MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, 627 



This Owl is by no means uncommon in the large oak forests in the 

 neighbourhood of Simla, N. W. Himalayas, and is to be found in these parts 

 throughout the year. It usually keeps in pairs, though it is not unusual 

 to see a solitary bird. It is purely nocturnal in its habits, and during the 

 day sits absolutely motionless, with eyes closed, on the branch of some 

 densely foliaged tree. Its colouration blends admirably with its surround- 

 ings, and at times it is most difficult to recognise the bird, even when its 

 exact position has been indicated, for it looks exceedingly like an old 

 stump, and must frequently be mistaken for such. 



My friend, Alec. Jones, has made some excellent detailed observations 

 in regard to the note of this bird. He says : — 



" The usual call is a double hoot (Ho-hoo), and the answer to this 

 (apparently from the bird's mate) is a treble hoot. The hoot of this Owl 

 is deeper than that produced by S. aluco. At home I could, with the aid 

 of my hands, generally call up a tawny Owl to within a few yards of where 

 I stood, but here with these Owls (<S. nivicola), I never succeeded in getting 

 an answer, owing to the fact that I could not get the note low enough to 

 deceive them." 



'^ Besides the usual hoot, S. nivicola has a note, which could be produced 

 by placing a blade of grass between the two thumbs, and then blowing 

 through them sharply. This, I think, is a love call. When the bird utters 

 this note, it is usually on the wing, and soars up almost vertically for a 

 few yards, and descends for some distance, with wings closed, gradually 

 opening its wings, and finally settling on the nearest suitable point of 

 vantage." 



" On a certain afternoon I heard one of these Owls hooting in an un- 

 usual manner. This was more like the bubbling note of the common 

 Ouckoo (C. canorus), but not nearly so loud." 



An adult bird, which was caught in one of the forests here, was kept in 

 confinement for a few days, but little information could be gleaned in 

 regard to its habits. During the day it would sit huddled up in one corner 

 of its cage, but when night came on, it became exceedingly active. It was 

 fed on dead birds, and it was very noticeable that the heads were invari- 

 ably eaten first. The food was always held down with the claws, and then 

 torn to bits. For some reason or another, this Owl rejected all the rats 

 that were offered to it, though, curious to relate, these animals form the 

 chief nutriment of the young (vide remarks infra). 



In the ''Key to the Species" (Fauna, B. I. Aves, Vol. III., p. 273), 

 Blanford gives the wing of this bird as 12", but in two specimens, which I 

 have measured, I find that the length of the wing varies from 12-25" 

 to 12'5". Then again at page 274, the colouration of the bill is said to be 

 " pale fleshy yellow ", but in all my specimens the bill was invariably liffht 

 (jreen horny, bluish near base. Lastly, the claws are not brown, but horny 

 green at bases, and dusky horny at tips. 



The first clue which I obtained to the nesting of this Owl was when on 

 the 1st July, three years ago, one of my hunters brought me an immature 

 bird, which had apparently recently left, or been driven away from its 

 nest, and lacking experience in the ways of this world, had been immedi- 

 ately pounced upon, and almost mobbed to death by a party of Jungle 

 Crows. 



The year 1912 passed without any further success, but on the 13th 

 May of this year, the first find was made. I had sent my hunters to 

 examine a Kestrel's nest, which I had found a few days previously on a 

 small cliff, and while ascending this cliff", one of them came across a fairly 

 large cavern, which had not hitherto been observed owing to its mouth 

 being covered over with a mass of brushwood and creepers. Pushing 

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