it in the vicinity of his bungalow; the type specimen found its way into the 
chimney, and fell down into the fire place stuplfled by the snake. Another 
took up its abode for many months near his house, testifying to its exist¬ 
ence by bringing into the verandah of the bungalow its quarry and devouring 
it in that peculiar locality; the remains of bats, finches, (Munla Kelaartl ) 
bush creepers, (Zosterops Ceylonensis?, and even those of a Robin Flycatcher 
(Erythrosterna Hyperythra), affording ample testimony to the meals the lit¬ 
tle depredator had silently consumed in the dead of night. It was at last 
shot, and at the time had taken up its abode in a thicket of passion flowery 
out of which It sallied each evening, and resorted to a neighbouring grove 
of tall trees. 
I have heard again from ray friend Mr Bligh concerning one of these inter¬ 
esting little birds. He writes, *1 have had the pleasure of seeing another 
of these little owls several times of late by the bungalow; it Is no doubt 
the mate of the one I lately shot; It generally alights on a thick branch, 
* and unless you see it move you would take it to be only a knot of wood, and 
it keeps , as a rule, perfectly still for some minutes at a time. It has 
a very feeble call, different In compass to any of the smaller owls which I 
am acquainted with, though similar In character; it is like a short and fee¬ 
ble *woot\ as it were jerked out. It is by no means a noisy or shy bird. 
Besides small bigds, the food of this owl consists of moths and Coleoptera. 
In confinement It lias much the same manner as Forster’s Scops Owl. I kept 
my owl in a box, and when I approached it, it threw its head back, and sta¬ 
ring up at me oscillated its body to and fro with a low growl of alarm*. 
The lesser figure in the drawing accompanying this article, represents tfcfc 
this pretty little owl. It is from the type specimen in the Britisn Museum 
