28 Mr. R. Swinhoe on the Oi-nithology 



The shot alarmed him ; he never returned. Residents assure me 

 that this bird is of frequent occurrence there, and that at night- 

 time they may often be seen, seated on the tops of the houses 

 facing the harbour. From the casts and excrement being fre- 

 quently met with, I should certainly imagine that they were 

 pretty abundant. 



On my return from Macao I was fortunate enough to procure 

 the specimen that I send herewith. It was in this wise. Mr. 

 Wilford (the botanist sent out by Sir WiUiam Hooker) was 

 out with me for a ramble in the neighbourhood of Jardine, 

 Matheson and Co.'s grounds, close to a ravine, where a lot 

 of small Chinese boys had gathered round us to see our sport. 

 They pointed to some Kites that were diving at one another 

 some distance over our heads, and for the amusement of the 

 small boys, I fired at them twice. The shot must have tickled 

 them, for they dropped the bone of contention, a putrid duck's 

 head. But the report of the discharges reverberating along the 

 ravine startled a dozing Ketupa, and out he came from his roost, 

 and settled on a rock a long way up the hill. He flew out so 

 quietly that we should probably not have observed him had it 

 not been for the Kites, who soon spied him, and kept hovering 

 over him, and flying down at him. Not enjoying their indig- 

 nities, and observing that all near was pretty safe, the Owl quietly 

 dropped under cover, as he evidently fancied, unobserved by us. 

 Upon this I rushed up the hill, and got a good position on a 

 large rock above the spot where he had sunk to rest, and left my 

 comrade and his noisy juvenile Celestials to follow. As these 

 clambered up the hill, they chatted and laughed, and made a 

 great noise. The Owl, finding them too near, bounced out, and 

 flapped as hard as he could up the ravine, past the rock on which 

 I was sitting, whence I got an easy shot at him, and tumbled 

 him over. The little boys soon scrambled after him, and drew 

 out the magnificent fellow. I was hitherto under the impression 

 that he was Buho maximus, which I have met with at Amoy ; but 

 imagine my joy, when, by the naked tarsus, I discovered a totally 

 distinct bird. 



He measured 21| in. in length; wing from flexure 16 in.; 

 expanse about 3 feet 9 inches. Tail 7g in., somewhat graduated 



