I 9 34 THE OWLS 



Jerdon says that "it roosts during the day in the densest part of the jungle, coming 

 forth to feed shortly after sunset, and generally making its way to the nearest 

 water, be it a tank, brook, or river. Here it may be seen sitting on some overhang- 

 ing rock or bare tree, occasionally uttering its loud dismal cry, which Tickell well 

 likens to haw, haw, haw, ho, calling it a repulsive laugh. It feeds much on fish, 

 and more particularly on crabs." Mr. Hume states, however, that he invariably 

 found the remains of birds or small mammals round their breeding places. And he 

 subsequently observes that these owls breed from December to March, but appear 

 as a rule to lay in February. l< They always nest in the vicinity of water, some- 

 times choosing a cleft in rocks overhanging a mountain stream, sometimes a broad 

 shelf in the clay cliffs of some river, sometimes a huge cavity in some old banyan 

 tree, and at times appropriating an old nest of Haliaetus. Where they make their 

 own nest, on a ledge or recess of a cliff, it consists of little but a few sticks, mingled 

 with a few feathers, or when in holes of trees, of a few feathers and dead leaves, 

 but when they annex an old nest of the fishing eagle's, they seem to line it more 

 carefully with finer twigs, grass, and feathers." The usual number of eggs is two. 

 Mr. G. Marshall writes that in the Saharanpur district he found a nest situated in 

 the fork of a banyan tree, about twenty-five feet from the ground, the hollow being 

 so deep that the parent bird when sitting could not be seen from the ground. To 

 this nest the birds returned for three consecutive years. 



Of the tree species of African fish owls, two are restricted to the 



, west side of the continent, from the Gabun to Senegambia, while the 

 Fish Owls 



third (S. peli) is common to those districts and the neighborhood of 



the Zambezi mouth. Pel's fish owl is the largest, measuring twenty-three inches in 

 length. In habits these owls appear to be very similar to their Oriental cousins, 

 frequenting the borders of lakes and rivers, but they are all comparatively rare. A 

 captive specimen fed eagerly on fish, which is probably the food of these birds in 

 the wild state. The general hue of the plumage in Pel's fish owl is deep rufous 

 bay above, marked with transverse black bars, while beneath it is pale bay, with 

 heart-shaped black markings. The iris of the eye is dark brown, instead of the 

 yellow tint characterizing the Oriental fish owls. We have not met with any ac- 

 count of the nesting habits of this species, while nothing is known of the two others 

 in the living state. 



THE OSPREYS 

 Order PANDIONES 



The osprey (Pandion haliaetus), together with two species of the Oriental 

 genus Polioaetus, constitute not only a family (Pandionidte} , but, according to Dr. 

 Sharpe, a separate order, which appears to connect the owls with the diurnal birds 

 of prey. While resembling the latter in the lateral position of the eyes, which are 

 not furnished with a distinct disc, and their firm, hard plumage, they agree with 

 the owls in the fourth toe being reversible, as well as in the form of the canon 



