24 LIST OF BIRDS IN MANIPUE, 



In the Western Himalayas only the brown form occurs. In 

 Sikhim almost exclusively the rufescent one, some only moder- 

 ately tinged with ruddy, some with a deep ferruginous. The 

 Manipur birds are all of the brown form, but the adults do seem 

 to have the spots on the head and back barrings rather smaller 

 and more sharply defined than any of my numerous Himalayan 

 examples. 



In the Himalayas it is rare to find it calling in bright daylight, 

 though in the autumn and winter it may be heard as late as 

 10 A.M. ; but in the Manipur hills I shot it repeatedly in the 

 act of calling at and after midday, A very favorite perch is 

 some bare twig jutting out 30 or 40 feet from the ground from 

 some huge branchless trunk, close to which it sits and calls in 

 the most persistent manner ; when thus placed, you may ga 

 round and round the tree for several minutes without detecting 

 its exact whereabouts. 



The call consist of four clear whistled notes, whoo — whoo- 

 ^uhoo — whoo, very easily imitated, and the imitation promptly 

 answered by any bird of the species near. All the small Tits and 

 Liothricine birds hate this little Owl and are at once attracted 

 by an imitation of its note. 



Godwin- Austen says it is rather rare in the Naga hills ; I 

 have not yet received it from either the Khasi or Garo hills. 



It occurs in Northern and Central Tenasserim, but is rather 

 rare there, except about Mooleyit. The fact is that, though 

 stragglers may be found much lower down, it is nowhere, I think, 

 common below an elevation of about 5,500 feet, and it is 

 certainly most abundant from that height to 7,500 feet. 



Doubtless Slter. — Ninox burmanica, Hume, must occur, as it 

 has been sent from N.-E. Cachar and several localities in the 

 neighbourhood of Dibrugarh and is common throughout 

 Tenasserim. Still I never met with it, nor did I ever hear the 

 well known Ninox cry at night. 



\Ninox burmanica is pretty common in Dibrugarh. My first 

 specimen was shot at 3 P.M. while perched on a tree that stood 

 on the road leading out of my garden, and only 150 yards from 

 the coolie lines. The Assamese call them " Mohcheerai " or 

 Death birds, from a superstition that their weird call is a fore- 

 runner of death. — J. R. 0.] 



82.— Hirundo rustica, Lin. 



The Manipur Chimney Swallow is one of those puzzling in- 

 termediate forms which are so common in the British Asian 

 Empire, and which might, with almost equal propriety, be 

 assigned to either rustica or gutturalis. 



