286 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. X. 



6. Spizcetus ceylonensis, Gmel., the Ceylon Hawk Eagle. — Have 

 seen it here occasionally, but have not killed one. 



7. Spilornis spilogaster, Blyth, the Ceylonese Serpent Eagle.— 

 Plentiful ; the commonest eagle in the Ceylon hills, where its squealing 

 cry is one of the most familiar of bird notes. I knew of two nests this 

 year — one was on a single tall tree standing in a sheet of lantana 

 scrub at Madigama (1,000 feet.) This nest was found on May 

 11th, 1895 ; it was loosely constructed of sticks, with a handful 

 of green leaves under the egg. This was considerably in- 

 cubated, but made a good specimen. Size 2 J" X lf|", ground-colour 

 dirty white with a group of rusty-red stains and blotches forming a 

 sort of cap at the small end. The second nest noticed was on one of a 

 scattered group of trees on a steep patna hillside at about 2,500 ft. 

 elevation. A cooly sent to visit it reported two young eaglets ; he said 

 they were quite small, but the nest was empty when revisited a few 

 days later. This nest was also found in May. 



8. Elanus cceruleus, Desf., the Black-winged Kite. — Resident 

 but not nearly so numerous as on the Uda-Pusselawa side of the 

 province. Never found a nest. 



9. Pernis ptilonorhyncus^ Temm., the Indian Honey Buzzard. — 

 Have seen it here once or twice. Have shot it as high as 5,000 feet in 

 Uda-Pusselawa, 



10. Cerchneis tinnunculus, Linn., the Common Kestrel. — Common 

 in the N.-E. monsoon. 



11. Ketupa ceylonensis^j Gmel., the Brown Fish Owl. — Fairly 

 common up to 2,500 feet. I was told of a nest about five miles from 

 here this May, but the man I sent to inspect it reported that the young- 

 had flown. I have a fine pair of these owls in an aviary, and they 

 are most interesting birds to watch. They bathe every morning 

 regularly, and, as Colonel Legge remarks of Syrniwn indranij " put 

 their feathers into trim afterwards by leading them out from base to tip 

 and working them with a quick movement of the under mandible." 

 When angry they spread their wings and ruffle up all their feathers 

 until they look a tremendous size, inflating their white throats until 

 there seems as much of the bird's face below the bill as above it, 

 antl all the time growling savagely exactly like a dog, and snapping 

 their bills. This domoustration, however, they are not nearly so much 



