THE DUSKY HORNED OWL. 151 
the thighs and long feathers of the flanks almost unmarked^ some of the 
feathers of the upper abdomen and sides of the body streaked down the 
shaft. 
Iris orange-yellow j bill horny black ; visible portion of toes greyish 
horny; claws blackish. 
Length 32 inches^ tail 9, wing 15_, tarsus 3_, bill from gape 1*7. The 
female is of about the same size. 
The Rock Horned Owl is said by Mr. Blyth to occur in Arrakan. I 
have not heard of its occurrence elsewhere in the Province. 
It occurs over the whole peninsula of India down to the extreme south 
and westwards as far as Afghanistan. It will probably be met with in the 
Indo-Burmese countries. 
The four Burmese Owls of this genus are birds of very large size^ with 
long ear-tufts and with the whole of the tarsus and toes feathered. They 
are not likely to be confounded one with the other^ each having a very 
distinct style of coloration. 
This species afi*ects by preference rocky hills and ravines in well-wooded 
localities^ and feeds_, as indeed do all the larger Owls_, on rats^ snakes^ crabs^ 
and large insects. In India this Owl breeds from February to April^ 
laying four white eggs on the bare soil in holes of river-banks and cliffs ; 
and sometimes it appears to deposit its eggs on the level ground under a 
bush. The cry of this bird^ according to Dr. Jerdon^ is a loud solemn 
hoot. 
532. BUBO COHOMANDUS. 
THE DUSKY HORNED OWL. 
Strix coromanda, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 53. Urrua coromanda, Jerd. B. Ind. 
i. p. 130 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 40. Ascalaphia coromanda, Hmne, 
Rough Notes, ii. p. 371 ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 65. Bubo coromandus, Sharpe, Cat. 
Birds B. Mus. ii. p. 35 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 83. 
Description. — Male and female. The whole upper plumage^ scapulars^ 
tertiaries and wing-coverts greyish brown_, freckled with a lighter shade of 
the same_, and each feather with a narrow dark brown shaft-stripe ; quills 
greyish brown barred with dark brown ; tail f ulvous_, broadly barred with 
brown and tipped whitish ; ear- tufts nearly entirely dark brown^ contrasting 
with the plumage of the head ; sides of the head^ disk_, and the whole 
lower plumage greyish brown with a tinge of fulvous^ each feather mottled 
with brown specks_, which assume the shape of fine wavy irregular cross 
lines in places_, and with a dark brown shaft-streak. 
