to be heard
at hill stations are the brown wood-owl (_Syrnium indrani_), the call
of which has been syllabised _to-whoo_, and the little spotted
Himalayan scops owl (_Scops spilocephalus_), of which the note is
double whistle _who-who_.

THE VULTURIDAE OR VULTURE FAMILY

From the owls to the diurnal birds of prey it is but a short step.
Next to the warblers, the raptores are the most difficult birds to
distinguish one from the other. Nearly all of them are creatures of
mottled-brown plumage, and, as the plumage changes with the period
of life, it is impossible to differentiate them by descriptions of
their colouring.

The vultures are perhaps the ugliest of all birds. Most of them have
the head devoid of feathers, and they are thus enabled to bury this
member in their loathsome food without soiling their feathers. In
the air, owing to the magnificent ease with which they fly, they are
splendid objects. Their habit is to rise high above the earth and
hang motionless in the atmosphere on outstretched wings, or sail in
circles without any perceptible motion of the pinions. Vultures are
not the only raptorial birds that do this. Kites are almost equally
skilled. But kites are distinguished by having a fairly long tail,
that of vultures being short and wedge shaped. The sides of the wings
of the vultures are straight, and the wings stand out at right angles
to the body. In all species, except the scavenger vulture, the tips
of the wings are turned up as the birds float or sail in the air,
and the ends of the wings are much cut up, looking like fingers.

Perhaps the commonest vulture of the Himalayas is that very familiar
fowl--the small white scavenger vulture (_Neophron ginginianus_),
often called Pharaoh's chicken and other opprobrious names that I
will not mention. This bird eats everything that is filthy and unclean.
The natural consequence is that it looks untidy and disreputable.
It is, without exception, the ugliest bird in the world. It is about
the size of a kite. The plumage is a dirty white, except the edges
of the wing feathers, which are shabby black. The naked face is of
a pale mustard colour, as are the bill and legs. The feathers on the
back of the head project like the back hairs of an untidy schoolboy.
Its walk is an ungainly waddle. Nevertheless--so great is the magic
of wings--this bird, as it soars high above the earth, looks a noble
fowl; it then appears to be snow-white with black margins to the