along the Malabar range, and in China. The Society possess a spe- 

 cimen from Macao. Future observation must determine whether the 

 ferruginous- brown birds are so spread; and specimens should be sought 

 for that might exhibit a transitional moult. 



5. Sc. sunia, Hodgson, As. Res. xix. 174. This beautiful species 

 appears to be generally diffused over the country, though, it would 

 seem, rather sparingly. Mr. Jerdon has obtained specimens near Nel- 

 lore, and I have twice met with it in Lower Bengal. A very handsome 

 adult female, shot near Calcutta, has the whole upper parts uniform 

 bright chesnut-ferruginous, with inconspicuous black shafts to the 

 dorsal plumage, tending to become obsolete, and more distinct black 

 shafts to the frontal feathers, the aigrettes, and the fore-part of 

 the wings ; exterior line of scapularies albescent, with conspicuous 

 black tips ; and there are smaller black tips to the plumelets which 



