68 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



leg, and ever since it has haunted the jungle calling 

 to its brother to restore the limb. I asked the Malay 

 who told me this tale if all these Cuckoos were one- 

 legged, to which he diplomatically replied that if his 

 story was true, then had the birds but one leg apiece. 



Another familiar night-sound is the whistling hoot, 

 usually of two notes only, of the little Scops Owls ; 

 these pretty little creatures have been known to fly 

 into houses to catch the geckos which run about on 

 walls and ceilings in numbers. Malays consider the 

 appearance of one of these birds in the house as an 

 omen of approaching death. 



For nearly three years I kept in captivity a specimen 

 of the owl, Photodilus badius. When first the bird came 

 into my possession the contour-feathers were white, 

 narrowly barred with brown, but as time went on its 

 plumage became darker and darker until the feathers 

 were all dark brown with narrow bands of reddish 

 brown. This change of colour was not effected by 

 moulting, that is to say, by new feathers replacing old 

 ones, but simply by the spreading of pigment along 

 the barbules of the original feathers, so that the narrow 

 dark bands of the young bird gradually encroached 

 on the white parts of the feathers. This Owl had at 

 least three distinct cries : a harsh scream, uttered when 

 the bird was hungry ; a sort of chuckling sound when 

 the food offered was seized, or when the bird was 

 tickled behind the ear ; and a noise like the loud 

 crack of a whip, made in moments of fright. I could 

 never discover how this cracking noise was produced ; 

 the beak was moved slightly but not sufficiently to 

 cause of itself the sound ; probably the tongue played 

 some part in the performance, but its action could not 



