148 BIRPS OF INDIA, 



an upward soar in an oblif^ue direction with a continued flapping 

 of its wings, and then descend with outspread wings to the same 

 perch. If a denizen of forests, it comes to the open glades to hunt 

 for its food, which is chiefly insects, occasionally mice or reptiles- 

 It has a peculiar call, which it frequently utters at night, resem- 

 bling as Tickell says, the cries of a strangling cat ; Buchanan 

 likens it to the cry of a hare when caught by hounds ; and ^Ir. Elliot 

 says, when seized, cries like a child. Layard asserts that sometimes 

 it has a low cooing note like that of Chalcophaps, the Imperial 

 Dove. Buchanan further states that the natives consider this 

 bird very unfortunate, and when one of them cries near a house, 

 the inhabitants go forth with lights, to which it has a great aver- 

 sion, and drive it away. Hodgson gives a comparison of this 

 bird with Baza lophotes, and the two correspond most curiously 

 in their measurements. 



Other forms of Surniinfe, are Surnia, or tiie hawk owls, chiefly of 

 Northern Europe and Asia, among which is, S. -passerina, L., one of 

 the smallest of all owls ; and leraglaiix, from Australia chiefly, 

 a group of large owls, formerly classed under Athene. Jn this 

 group Kaup places Stride Sonneratii, Tern., P. C. 21, said to be 

 from India, but whose exact locality is not distinctly ascertained. 

 This however I see has by some been given as synonymous with 

 Scops rufescens, but probably erroneously. 



The curious Prairie Owl, 5. cnnicularia, Avhich lives in burrows 

 in the plains of South America, also belongs to this sub- family, and 

 is separated as Pholeoptynx, Kaup. 



