Richardson gives the following instance of the terror this Uhu so frequently excites:—"A party of Scotch Highlanders, in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, happened in a winter journey to encamp after nightfall in a dense clump of trees, whose dark and lofty stems, the growth of centuries, gave a solemnity to the scene that strongly tended to excite the superstitious feelings of the Highlanders. The effect was heightened by the discovery of a tomb which, with the natural taste often exhibited by Indians, had been placed in this secluded spot. Our travellers, having finished their supper, were trimming their fire preparatory to rest, when the slow and dismal notes of the Horned Owl fell on the ear with a startling nearness. None of them being acquainted with the sound, all thought that so unearthly a voice must be the moaning of the spirit of the departed, whose repose they imagined they had disturbed by inadvertently making a fire of the wood of which his tomb had been constructed. They passed a tedious night of fear, and with the first dawn of day hastily left the ill-omened spot."
The Uhu devours Geese, Partridges, Buzzards, and many other birds and quadrupeds in large numbers; some writers have gone so far as to accuse it of seizing upon young stags, calves, and even Eagles, but such assertions are very improbable, though the statement that it will attack hedgehogs has been fully substantiated; the prickly ball being forced to unroll by means of powerful strokes with the beak, which completes its destruction before the victim has time to coil itself up again. The period of incubation usually commences about March, and, strange to say, no sooner are the quarrels about the possession of a mate over than the cruel, violent male is suddenly transformed into the most faithful and tender of spouses, and exhibits such affection and devotion to his family as is seldom met with. Building, however, is not an art in which the Uhu excels; the eggs are therefore, if possible, deposited in the deserted nest of a Buzzard, Raven, or Black Stork, and should one of these not be found, the parent is content to drag together a few twigs and branches, and make therewith a bed in the cavity it has selected for a breeding-place. Occasionally, the comfort of this slight arrangement is dispensed with, and the two or three eggs are deposited upon the bare ground at the bottom of the hole. The female alone broods, but is meanwhile most carefully tended by her mate; and both parents assist in defending their domicile from intrusion, attacking with fierce courage not only beasts of prey, but men. Should the nest appear to have been disturbed, the mother has been known to carry off her charge to a safer retreat. Count Wodzicki mentions an instance that came under his own notice in which a young Uhu was fed at first by its parents, and afterwards, as soon as they were fledged, by its brother nestlings, for the space of two months after it had been made prisoner and fastened to a perch outside the forester's lodge. This Uhu will live for many years in confinement, but seldom become, really tame; the African species is perhaps an exception to this rule, for we saw one of these birds in Stockholm that not only allowed itself to be stroked or playfully seized by the beak, but would come to its master when called by name. "When wounded," Audubon informs us, "the Uhu exhibits a revengeful tenacity of spirit, scarcely surpassed by the boldest of the Eagle tribe; disdaining to scramble away, it faces its enemy with undaunted courage; protruding its powerful talons, and snapping its beak, it will defend itself to the uttermost against both man and dog."
The Malay peninsula and India proper are inhabited by a group of Owls, in many respects resembling the species above described, but with this difference, that they subsist principally upon fish, crabs, and other inhabitants of the water. All these birds are large, and have well-developed tufts around the ears; the beak is powerful and of moderate size, while the upper mandible is compressed, and terminates in a hook; the feet are long, and the toes bare. The plumage is not thick, the ears are small, and the wings, in which the fourth quill is longer than the rest, do not extend as far as the tip of the tail.
THE BROWN FISH OWL.
The BROWN FISH OWL (Ketupa Ceylonensis), called by the Cingalese "Utum," is from twenty-one to twenty-three inches in breadth, the tail measures eight, and the wing sixteen inches. The upper part of the body is of a deep reddish tinge, the feathers upon the head and nape being streaked with dark brown, while those upon the back and upper wing-covers are marked with brown and reddish yellow. The quills are reddish or yellowish brown, spotted with white upon the inner web; the tail is brown, tipped and streaked with a paler shade; the face is brown, and its bristle-like feathers ornamented with white and black; the chin and breast are white, partially striped with brown. The rest of the plumage is reddish brown, streaked with numerous dark lines. The eye is bright yellow, the eyelids purplish brown, the foot and beak pale greyish yellow.
THE VIRGINIAN UHU (Bubo Virginianus).
The Fish Owl is found extensively throughout the whole of India and Ceylon, and is also met with in Burmah and China. In the Malay peninsula it is replaced by a very similar species. Bernstein tells us that the Fish Owl frequents woodland districts, and that, though it often lives in the immediate neighbourhood of villages, never actually takes shelter about the houses. Jerdon informs us that he usually saw it perching close to lakes, ponds, or rivers, watching for the fish upon which it mainly subsists. It also devours lizards and snakes, as well as rats and mice. Like most of its family this bird remains concealed during the day, and only issues forth at night to obtain its prey: this diurnal seclusion does not, however, arise from the fact that it cannot bear the light, for experiments have proved that it sees any object readily, even when exposed to the full glare of the sun. The voice of the Fish Owl is constantly heard throughout moonlight nights, and may be represented by the syllables "Hu, hu, hu, hi." A nest found by Bernstein was nothing more than a depression in some moss and lichens that had overgrown the trunk of an old tree; it contained but one round, smooth-shelled, white egg.
THE WOODLAND OWL.