NATUEALIST IN INDIA. 101 



the house-top." The difference in plumage between sexes and 

 young birds caused much confusion with the earlier Indian 

 naturalists. Specimens likewise from the Himalayas have 

 been found to have longer bills than individuals from other 

 countries, and accordingly Mr. Blyth named the latter P. lon- 

 girostris, but no one conversant with the Indian and Himalayan 

 bird in nature will allow the above distinction to remaia as 

 specific. The blue rock-thrush frequents wUd unfrequented 

 situations ; now and then I have seen a solitary individual 

 perched erect like a thrush on the roof-top. It is not com- 

 mon anywhere ; and, although familiar with its appearance at 

 different seasons of the year, I had not an opportunity until 

 long after leaving Asia of listening to its melodious note. 

 The European form is indigenous to the island of Malta, 

 where, among the shattered rocks that strew the coast, this 

 fair songster may be seen sallying forth in the bright clear 

 morn, singing, as he flutters from pinnacle to cliff, whilst the 

 rocks and caverns resound with his pleasing strains. — The 

 Himalaya owl (Athene cuculoides) is common in the woods and 

 jungle, and is diurnal in its habits so far that I killed one at 

 mid-day with a rat in its talons ; however, the bird is most 

 often seen at dusk. Its favourite food consists of mice, shrews, 

 and large coleopterous insects. The pretty pigmy owlet (AtTiene 

 brodiei) is often found in bushes. This diminutive little crea- 

 ture is little more than half the size of the last. Its call is 

 measured, and composed of two notes frequently repeated. 

 Its egg is white, and generally laid in the hollow of a tree, 

 without any preparation whatever. 



The red fox (Vulpes montanus) is generally distributed 

 over the lower and middle regions of the Himalayas, up even 

 to the limits of frost. Although often seen during the day, its 

 depredations are chiefly at night, when it prowls about houses 



