62 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. ix. 



stretclung out their necks and moving their heads from 

 side to side and uttering queer moaning sounds hke 

 long-drawn sighs. When all was quiet in the tent the 

 male returned to his look-out post on my left, and the 

 female gradually approached the nest. 



Her behaviour on each occasion when I photographed 

 her was curiously stereotyped. She always returned 

 about ten minutes after I had put up the camera and 

 invariably resented the first click of the shutter. M}' 

 only chance of securing an animated picture was to 

 photograph her the moment she swooped down to the 

 nest, while she paused for a second before covering 

 the young. I was keenly alert in order to seize this 

 psychic moment, and had to remain absolutely motionless 

 during her absence, otherwise she would not return. 

 Her movements were so swift and noiseless, it was 

 some time before I could detect the faintest sound 

 heralding her approach. By listening intently I learned 

 to distinguish a very faint " ooh, ooh," high pitched 

 and barely audible above the whispering of the wind 

 in the leaves. At first I mistook this for the far-away 

 cooing of Wood-Pigeons, but an answering moan, in 

 a lower key and coming from my left, convinced me 

 that the sounds were produced by the Owls. This 

 duet was kept up until the high-pitched moan (^^•hich 

 sounded as though it were blown through a reed) came 

 from just overhead, and the next moment the female 

 would be standing by the nest, wide-eyed and alert (Fig. 1) , 

 while a second or two later she assumed the supine 

 attitude characteristic of this Owl when brooding (Fig. 2). 

 During the four, seven, or ten hours I chose to sit by 

 her she seldom altered her position, though her changes 

 of expression were varied. For the most part she sat 

 gazing at me through narro\\- slits of eyes, like a con- 

 tented cat, the " horns " half-raised. On several occasions 

 I put my hand through the front of my tent in order 

 to insert lenses of varying focal length. Sometimes 

 this annoyed her and she showed her indignation by 



