Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



The collared pigmy owlet (Glaucidium 

 brodiei) is perhaps the commonest owl in the 

 Himalayas : at any rate, it is the species that 

 makes itself heard most often. Those who sit 

 out of doors after dinner cannot fail to have 

 remarked a soft low whistle heard at regular 

 intervals of about thirty seconds. That is the 

 call of the pigmy collared owlet. The owlet 

 itself is a tiny creature, about the size of a 

 sparrow. Like several other little owls, it some- 

 times shows itself during the daytime. Once 

 at Mussoorie I noticed a pigmy collared owlet 

 sitting as bold as brass on a conspicuous branch 

 about midday and making grimaces at me. 

 The other species likely to be heard at hill 

 stations are the brown wood-owl (Syrnium 

 indrani), the call of which has been syllabised 

 to-zvhoo, and the little spotted Himalayan 

 scops owl (Scops spilocephalus), of which the 

 note is double whistle who-who. 



THE VULTURID^ OR VULTURE FAMILY 



From the owls to the diurnal birds of prey 

 it is but a short step. Next to the warblers, 

 the raptores are the most difficult birds to dis- 

 tinguish one from the other. Nearly all of 



them are creatures of mottled-brown plumage, 



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