MANUAL OF THE nIlAGIIU DJSTKICT. 159 



owlet, and it even is no favorite. A resident in Coorg informed CHAP. VIII, 

 me that lie once put an owl in a cage, on which his Coorg friends PART I. 

 besought him to set it at liberty, otherwise some disaster would Zoology. 



certainly befall his family. He tried, to argue with them as to 



the absurdity of their fears, and resolved to keep the bird to 

 show that nothing would go wrong in consequence of its presence. 

 On this resolution becoming known the bearers who attended 

 on his children also pleaded with him to send the owl away, and 

 threatened to resign his service if it were retained, as they were 

 afraid to live on the premises with it. Hearing of this a mis- 

 sionary in the station volunteered to take charge of the bird to 

 show that such superstitions were groundless, and. it was 

 accordingly lodged in his verandah. Shortly after this the 

 missionary had to visit an unhealthy part of the district, where he 

 got an attack of jungle fever which very nearly cost him his life. 

 When this occurred the Natives at once triumphantly ascribed 

 the fever to the presence of the owl, and some of the missionary's 

 native friends lost no time in setting it at liberty. The 

 missionary ultimately recovered, and this result was confidently 

 attributed to the timely liberation of the caged bird. 



rerchinq birds. — This large group is well represented on the —Perching 

 Nilagiris. ' ^^"^''• 



Of Sivallows and Siviffs there are at least eleven species, and 

 one of the most remarkable of these is the edible nest swiftlet 

 {Collocalia nidifica). It breeds at various places on the hills, 

 one site being a cave above the road from Ootacamand to 

 •Coonoor, near the first toll-bar out of Ootacamand. The nests 

 found here consist of a frame-work of grey lichen, glued 

 together by inspissated mucus. Night-jars, Bee-eaters, King- 

 fishers, and the Indian Roller are also more or less common, and 

 the frugivorous Great Horn-bill occurs on the eastern slopes. 

 Various writers have noticed the peculiar loud noise made by the 

 wings of this bird when flying, and Hodgson, as quoted by 

 •Jerdon, compares its cry to the braying of a jackass. The list — Climbing- 

 ^f climbing birds belonging to the Nilagiris is rather a long one, " ^' 

 Of the beautiful plumaged wood-peckers eight species are found 

 Dn the hills, and there are seven cuckoos, of which the pied-crested 

 species is perhaps the most common. Sun-birds, Shrikes and Fly- 

 'utchers are also represented, and of Thrushes, including Short- 

 vings and Babblers there are at least eighteen species. Of game- 

 oirds there are Peacocl-, Jungle-fcml, Spur-fowl and Bush-quail, 

 lot to mention the Wood-cock and Wood or Solitarij Snipe. The 

 aeautiful Nilagiri or Imperial Pigeon also deserves notice, as 

 oeing one of the prettiest of its family and somewhat limited in 

 ts geographical range. A list is appended of the birds known to 

 Tequcut the Nilagiri^s. 



