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.
[Illustration: 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.