NINOX SCUTULATA. 147 



Labuan, and Malacca represent the one species to which the oldest applied name of scutulata must be applied. 

 With regard, however, to Ninox l-ugubris, which Mr. Sharpe separates from the present bird, I would remark that 

 an immature specimen from Ceylon is quite as pale as any that I have seen of liigubris. 



Distribution. — The Brown Hawk-Owl is widely distributed throughout the low country, and is also found 

 in the mountain-zone at a considerable elevation. It is not uncommon in the wooded portions of the Western 

 Province, extending from the Pasdun Korale northward through the Raygam and Three Korales to Kurune- 

 gala. It has been obtained as near Colombo as Ksesbawa and Kotte. In the forest and jungle-clad country 

 south of the Bentota river it prefers the vicinity of rivers to the interior of the woods, and on the banks of 

 the Gindurah it is quite common. In the Wellaway Korale and throughout the Eastern Province it is pretty 

 generally dispersed, frequenting the borders of most of the tanks and the forests beneath the Hewa-Elliya 

 Hills. Near the sea, between Batticaloa and Trincomalie, I found it at most halting-places along the coast- 

 road, particularly at the Virgel and Topoor. It is to be found throughout the northern forest-tract, but not 

 so plentifully as in the Trincomalie district, appearing in the Eastern Province to be always more common 

 near the sea-coast than in the interior. 



From the hills I have it from Maskeliya, whence Mr. E. Cobbold has kindly sent me a specimen, killed 

 at about 4000 feet elevation ; in Kotinalie Mr. Bligh procured it, that being the only hill -locality this gentleman 

 has found it in. I have never heard its hoot in the Upper hills, and infer therefore that it does not inhabit 

 so great an elevation ; it would therefore, on the whole, be considered a rare species in the Central Province, 

 and especially as regards Dumbara and the vicinity of Kandy, which is an excellent locality for some of its 

 family. It appears to have successfully eluded the pursuit of our energetic ornithological pioneer, Layard, for 

 he did not meet with a single specimen until he had been nearly eight years in the island. 



Elsewhere the Brown Hawk-Owl is found in various wooded districts throughout India, extending into 

 Burmahand Siam, and down the Malay Peninsula to the Straits, taking in the Nicobar Islands in its range to 

 Sumatra. To the south-east it is found in Labuan and the west coast of Borneo, onwards to Celebes and the 

 Moluccas. Turning to the north again we find it, as the N. japonica, inhabiting China, Formosa, and Japan. 

 Touching its distribution in India, Mr. Bourdillon records it from the Travancore, where it confines itself 

 to an elevation of above 2000 feet ; Jerdon, who combines it with N. lugubris, says he has seen it in the 

 Carnatic, Malabar coast, and Central India, and that it is rare in the Deccan and North-west Provinces. 

 Concerning these latter, Mr. Hume says that it is almost unknown there, as also in the Punjaub and 

 Rajpootana. In Chota Nagpur, Mr. Ball records it as not common. Capt. Feilden writes of the specimens 

 he sent Mr. Hume from Thayetmyo, and which Mr. Hume identifies as N. hirsutus, that it is not common 

 in that place. The note, he remarks, is like the mew of a small kitten ; but our Ceylon bird has no such 

 cry as this. In the Irrawaddy Delta, at Elephant Point, Dr. Armstrong found it abundant amongst clumps 

 of trees and thin jungle near the coast. His specimens are, however, larger than the true scutulata, and 

 perhaps are the same as the Cachar birds, which Mr. Hume separates as N. innominata. 



Habits. — This Hawk-Owl has a marked preference for the vicinity of water; it is an insect-feeding 

 species, and finds an abundance of such food near the borders of tanks and on the banks of rivers flowing 

 through forest. It takes up its abode by day in thick jungle, particularly that description which is found 

 growing to a height of about 30 feet at the upper borders of tanks, and which is densely matted at the top, 

 forming a most suitable canopy from the rays of a tropical sun. Here the Brown Owl roosts, and, sleeping 

 with " one eye open," does not admit of an easy approach ; directly his haunts are invaded, out he shoots as 

 sharply as any shy diurnal bird,' and, taking sometimes a considerable flight, retreats into the most suitable 

 cover he can find. In the hills it seems to frequent the interior of the forest, as Mr. Bligh informs us (loc. 

 cit.) that he found three sitting together on a branch in " dense jungle," proving that it is more than usually 

 sociable for a bird of its ilke. It hoots in the evening just after sundown, and is much more loquacious on 

 moonlight nights than when it is dark. About 10 o'clock, after feeding, it recommences its not unmelodious 

 hoot, resembling whob-wuk, whoo-wulc, and which Layard not inaptly likens to the lowing note of the Bronze- 

 winged Pigeon (Calcqphaps indica). On a fine night it may be heard at a long distance in the almost 

 unbroken stillness of the Ceylon forest, accompanied occasionally by the deep bay of the Sambur deer or the 



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