FISH- OWLS. 169 



India, Malayana, and China, and is characterised by the possession of large 

 ear-tufts ; while the second (Scotopelia) is African, and lacks those appendages. 

 Of the Oriental genus one of the best known species is the Indian fish -owl 

 {C. ceylonensis), which inhabits Palestine, India, Ceylon, the countries on the 

 east of the Bay of Bengal, and part of China. It is a large bird, measuring 

 25 inches in length ; and is of a general tawny colour above, with the individual 

 feathers broadly streaked with black down the middle. The quills are brown with 

 pale bands ; the tail is also brown with pale fulvous bars ; while the greater part 

 of the under surface is golden tawny, with black streaks down the middle of the 

 breast-feathers. The feet are dark ; and, as in all the other members of the genus, 

 the eyes bright yellow. > 



This fish-owl inhabits wooded districts near water, and is mainly nocturnal, 

 although Prof. V. Ball writes that he has seen one flying in the daytime. 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 overhanging 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 subse- 

 quently observes that these owls breed from December to March, but appear as a rule 

 to lay in February. " They always nest in the vicinity of water, sometimes 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 Saharunpur district he found a nest 

 situated in the fork of a banyan tree, about 25 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. 



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



Fish-Owls. ii^Q -west side of the Continent, from the Gabun to Senegambia, while 

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

 Zambesi mouth. Pel's fish -owl is the largest, measuring 23 inches in length. 

 In habits these owls appear to be very similar to their Oriental cousins, fre- 

 quenting 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 characterising the Oriental fish -owls. We have not met with any 

 account of the nesting-habits of this species, while nothing is known of the two 

 others in the living state. 



