OWLS AND DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 319 
other observers in the central and southern parts of the Island 
differ so from this cry that they seem fairly obviously to be 
uttered by some other bird, and it is not improbable that more 
than one species is responsible. Four Owls are held in sus- 
picion. Native legends and belief point to the Brown Wood- 
Owl—S. indrani—a fairly common, large species. Its 
ordinary note is a resounding ‘‘ too-whoo,” but tame birds 
have been known to utter dismal wailing sounds (vide Legge, 
p. 158) where the question is discussed at some length.* 
Another bird with equai claims is the Forest Eagle-Owl— 
H. nepalensis. There is in the Colombo Museum a skeleton 
of this Owl, presented by J. H. Stephens, who stated that 
he shot it while uttering the cries of the Devil Bird. It is, 
however, a rare species in Ceylon, though the few specimens 
recorded come from widely distributed localities, both in the 
hills and in the low-country. Others, again, state that the 
Devil Bird is a “small whitish bird,’ which would point to 
the Ceylon Bay-Owl—P. assimilis. This is also a rare bird 
peculiar to Ceylon, and as yet recorded only from the hills and 
from the forest at their bases. An allied species from northern 
India—P. badius—is said to make an appalling noise. The 
latter two species are probably genuine ‘“‘ Devil Birds,” but 
as they are either rare or restricted in range, and as the Devil 
Bird’s cries are reported from all over the Island, I cannot 
imagine that they are the sole authors of the ill-omened 
sounds. 
Lastly, the Brown Hawk-Owl—JN. scutulata—a small species 
found all over the Island, is mentioned by several Indian 
observers as making noises like a strangled cat, or a hare 
caught by hounds. It has not, however, been regarded with 
suspicion in Ceylon. 
The order is divided into two families, the distinction being 
founded solely on osteological characters, there being no 
external differences of any importance. In the family 
Strigide, which includes only one of the eleven species found 



* The cries described in the letter from Mr, Mitford, quoted in the 
passage here alluded to, as having been ‘‘ heard on the rock at the 
back of the Residency at Kurunegala,”’ are probably those made by 
the Flying Squirrels, which still haunt the same locality and utter 
wailing calls at night-time. 
