CAEINB. 109 



"Writing from Sainbhur, Mr. E. M. Adam remarks : — " This bird 

 is very common. A pair have their nest in the thatch of my 

 house, 



" On one or two occasions I have shot one of the pair, and 

 found a mate occupying its place within the next two or three 

 days." 



They lay four or five eggs, most commonly the former. 



Mr. G. Eeid obtained eggs of this species at Lucknow on the 

 24th March. 



Major Bingham writes : — " This Owlet breeds at Allahabad in 

 Tebruary, March, and April, and at Delhi in March and April. I 

 have taken eggs from the thatch of houses, from holes in trees, and 

 from holes in ruins. Xest there is none, but the holes are lined with 

 feathers, grass, and leaves. I have taken as many as five eggs out of 

 one hole, but I think three is the ordinary number laid." 



Writing of Eajpootana in general, Lieut. H. E. Barnes says : — 

 " The Spotted Owlet breeds from the middle of February to the com- 

 mencement of April." 



Mr. Scrope Doig writes from Sind : — " Got nests between 25th 

 March and 6th April, greatest number of eggs in one nest was four. 

 Nests situated in boles in old decayed trees." 



Colonel Butler sends the foUowiag note : — " The Spotted Owlet 

 breeds in the neighbourhood of Deesa in February and March. I 

 found a nest on the 21st February, 1876, containing three fresh 

 eggs. It was placed at the top of a pUlar supporting the veran- 

 dah of a bungalow. I found another nest in the hole of a tree 

 about ten feet from the ground on the 25th February, containing 

 also three fresh eggs ; another nest in the hole of a tree on the 26th 

 February, containing four sHghtly incubated eggs. Two old birds 

 flew out of the hole, and when I looked in I saw the hen bird sit- 

 ting, and had to poke her with a stick before she would leave her 

 eggs. The man who pointed the nest out to me, told me that when 

 he tapped the tree the day before three old birds flew out (in what 

 capacity was No. 3 acting ?). In each case the nest consisted of an 

 accumulation of dry sticks, felt, feathers, and other materials, 

 formed into a thick pad with a broad depression in the centre for 

 the eggs. Both of the parent birds seem to co-operate in nidifi- 

 cation, evincing great anxiety if the nest is approached. The cock 

 bird is usually in the same hole as the nest, or close at hand keep- 

 ing guard whilst the hen is setting. I have eggs from the Deccan 

 taken on the 7th and 22nd February. 



" I examined a hole under the eaves of a house in Belgaum, 

 frequented by a pair of these birds, on the 7th March 1880, and 

 found a single fresh egg. I caught the old bird on the nest, and 

 after holding her for a few seconds put her back on the nest. On 

 the 11th inst. I revisited the nest, and as before fouud the old 

 female sulking up in a corner of the hole close to the eggs, which 

 had increased to two. There was no sign of a nest, the eggs rest- 

 ing simply in a shallow saucer-Kke depression, scratched out of the 

 mortar by the old birds. Had she been disposed to do so, the bird 



