144 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Lentil 8 to 8^ inches or so ; extent, 19 ; wing, 5 ; tail, nearly 3 ; 

 tarsus, not quite 1 ; hind-toe and claw, 1;^. 



This Owlet is dispersed throughout India in all large forests, 

 in Malabar habitually frequenting gardens and groves ; and also 

 found in Bengal in similar situations, but not on the alluvial soil of 

 lower Bengal. It is probably the bird called A. cuculoides in the 

 list of birds observed in North- West India by Mr. Phillips. It is 

 very active in the day time, always on the alert, though not feed- 

 ing. It is very clamorous, especially in spring, and its very pecu- 

 liar protracted call must be familiar to many individuals, and is 

 frequently heard in the day time as well as at night. It feeds 

 chiefly on beetles, also on lizards, centipedes, &c. It is rather shy, 

 flying readily in the day time when disturbed. It is sometimes 

 found single, or in pairs, or in small families. It breeds in hollow 

 trees, and lays two or three white eggs. 



78. Athene malabarica, Blyth. 



J. A. S. XV. 280— Blyth, Cat. 158— A. castanoptera, apud 

 J ERDON, 2nd suppl. Cat, 46 bis — Nattah, Mai. 



The Malabar Owlet. 



Descr. — Head, neck, and interscapulars, uniform lightish rufous, 

 with narrow and close dusky rays ; wings the same, but the colour 

 deeper, and the bands broader ; primaries deep rufous, the first 

 three barred throughout with dusky, the rest mostly unspotted, or 

 obscurely banded at the base, distinctly barred at the tip ; second- 

 aries with broad bands throughout, of rufous and dusky ; the 

 tertiaries and scapulars, barred rufescent whitish and dusky, the 

 outermost scapulars with large white spots ; the lower parts are 

 barred throughout with dusky and white on the belly and flanks, 

 and with rufous and dusky on the breast ; the vent and lower tail 

 coverts pure white ; tail dusky, with eight or nine whitish bars, 

 somewhat broader than those of the last species. 



Length, nearly 8 inches ; wing, 4j% ; tail, 2^ 



This very closely affined species appears peculiar to Travancore, 

 Cochin, and the Southern Provinces of Malabar. Its habits do not 

 differ from those of the last. 



