106 BrBONIDjE. 



in trees, which it commonly lines, more or lees, with leaves and 

 grass. Four is the normal numlier of the eggs, but five are 

 occasionally met with, and three fully incubated eggs or newly 

 hatched young ones are often found. 



Although 1 have taken the eggs of this species several times, I 

 have, I regret to say, only one note on the subject : — " PuTipoondJi 

 (Zillah Etawah), March" 10th, 1867. I caught a female Scojjh 

 (jnsms to-day on her nest, at least on one egg in a hole in a mango- 

 tree, Mhich also contained about a dozen dry leaves and a few 

 feathers, whether blown in by accident or placed there by the bird 

 I cannot say. The little animal bit and scratched so vigorously that 

 1 had to use a cloth to get her out ; she fought so valiantly for her 

 penates that I was sorry to sacrifice her, but it was important to 

 preserve her skin to prevent future doubts as to the species to which 

 the egg really belongs. She contained another fully developed egg, 

 which my stuifer stupidly broke in skinning her. The egg was quite 

 fresh ; it looked a large egg as compared with those of Carine 

 hraina (though it is shorter than some of these latter), owing to 

 its great width. It is pure white, without any tinge, either, of 

 blue or cream-colour, fine in texture, and almost as glossy as a 

 Dove's egg. It measures 1'25 by 1'15 inch." 



Mr. W. Blewitt found two nests, both in sheeshum-trees on the 

 canal-bank near Hansi. Both nests were in holes, the one con- 

 tained one, the other two fresh eggs, a bed of leaves and straw 

 being placed under the eggs. The nests were found on the 25th 

 March and 2nd April. 



The next year he procured at least a dozen more nests between 

 the 18th January and the 2nd April, in the trees that fringe the 

 Hansi and Hissar subdivisions of the canal. 



Colonel Butler writes : — " At Hydrabad, Sind, on the 10th 

 April, 1878, I found a nest of this Scops-Owl in a hole of a large 

 tree about 40 feet from the ground. A young bird, about 10 or 

 12 days old, was lying at the foot of the tree alive, but with its 

 head much bruised by the fall. How it got there I don't kno\(', 

 but I fancy it must have been taken out of the nest by Crows and 

 dropped there, as there were several Crows in tlie tree when I found 

 the nest, and one of the parent birds (the female), which flew out of 

 the tree when I threw up a stone, seemed much excited. I sent a 

 boy up the tree to examine the nest, but it was empty, so I shot the 

 two old birds. I found the cock bird with some difficulty, as he 

 was sitting asleep on another tree about 50 yards off, looking for 

 all the world like an old decayed stump, and it was not until after 

 a long search that I discovered him. Erom the size of tlie nesthng 

 the eggs had evidently been laid early in March." 



Colonel Legge, -miting from Ceylon, says : — '• In the southern 

 parts of the island this Scops-Onl breeds in February and March. 

 It nestles in hollow trees or in holes made by Woodpeckers in 

 palms. A nest found at Oodogamma during my stay at G-alle was 

 placed in the hollow between the frond and the trunk of a Kitool 



