it has passed the day as early as four o'clock, and flies from tree to tree, 
calling continuously till sun-down. Its note, which is a repeated guttu¬ 
ral cry resembling the word TkrawJ, is again heard in the morning shortly 
after daybreak, and is sometimes continued on gloomy days until eight or 
nine o'clock* 
I have never heard the Cuckoo-1 ik-e note spoken of by Layard as belonging 
to this owl, and am inclined to think that he, like myself, mistook the note 
of the Hawk Owl (Minox Scutulata), which answers to his description, for 
that of thfcs species. 
Its usual food consists of Coleoptera and lizards, the former of which it 
takes on the wing. My friend Mr Forbes Laurie has seen these owls In the 
Kalebokka district hawking at sun-down about wooded streams, catching bee¬ 
tles. Higher game than either of these, is sometimes aspired to; for Mr 
Cobbold, of Maskelia, informs me that he has witnessed one of these olrds 
attacking a squirrel, and others have been known to kill small birds such 
as Finches, (Muniaj, and the Hill White Eye (Yosterops Ceylonensis). ‘mis 
little owl sees well in broad daylight, and has a very acute sense of heariig 
NIDIFICATION 
This species breeds in the West of Ceylon during March, April, and May* 
It lays in a hole in the trunk or limb of a tree, the cocoa nut palm being 
sometimes chosen; the eggs are deposited on the bare wood, and are two in 
number. A pair which I examined, which were taken from the nest by the tax¬ 
idermist of the Colombo Museum, were oval in shape, pure white in colour^ 
and measured respectively 1,41 by 1.15 Inches; and 1.34 by 1.08 inches, 
shewing considerable disparity in size. 
The right hand figure in the drawing represents the example here descri¬ 
bed, with more white on the scapulars than I have seen in any other. This 
owl is portrayed in an attitude very characteristic of the genus Glaucldium. 
