THE SPOTTED OWLET 255 



Asia, but it does not ascend the hills to any great 

 height. If you would evade these birds without going 

 to the uttermost parts of the earth, you must either flee 

 to the hills or betake yourself to Ceylon. 



Eighteen months of Himalayan breezes, direct from 

 the snows, sufficiently restored my shattered constitu- 

 tion to enable me again to face the spotted owlets. 

 This time I was sent to the " Garden of India." The 

 owlets were, if possible, more numerous and more 

 vociferous than they had been in the desert. I thought- 

 lessly rented a bungalow, of which the roof was com- 

 posed of a double layer of tiles. This is a most 

 excellent arrangement for warding off the heat of the 

 sun, but it has the drawback of forming a nesting-place 

 after the heart of the spotted owlet. 



I do not know how many birds used to spend the 

 day among the tiles ; there may have been twenty of 

 them, or there may have been two hundred. The 

 worst of spotted owlets is, that they will all insist on 

 speaking simultaneously. There will perhaps be five 

 of them sitting in a row. Number one begins to 

 chatter, then all the rest join in and try to shout the 

 first man down, just as the " seven sisters " do. The 

 result is the most dreadful uproar, and any one who did 

 not know the birds would think that there was murder 

 in progress. 



As a matter of fact, this is how the owlets enjoy 

 themselves. Englishmen take their pleasures sadly ; 

 spotted owlets take them noisily. It is as impossible 

 as it is unnecessary to describe the cries of the spotted 

 owlets. It must suffice that it is a superb blend of 



