for as I have elsewhere stated,the only approach to any hoot which they made 
w:s a low growl, very seldom uttered, and a faint wheezy screech when they m 
were very hungry; nor did they ever utter their far sounding sonorous cry, 
well known In the Ceylon hills, which resembles the syllables Ho whooo", 
repeated at short Intervals. 
Owls do not as a rule give vent to th>lr nocturnal calls when In confine¬ 
ment, and I therefore do not consider my evidence very conclusive. Since 
writing on this species, however, I have been assured by a gentleman who 
kept a pair of these owls, one of which Is now in the Zoological Gardens, 
that in 1875, during the month of March, which Is about their breeding time, 
the pair alarmed the inmates of his house by uttering the most dismal and 
wailing cries imaginable; and although these notes were not described to me 
as being so horrible as they have been depicted above, I think this testimo¬ 
ny much in favour of the idea that in the breeding season this owl does ut¬ 
ter a loud and singular cry, which in the dead of night fall with more than 
their real harshness on the ear. Whether it be the present or any other 
species it is doubtless the case that these peculiar notes are only uttered 
during the breeding season. In a state of confinement this owl is anything 
but an unpleasant bird. It has the power of almost erecting its dorsal 
scapulars and pectoral feathers when under the influence of emotion or surpp 
rise, and looks much like a porcupine when so doing. 
The habits of my tame birds were exceedingly interesting, their quaint 
manners, grotesque bearing, and familiar actions rendering them daily od- 
jects of admiration. I therefore subjoi the following extract from the ar 
tide referred to above, in which after referring to the singular habit of 
revolving their heads, with the eyes fixed on the object of their attention 
and then lunging them forward in order to gain a better sight of it; is 
written as follows. 
"When given anything or u small size to eat, such as a calotes or small 
bird, it invariably seized it in its foot, grasping it with the outer toe to 
the rear, and holding it up after the manner of a parrot, nibble , it at va¬ 
rious parts with a view of tasting it, after which it would suddenly jerk it 
into its mouth head foremost, and swallow it without any exertion whatever. 
On the 10th of June, when only three months old, it swallowed entire a large 
Calotes lizard; but this feat , I consider, was out-done by its companion 
which I reared the following year, and which bolted at the age of six weeks 
a Dicaeum Minimum and Cistlcola Schoenleola with as much ease as if they had 
been small pieces of meat. This peculiarity of holding its foou in the 
