BIRDS OF PREY. 95 



repose they imagined they had disturbed by inadvertently making a fire of the wood of which his 

 tomb had been constructed. They passed a tedious night of fear, and with the first dawn of day 

 hastily left the ill-omened spot." 



The Uhu devours Geese, Partridges, Buzzards, and many other birds and quadrupeds in large 

 numbers ; some writers have gone so far as to accuse it of seizing upon young stags, calves, and even 

 Eagles, but such assertions are very improbable, though the statement that it will attack hedgehogs 

 has been fully substantiated ; the prickly ball being forced to unroll by means of powerful strokes 

 with the beak, which completes its destruction before the victim has time to coil itself up again. 

 The period of incubation usually commences about March, and, strange to say, no sooner are the 

 quarrels about the possession of a mate over than the cruel, violent male is suddenly transformed 

 into the most faithful and tender of spouses, and exhibits such affection and devotion to his family 

 as is seldom met with. Building, however, is not an art in which the Uhu excels ; the eggs are 

 therefore, if possible, deposited in the deserted nest of a Buzzard, Raven, or Black Stork, and should 

 one of these not be found, the parent is content to drag together a few twigs and branches, and 

 make therewith a bed in the cavity it has selected for a breeding-place. Occasionally, the comfort 

 of this slight arrangement is dispensed with, and the two or three eggs are deposited upon the 

 bare ground at the bottom of the hole. The female alone broods, but is meanwhile most carefully 

 tended by her mate ; and both parents assist in defending their domicile from intrusion, attacking 

 with fierce courage not only beasts of prey, but men. Should the nest appear to have been 

 disturbed, the mother has been known to carry off her charge to a safer retreat. Count Wodzicki 

 mentions an instance that came under his own notice in which a young Uhu was fed at first by its 

 parents, and afterwards, as soon as they were fledged, by its brother nestlings, for the space of 

 two months after it had been made prisoner and fastened to a perch outside the forester's lodge. 

 This Uhu will live for many years in confinement, but seldom become, really tame ; the African 

 species is perhaps an exception to this rule, for we saw one of these birds in Stockholm that not only 

 allowed itself to be stroked or playfully seized by the beak, but would come to its master when 

 called by name. " When wounded," Audubon informs us, " the Uhu exhibits a revengeful tenacity 

 of spirit, scarcely surpassed by the boldest of the Eagle tribe ; disdaining to scramble away, it faces 

 its enemy with undaunted courage ; protruding its powerful talons, and snapping its beak, it will 

 defend itself to the uttermost against both man and dog." 



The Malay peninsula and India proper are inhabited by a group of Owls, in many respects 

 resembling the species above described, but with this difference, that they subsist principally upon 

 fish, crabs, and other inhabitants of the water. All these birds are large, and have well-developed 

 tufts around the ears ; the beak is powerful and of moderate size, while the upper mandible is 

 compressed, and terminates in a hook ; the feet are long, and the toes bare. The plumage is not 

 thick, the ears are small, and the wings, in which the fourth quill is longer than the rest, do not 

 extend as far as the tip of the tail. 



THE BROWN FISH OWL. 

 The Brown Fist-i Owl (Ketupa Ceylonensis), called by the Cingalese " Utum," is from twenty-one 

 to twenty-three inches in breadth, the tail measures eight, and the wing sixteen inches. The upper 

 part of the body is of a deep reddish tinge, the feathers upon the head and nape being streaked with 

 dark brown, while those upon the back and upper wing-covers are marked with brown and reddish 

 yellow. The quills are reddish or yellowish brown, spotted with white upon the inner web ; the 

 tail is brown, tipped and streaked with a paler shade , the face is brown, and its bristle-like feathers 



