As regards the call of the brown fish-owl the writer has been trying for the past three or four years to determine by observation which of the many nocturnal noises are to be ascribed to this species.  With this object he kept one of these owls captive for several weeks; the bird steadfastly refused to utter a sound.  One hoot would have purchased its liberty; but the bird would not pay the price:  it sulked and hissed.  The bird in question, although called a fish-owl, does not live chiefly on fish.  Like others of its kind it feeds on birds, rats and mice.  Hume found in the nest of this species two quails, a pigeon, a dove and a myna, each with the head, neck and breast eaten away, but with the wings, back, feet and tail remaining almost intact.  “Eha” has seen the bird stoop on a hare.  The individual kept by the writer throve on raw meat.  This owl is probably called the fish-owl because it lives near rivers and tanks and invariably nests in the vicinity of water.  The nest may be in a tree or on a ledge in a cliff.  Sometimes the bird utilises the deserted cradle of a fishing-eagle or vulture.  The structure which the bird itself builds is composed of sticks and feathers and, occasionally, a few dead leaves.  Two white eggs are laid.  The breeding season lasts from December to March.

The rock horned-owl (Bubo bengalensis) is of the same size as the fish-owl, and, like the latter, has aigrettes and orange-yellow orbs, but its legs are feathered to the toes.  This owl feeds on snakes, rats, mice, birds, lizards, crabs, and even large insects.  “A loud dissyllabic hoot” is perhaps as good a description of its call as can be given in words.  This species breeds from December to April.  March is the month in which the eggs are most likely to be found.  The nesting site is usually a ledge on some cliff overhanging water.  A hollow is scooped out in the ledge, and, on the bare earth, four white eggs are laid.

The dusky horned-owl (Bubo coromandus) may be distinguished from the rock-horned species by the paler, greyer plumage, and by the fact that its eyes are deep yellow, rather than orange.  Its cry has been described as wo, wo, wo, wo-o-o.  The writer would rather represent it as ur-r-r, ur-r-r, ur-r-r-r-r—­a low grunting sound not unlike the call of the red turtle-dove.  This owl is very partial to crows.  Mr. Cripps once found fifteen heads of young crows in a nest belonging to one of these birds.  December and January are the months in which to look for the nest, which is a platform of sticks placed in a fork of a large tree.  Two eggs are laid.

The breeding season for Bonelli’s eagle (Hieraetus fasciatus) begins in December.  The eyrie of this fine bird is described in the calendar for January.

In the Punjab many ravens build their nests during the present month.

Throughout January, February and the early part of March ravens’ nests containing eggs or young are likely to be seen.