134 BUBO NIPALENSIS. 



its haunts were invaded. The note of H. pectoralis is said by Jerdon to be a " low, deep, and far-sounding 

 moaning hoot," and most probably resembles that of the present species. The vocal powers of the latter are, 

 however, not restricted to a hoot ; for Major Fitzgerald, R.A., in writing to Mr. Gurney in November last, and 

 as quoted in 'The Ibis' (January 1878) by the latter gentleman, remarks of a caged bird that he had kept 

 for years : — " In confinement the bird became quite tame, and would utter cries of pleasure at recognizing the 

 hand that fed it It was, I think, a female ; and during the period which might probably be its nesting- 

 season, was in the habit of uttering a peculiar and incessant cry." 



Nothing is known of the nidification of this species. It probably builds a stick-nest in the hollow 

 il -nme large trunk, or on a deep and capacious fork between two limbs overshadowed by thick foliage, or 

 perhaps it may deposit its two eggs in holes in large trees, merely on the rotten wood generally found at the 

 bottom of the cavity. I commend the subject to my ornithological friends in Maskeliya, Haputale, and other 

 likely districts in the Ceylon hills. A knowledge of this bird's breeding-habits would be a grand acquisition to 

 the ornithology of the island. 



