PHODILUS ASSIMILIS. 163 



estates, in isolated trees or in old buildings, and, owing to its completely nocturnal habits and imperfect 

 day-sight, falls an easy victim to any one with eyes sharp enough to discover it. Mr. Reeves's specimen was 

 taken in an old cooly hut. Mr. Weldon writes, as above mentioned, to Mr. Whyte : — " This bird was caught 

 by a cooly iu a tree in the daytime on my estate, and is the second of the kind he has caught here. It was 

 put on a perch in a dark room, but refused to eat, and died after two or three days' confinement." The 

 bird brought by natives to Mr. Hector's superintendent appears to have been taken the same way, being 

 the third instance of capture by hand during the day. Mr. Hector, in a letter kindly written to me 

 after my departure from Ceylon, throws some light on the nature of this Owl. He says, in speaking of the 

 brood of young birds, " there were three apparent^ of different ages, as the largest very much exceeded the 

 other two, which also differed considerably in size. The largest one was about the size of our ordinary Quail, 

 with a flatfish-shaped head. It seemed a vicious bird, as it used to peck the other two continually, and one 

 day, I found, had pulled many of the feathers out of the smallest, and seemed to be trying to tear its flesh, 

 so that I had to separate them." Unlike most Owls, it does not seem to thrive in confinement. Mr. Hector 

 kept the parent bird of these young ones five weeks; but in Mr. Weldon's case, his lived but two days. Mr. 

 Reeves writes me concerning his bird that it lived about a week and was fed on lizards and small fish caught 

 in a neighbouring stream, and preferred the latter to any thing else. With regard to the note of this species, 

 it may or may not be the author of the hideous sounds attributed to the Devil-bird ; but I have no authentic 

 information as to any of its cries. Of the allied species, P. badius, Messrs. Mottley and Dillwyn, as quoted 

 by the late Mr. Blyth in the ' Ibis ' for 1866, p. 252, state : — " It has only a single note, frequently repeated, 

 and which is much like the first note of the common Wood-Owl's cry." 



Nidification. — The Ceylon Bay Owl appears to breed at the latter end of the year, nesting in hollow 

 trees. Mr. Hector writes me that " the nest was made in a hole in a tree and composed of dry twigs, moss, 

 and feathers." The number of eggs in this was three, so that they may be inferred to vary from two to four, 

 as in some other species of Owls. 



For the loan of the specimen figured in the Plate accompanying the last article I am indebted to the 

 kindness of Mr. Reeves and his brother-in-law Mr. J. C. Horsfall, in whose house at Altrincham it is 

 mounted. I was unable to figure the example presented to the British Museum, as the tail is not perfect. 

 Mr. Keulemans has drawn this Owl with the wings slightly drooped, in order to show the characteristic dark 

 inner portions of the quills. 



Fam. STRIGIDiE. 



" Hinder margin of sternum entire, with no distinct clefts ; furcula joined to keel of sternum ; 

 inner margin of middle claw serrated ; inner and middle toes equal in length ; between the anterior 

 portion of the facial area a frontal patch of small stiff feathers always present and very broad." 

 (Sharpe, Cat. Birds, ii. p. 289.) 



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