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diff --git a/18237.txt b/18237.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8fa81ef --- /dev/null +++ b/18237.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5383 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Bird Calendar for Northern India, by Douglas Dewar + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Bird Calendar for Northern India + +Author: Douglas Dewar + +Release Date: April 23, 2006 [EBook #18237] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BIRD CALENDAR FOR NORTHERN INDIA *** + + + + +Produced by Ron Swanson + + + + + +_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ +ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE +THE INDIAN CROW: HIS BOOK +BOMBAY DUCKS +BIRDS OF THE PLAINS +INDIAN BIRDS +JUNGLE FOLK +GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS +BIRDS OF THE INDIAN HILLS + + +_IN COLLABORATION WITH FRANK FINN_ +THE MAKING OF SPECIES + + + + +A BIRD CALENDAR FOR NORTHERN INDIA + +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + + + +LONDON: W. THACKER & CO., CREED LANE, E.C. +CALCUTTA AND SIMLA: THACKER, SPINK & CO. +1916 + + + + +WM. BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND. + + + + +I am indebted to the editor of _The Pioneer_ for permission to +republish the sketches that form this calendar, and to Mr. A. J. +Currie for placing at my disposal his unpublished notes on the birds +of the Punjab. + +Full descriptions of all the Indian birds of which the doings are +chronicled in this calendar are to be found in the four volumes of the +_Fauna of British India_ devoted to birds; popular descriptions of the +majority are given in my _Indian Birds_. + +D. D. + +HARROW, +_January 1916_. + + + + +CONTENTS + PAGE +JANUARY . . . . . . 1 +FEBRUARY . . . . . 18 +MARCH . . . . . . . 33 +APRIL . . . . . . . 61 +MAY . . . . . . . . 79 +JUNE . . . . . . . 103 +JULY . . . . . . . 116 +AUGUST . . . . . . 136 +SEPTEMBER . . . . . 152 +OCTOBER . . . . . . 165 +NOVEMBER . . . . . 178 +DECEMBER . . . . . 189 +GLOSSARY . . . . . 199 +INDEX . . . . . . . 201 + + + + +JANUARY + + Up--let us to the fields away, + And breathe the fresh and balmy air. + MARY HOWITT. + + +Take nine-and-twenty sunny, bracing English May days, steal from March +as many still, starry nights, to these add two rainy mornings and +evenings, and the product will resemble a typical Indian January. This +is the coolest month in the year, a month when the climate is +invigorating and the sunshine temperate. But even in January the sun's +rays have sufficient power to cause the thermometer to register 70 +degrees in the shade at noon, save on an occasional cloudy day. + +Sunset is marked by a sudden fall of temperature. The village smoke +then hangs a few feet above the earth like a blue-grey diaphanous +cloud. + +The cold increases throughout the hours of darkness. In the Punjab +hoar-frosts form daily; and in the milder United Provinces the +temperature often falls sufficiently to allow of the formation of thin +sheets of ice. Towards dawn mists collect which are not dispersed +until the sun has shone upon them for several hours. The vultures +await the dissipation of these vapours before they ascend to the upper +air, there to soar on outstretched wings and scan the earth for food. + +On New Year's Day the wheat, the barley, the gram, and the other +Spring crops are well above the ground, and, ere January has given +place to February, the emerald shoots of the corn attain a height of +fully sixteen inches. On these the geese levy toll. + +Light showers usually fall in January. These are very welcome to the +agriculturalist because they impart vigour to the young crops. In the +seasons when the earth is not blessed with the refreshing winter rain +men and oxen are kept busy irrigating the fields. The cutting and the +pressing of the sugar-cane employ thousands of husbandmen and their +cattle. In almost every village little sugar-cane presses are being +worked by oxen from sunrise to sunset. At night-time the country-side +is illumined by the flames of the _megas_ burned by the rustic +sugar-boilers. + +January is the month in which the avian population attains its +maximum. Geese, ducks, teal, pelicans, cormorants, snake-birds and +ospreys abound in the rivers and _jhils_; the marshes and swamps are +the resort of millions of snipe and other waders; the fields and +groves swarm with flycatchers, chats, starlings, warblers, finches, +birds of prey and the other migrants which in winter visit the plains +from the Himalayas and the country beyond. + +The bracing climate of the Punjab attracts some cold-loving species +for which the milder United Provinces have no charms. Conspicuous +among these are rooks, ravens and jackdaws. On the other hand, frosts +drive away from the Land of the Five Rivers certain of the feathered +folk which do not leave the United Provinces or Bengal: to wit, the +purple sunbird, the bee-eater and, to a large extent, the king-crow. + +The activity of the feathered folk is not at its height in January. +Birds are warm-blooded creatures and they love not the cold. +Comparatively few of them are in song, and still fewer nest, at this +season. + +Song and sound are expressions of energy. Birds have more vitality, +more life in them than has any other class of organism. They are, +therefore, the most noisy of beings. + +Many of the calls of birds are purposeful, being used to express +pleasure or anger, or to apprise members of a flock of one another's +presence. Others appear to serve no useful end. These are simply the +outpourings of superfluous energy, the expressions of the supreme +happiness that perfect health engenders. Since the vigour of birds is +greatest at the nesting season, it follows that that is the time when +they are most vociferous. Some birds sing only at the breeding season, +while others emit their cries at all times. Hence the avian choir in +India, as in all other countries, is composed of two sets of +vocalists--those who perform throughout the year, "the musicians of +all times and places," and those who join the chorus only for a few +weeks or months. The calls of the former class go far to create for +India its characteristic atmosphere. To enumerate all such bird calls +would be wearisome. For the purposes of this calendar it is necessary +to describe only the common daily cries--the sounds that at all times +and all seasons form the basis of the avian chorus. + +From early dawn till nightfall the welkin rings with the harsh caw of +the house-crow, the deeper note of the black crow or corby, the +tinkling music of the bulbuls, the cheery _keky_, _keky_, _kek_, +_kek_ ... _chur_, _chur_, _kok_, _kok_, _kok_ of the myna, the +monotonous _cuckoo-coo-coo_ of the spotted dove (_Turtur suratensis_), +the soft subdued _cuk-cuk-coo-coo-coo_ of the little brown dove (_T. +cambayensis_), the mechanical _ku-ku--ku_ of the ring-dove (_T. +risorius_), the loud penetrating shrieks of the green parrot, the +trumpet-like calls of the saras crane, the high-pitched _did-he-do-it_ +of the red-wattled lapwing, the wailing trill _chee-hee-hee-hee_ +_hee--hee_ of the kite, the hard grating notes and the metallic +_coch-lee_, _coch-lee_ of the tree-pie; the sharp _towee_, _towee_, +_towee_ of the tailor-bird, the soft melodious cheeping calls of the +flocks of little white-eyes, the _chit_, _chit_, _chitter_ of the +sparrow, the screaming cries of the golden-backed woodpecker, the +screams and the trills of the white-breasted kingfisher, the curious +harsh clamour of the cuckoo-shrike, and, last but by no means least, +the sweet and cheerful whistling refrain of the fan-tail flycatcher, +which at frequent intervals emanates from a tree in the garden or the +mango tope. Nor is the bird choir altogether hushed during the hours +of darkness. Throughout the year, more especially on moonlit nights, +the shrieking _kucha_, _kwachee_, _kwachee_, _kwachee_, _kwachee_ of +the little spotted owlet disturbs the silences of the moon. Few nights +pass on which the dusky horned owl fails to utter his grunting +hoot, or the jungle owlet to emit his curious but not unpleasant +_turtuck_, _turtuck_, _turtuck_, _turtuck_, _turtuck_, _tukatu_, +_chatuckatuckatuck_. + +The above are the commonest of the bird calls heard throughout the +year. They form the basis of the avian melody in India. This melody is +reinforced from time to time by the songs of those birds that may be +termed the seasonal choristers. It is the presence or absence of the +voices of these latter which imparts distinctive features to the +minstrelsy of every month of the year. + +In January the sprightly little metallic purple sunbird pours forth, +from almost every tree or bush, his powerful song, which, were it a +little less sharp, might easily be mistaken for that of a canary. + +From every mango tope emanates a loud "Think of me ... Never to be." +This is the call of the grey-headed flycatcher (_Culicicapa +ceylonensis_), a bird that visits the plains of northern India every +winter. In summer it retires to the Himalayas for nesting purposes. +Still more melodious is the call of the wood-shrike, which is +frequently heard at this season, and indeed during the greater part of +the year. + +Every now and again the green barbet emits his curious chuckling +laugh, followed by a monotonous _kutur_, _kutur_, _kuturuk_. At rare +intervals his cousin, the coppersmith, utters a soft _wow_ and thereby +reminds us that he is in the land of the living. These two species, +more especially the latter, seem to dislike the cold weather. They +revel in the heat; it is when the thermometer stands at something over +100 degrees in the shade that they feel like giants refreshed, and +repeat their loud calls with wearying insistence throughout the hours +of daylight. + +The nuthatches begin to tune up in January. They sing with more cheer +than harmony, their love-song being a sharp penetrating +_tee-tee-tee-tee-tee_. + +The hoopoe reminds us of his presence by an occasional soft +_uk-uk-uk_. His breeding season, like that of the nuthatch, is about +to begin. + +The magpie-robin or _dhayal_, who for months past has uttered no +sound, save a scolding note when occasion demanded, now begins to make +melody. His January song, however, is harsh and crude, and not such as +to lead one to expect the rich deep-toned music that will compel +admiration in April, May and June. + +Towards the end of the month the fluty call of the koel, another +hot-weather chorister, may be heard in the eastern portions of +northern India. + +Most of the cock sunbirds cast off their workaday plumage and assumed +their splendid metallic purple wedding garment in November and +December, a few, however, do not attain their full glory until +January. By the end of the month it is difficult to find a cock that +is not bravely attired from head to tail in iridescent purple. + +Comparatively few birds build their nests in January. Needless to +state, doves' nests containing eggs may be found at this season as at +all other seasons. It is no exaggeration to assert that some pairs of +doves rear up seven or eight broods in the course of the year. The +consequence is that, notwithstanding the fact that the full clutch +consists of but two eggs, doves share with crows, mynas, sparrows and +green parrots the distinction of being the most successful birds in +India. + +The nest of the dove is a subject over which most ornithologists have +waxed sarcastic. One writer compares the structure to a bundle of +spillikins. Another says, "Upset a box of matches in a bush and you +will have produced a very fair imitation of a dove's nursery!" +According to a third, the best way to make an imitation dove's nest is +to take four slender twigs, lay two of them on a branch and then place +the remaining two crosswise on top of the first pair. For all this, +the dove's nest is a wonderful structure; it is a lesson in how to +make a little go a long way. Doves seem to place their nurseries +haphazard on the first branch or ledge they come across after the +spirit has moved them to build. The nest appears to be built solely on +considerations of hygiene. Ample light and air are a _sine qua non_; +concealment appears to be a matter of no importance. + +In India winter is the time of year at which the larger birds of prey, +both diurnal and nocturnal, rear up their broods. Throughout January +the white-backed vultures are occupied in parental duties. The +breeding season of these birds begins in October or November and ends +in February or March. The nest, which is placed high up in a lofty +tree, is a large platform composed of twigs which the birds themselves +break off from the growing tree. Much amusement may be derived from +watching the struggles of a white-backed vulture when severing a tough +branch. Its wing-flapping and its tugging cause a great commotion in +the tree. The boughs used by vultures for their nests are mostly +covered with green leaves. These last wither soon after the branch has +been plucked, so that, after the first few days of its existence, the +nest looks like a great ball of dead leaves caught in a tree. + +The nurseries of birds of prey can be described neither as picturesque +nor as triumphs of architecture, but they have the great merit of +being easy to see. January is the month in which to look for the +eyries of Bonelli's eagles (_Hieraetus fasciatus_); not that the +search is likely to be successful. The high cliffs of the Jumna and +the Chambal in the Etawah district are the only places where the nests +of this fine eagle have been recorded in the United Provinces. Mr. A. +J. Currie has found the nest on two occasions in a mango tree in a +tope at Lahore. In each case the eyrie was a flat platform of sticks +about twice the size of a kite's nest. The ground beneath the eyrie +was littered with fowls' feathers and pellets of skin, fur and bone. +Most of these pellets contained squirrels' skulls; and Mr. Currie +actually saw one of the parent birds fly to the nest with a squirrel +in its talons. + +Bonelli's eagle, when sailing through the air, may be recognised by +the long, hawk-like wings and tail, the pale body and dark brown +wings. It soars in circles, beating its pinions only occasionally. + +The majority of the tawny eagles (_Aquila vindhiana_) build their +nests in December. By the middle of January many of the eggs have +yielded nestlings which are covered with white down. In size and +appearance the tawny eagle is not unlike a kite. The shape of the +tail, however, enables the observer to distinguish between the two +species at a glance. The tail of the kite is long and forked, while +that of the eagle is short and rounded at the extremity. The Pallas's +fishing-eagles (_Haliaetus leucoryphus_) are likewise busy feeding +their young. These fine birds are readily identified by the broad +white band in the tail. Their loud resonant but unmelodious calls make +it possible to recognise them when they are too far off for the white +tail band to be distinguished. + +This species is called a fishing-eagle; but it does not indulge much +in the piscatorial art. It prefers to obtain its food by robbing +ospreys, kites, marsh-harriers and other birds weaker than itself. So +bold is it that it frequently swoops down and carries off a dead or +wounded duck shot by the sportsman. Another raptorial bird of which +the nest is likely to be found in January is the _Turumti_ or +red-headed merlin (_Aesalon chicquera_). The nesting season of this +ferocious pigmy extends from January to May, reaching its height +during March in the United Provinces and during April in the Punjab. + +As a general rule birds begin nesting operations in the Punjab from +fifteen to thirty days later than in the United Provinces. Unless +expressly stated the times mentioned in this calendar relate to the +United Provinces. The nest of the red-headed merlin is a compact +circular platform, about twelve inches in diameter, placed in a fork +near the top of a tree. + +The attention of the observer is often drawn to the nests of this +species, as also to those of other small birds of prey and of the +kite, by the squabbles that occur between them and the crows. Both +species of crow seem to take great delight in teasing raptorial birds. +Sometimes two or three of the _corvi_ act as if they had formed a +league for the prevention of nest-building on the part of white-eyed +buzzards, kites, shikras and other of the lesser birds of prey. The +_modus operandi_ of the league is for two or more of its members to +hie themselves to the tree in which the victim is building its nest, +take up positions near that structure and begin to caw derisively. +This invariably provokes the owners of the nest to attack the black +villains, who do not resist, but take to their wings. The angry, +swearing builders follow in hot pursuit for a short distance and then +fly back to the nest. After a few minutes the crows return. Then the +performance is repeated; and so on, almost _ad infinitum_. The result +is that many pairs of birds of prey take three weeks or longer to +construct a nest which they could have completed within a week had +they been unmolested. + +Most of the larger owls are now building nests or sitting on eggs; a +few are seeking food for their offspring. As owls work on silent wing +at night, they escape the attentions of the crows and the notice of +the average human being. The nocturnal birds of prey of which nests +are likely to be found in January are the brown fish-owl (_Ketupa +ceylonensis_) and the rock and the dusky horned-owls (_Bubo +bengalensis_ and _B. coromandus_). The dusky horned-owl builds a stick +nest in a tree, the rock horned-owl lays its eggs on the bare ground +or on the ledge of a cliff, while the brown fish-owl makes a nest +among the branches or in a hollow in the trunk of a tree or on the +ledge of a cliff. + +In the Punjab the ravens, which in many respects ape the manners of +birds of prey, are now nesting. A raven's nest is a compact collection +of twigs. It is usually placed in an isolated tree of no great size. + +The Indian raven has not the austere habits of its English brother. It +is fond of the society of its fellows. The range of this fine bird in +the plains of India is confined to the North-West Frontier Province +Sind, and the Punjab. + +An occasional pair of kites may be seen at work nest-building during +the present month. + +Some of the sand-martins (_Cotyle sinensis_), likewise, are engaged in +family duties. The river bank in which a colony of these birds is +nesting is the scene of much animation. The bank is riddled with +holes, each of which, being the entrance to a martin's nest, is +visited a score of times an hour by the parent birds, bringing insects +captured while flying over the water. + +Some species of munia breed at this time of the year. The red munia, +or amadavat, or _lal_ (_Estrelda amandava_) is, next to the paroquet, +the bird most commonly caged in India. This little exquisite is +considerably smaller than a sparrow. Its bill is bright crimson, and +there is some red or crimson in the plumage--more in the cock than in +the hen, and most in both sexes at the breeding season. The remainder +of the plumage is brown, but is everywhere heavily spotted with white. +In a state of nature these birds affect long grass, for they feed +largely, if not entirely, on grass seed. The cock has a sweet voice, +which, although feeble, is sufficiently loud to be heard at some +distance and is frequently uttered. + +The nest of the amadavat is large for the size of the bird, being a +loosely-woven cup, which is egg-shaped and has a hole at or near the +narrow end. It is composed of fine grass stems and is often lined with +soft material. It is usually placed in the middle of a bush, sometimes +in a tussock of grass. From six to fourteen eggs are laid. These are +white in colour. This species appears to breed twice in the year--from +October to February and again from June to August. + +The white-throated munia (_Uroloncha malabarica_) is a dull brown +bird, with a white patch above the tail. Its throat is yellowish +white. The old name for the bird--the plain brown munia--seems more +appropriate than that with which the species has since been saddled by +Blanford. The nest of this little bird is more loosely put together +and more globular than that of the amadavat. It is usually placed low +down in a thorny bush. The number of eggs laid varies from six to +fifteen. These, like those of the red munia, are white. June seems to +be the only month in the year in which the eggs of this species have +not been found. In the United Provinces more nests containing eggs are +discovered in January than in any other month. + +Occasionally in January a pair of hoopoes (_Upupa indica_) steals a +march on its brethren by selecting a nesting site and laying eggs. +Hoopoes nest in holes in trees or buildings. The aperture to the nest +cavity is invariably small. The hen hoopoe alone incubates, and as, +when once she has begun to sit, she rarely, if ever, leaves the nest +till the eggs are hatched, the cock has to bring food to her. But, to +describe the nesting operations of the hoopoe in January is like +talking of cricket in April. It is in February and March that the +hoopoes nest in their millions, and call softly, from morn till eve, +_uk-uk-uk_. + +Of the other birds which nest later in the season mention must be made +in the calendar for the present month of the Indian cliff-swallow +(_Hirundo fluvicola_) and the blue rock-pigeon (_Columba intermedia_), +because their nests are sometimes seen in January. + + + + +FEBRUARY + + There's perfume upon every wind, + Music in every tree, + Dews for the moisture-loving flowers, + Sweets for the sucking-bee. + N. P. WILLIS. + + +Even as January in northern India may be compared to a month made up +of English May days and March nights, so may the Indian February be +likened to a halcyon month composed of sparkling, sun-steeped June +days and cool starlit April nights. + +February is the most pleasant month of the whole year in both the +Punjab and the United Provinces; even November must yield the palm to +it. The climate is perfect. The nights and early mornings are cool and +invigorating; the remainder of each day is pleasantly warm; the sun's +rays, although gaining strength day by day, do not become +uncomfortably hot save in the extreme south of the United Provinces. +The night mists, so characteristic of December and January, are almost +unknown in February, and the light dews that form during the hours of +darkness disappear shortly after sunrise. + +The Indian countryside is now good to look upon; it possesses all the +beauties of the landscape of July; save the sunsets. The soft emerald +hue of the young wheat and barley is rendered more vivid by contrast +with the deep rich green of the mango trees. Into the earth's verdant +carpet is worked a gay pattern of white poppies, purple linseed +blooms, blue and pink gram flowers, and yellow blossoms of mimosa, +mustard and _arhar_. Towards the end of the month the silk-cotton +trees (_Bombax malabarica_) begin to put forth their great red +flowers, but not until March does each look like a great scarlet +nosegay. + +The patches of sugar-cane grow smaller day by day, and in nearly every +village the little presses are at work from morn till eve. + +From the guava groves issue the rattle of tin pots and the shouts of +the boys told off to protect the ripening fruit from the attacks of +crows, parrots and other feathered marauders. Nor do these sounds +terminate at night-fall; indeed they become louder after dark, for it +is then that the flying-foxes come forth and work sad havoc among +fruit of all descriptions. + +The fowls of the air are more vivacious than they were in January. The +bulbuls tinkle more blithely, the purple sunbirds sing more lustily; +the _kutur_, _kutur_, _kuturuk_ of the green barbets is uttered more +vociferously; the nuthatches now put their whole soul into their loud, +sharp _tee-tee-tee-tee_, the hoopoes call _uk-uk-uk_ more vigorously. + +The coppersmiths (_Xantholaema haematocephala_) begin to hammer on +their anvils--_tonk-tonk-tonk-tonk_, softly and spasmodically in the +early days of the month, but with greater frequency and intensity as +the days pass. The brain-fever bird (_Hierococcyx varius_) announces +his arrival in the United Provinces by uttering an occasional +"brain-fever." As the month draws to its close his utterances become +more frequent. But his time is not yet. He merely gives us in February +a foretaste of what is to come. + +The _tew_ of the black-headed oriole (_Oriolus melanocephalus_), which +is the only note uttered by the bird in the colder months, is +occasionally replaced in February by the summer call of the species--a +liquid, musical _peeho_. In the latter half of the month the Indian +robin (_Thamnobia cambayensis_) begins to find his voice. Although not +the peer of his English cousin, he is no mean singer. At this time of +year, however, his notes are harsh. He is merely "getting into form." + +The feeble, but sweet, song of the crested lark or _Chandul_ is one of +the features of February. The Indian skylark likewise may now be heard +singing at Heaven's gate in places where there are large tracts of +uncultivated land. As in January so in February the joyous "Think of +me ... Never to be" of the grey-headed flycatcher emanates from every +tope. + +By the middle of the month the pied wagtails and pied bush chats are +in full song. Their melodies, though of small volume, are very sweet. + +The large grey shrikes add the clamour of their courtship to the avian +chorus. + +Large numbers of doves, vultures, eagles, red-headed merlins, martins +and munias--birds whose nests were described in January--are still +busy feeding their young. + +The majority of the brown fish-owls (_Ketupa ceylonensis_) and rock +horned-owls (_Bubo bengalensis_) are sitting; a few of them are +feeding young birds. The dusky horned-owls (_B. coromandus_) have +either finished breeding or are tending nestlings. In addition to the +nests of the above-mentioned owls those of the collared scops owl +(_Scops bakkamaena_) and the mottled wood-owl (_Syrnium ocellatum_) +are likely to be found at this season of the year. The scops is a +small owl with aigrettes or "horns," the wood-owl is a large bird +without aigrettes. + +Both nest in holes in trees and lay white eggs after the manner of +their kind. The scops owl breeds from January till April, while +February and March are the months in which to look for the eggs of the +wood-owl. + +In the western districts of the United Provinces the Indian +cliff-swallows (_Hirundo fluvicola_) are beginning to construct their +curious nests. Here and there a pair of blue rock-pigeons (_Colombia +intermedia_) is busy with eggs or young ones. In the Punjab the ravens +are likewise employed. + +The nesting season of the hoopoe has now fairly commenced. Courtship +is the order of the day. The display of this beautiful species is not +at all elaborate. The bird that "shows off" merely runs along the +ground with corona fully expanded. Mating hoopoes, however, perform +strange antics in the air; they twist and turn and double, just as a +flycatcher does when chasing a fleet insect. Both the hoopoe and the +roller are veritable aerial acrobats. By the end of the month all but +a few of the hoopoes have begun to nest; most of them have eggs, while +the early birds, described in January as stealing a march on their +brethren, are feeding their offspring. The 6th February is the +earliest date on which the writer has observed a hoopoe carrying food +to the nest; that was at Ghazipur. + +March and April are the months in which the majority of coppersmiths +or crimson-breasted barbets rear up their families. Some, however, are +already working at their nests. The eggs are hatched in a cavity in a +tree--a cavity made by means of the bird's bill. Both sexes take part +in nest construction. A neatly-cut circular hole, about the size of a +rupee, on the lower surface or the side of a branch is assuredly the +entrance to the nest of a coppersmith, a green barbet, or a +woodpecker. + +As the month draws to its close many a pair of nuthatches (_Sitta +castaneiventris_) may be observed seeking for a hollow in which to +nestle. The site selected is usually a small hole in the trunk of a +mango tree that has weathered many monsoons. The birds reduce the +orifice of the cavity to a very small size by plastering up the +greater part of it with mud. Hence the nest of the nuthatch, unless +discovered when in course of construction, is difficult to locate. + +All the cock sunbirds (_Arachnechthra asiatica_) are now in the full +glory of their nuptial plumage. Here and there an energetic little hen +is busily constructing her wonderful pendent nest. Great is the +variety of building material used by the sunbird. Fibres, slender +roots, pliable stems, pieces of decayed wood, lichen, thorns and even +paper, cotton and rags, are pressed into service. All are held +together by cobweb, which is the favourite cement of bird masons. The +general shape of the nest is that of a pear. Its contour is often +irregular, because some of the materials hang loosely from the outer +surface. + +The nursery is attached by means of cobweb to the beam or branch from +which it hangs. It is cosily lined with cotton or other soft material. +The hen, who alone builds the nest and incubates the eggs, enters and +leaves the chamber by a hole at one side. This is protected by a +little penthouse. The door serves also as window. The hen rests her +chin on the lower part of this while she is incubating her eggs, and +thus is able, as she sits, to see what is going on in the great world +without. She displays little fear of man and takes no pains to conceal +her nest, which is often built in the verandah of an inhabited +bungalow. + +As the month nears its end the big black crows (_Corvus +macrorhynchus_) begin to construct their nests. The site selected is +usually a forked branch of a large tree. The nest is a clumsy platform +of sticks with a slight depression, lined by human or horse hair or +other soft material, for the reception of the eggs. Both sexes take +part in incubation. From the time the first egg is laid until the +young are big enough to leave the nest this is very rarely left +unguarded. When one parent is away the other remains sitting on the +eggs, or, after the young have hatched out, on the edge of the nest. +Crows are confirmed egg-stealers and nestling-lifters, and, knowing +the guile that is in their own hearts, keep a careful watch over their +offspring. + +The kites (_Milvus govinda_) are likewise busy at their nurseries. At +this season of the year they are noisier than usual, which is saying a +great deal. They not only utter unceasingly their shrill +_chee-hee-hee-hee_, but engage in many a squabble with the crows. + +The nest of the kite, like that of the corby, is an untidy mass of +sticks and twigs placed conspicuously in a lofty tree. Dozens of these +nests are to be seen in every Indian cantonment in February and March. +Why the crows and the kites should prefer the trees in a cantonment to +those in the town or surrounding country has yet to be discovered. + +Mention has already been made of the fact that January is the month in +which the majority of the tawny eagles nest; not a few, however, defer +operations till February. Hume states that, of the 159 eggs of this +species of which he has a record, 38 were taken in December, 83 in +January and 28 in February. + +The nesting season of the white-backed vulture is drawing to a close. +On the other hand, that of the black or Pondicherry vulture (_Otogyps +calvus_) is beginning. This species may be readily distinguished from +the other vultures, by its large size, its white thighs and the red +wattles that hang down from the sides of the head like drooping ears. + +The nest of this bird is a massive platform of sticks, large enough to +accommodate two or three men. Hume once demolished one of these +vulturine nurseries and found that it weighed over eight maunds, that +is to say about six hundredweight. This vulture usually builds its +nest in a lofty _pipal_ tree, but in localities devoid of tall trees +the platform is placed on the top of a bush. + +February marks the beginning of the nesting season of the handsome +pied kingfisher (_Ceryle rudis_). This is the familiar, +black-and-white bird that fishes by hovering kestrel-like on +rapidly-vibrating wings and then dropping from a height of some twenty +feet into the water below; it is a bird greatly addicted to goldfish +and makes sad havoc of these where they are exposed in ornamental +ponds. The nest of the pied kingfisher is a circular tunnel or burrow, +more than a yard in length, excavated in a river bank. The burrow, +which is dug out by the bird, is about three inches in diameter and +terminates in a larger chamber in which the eggs are laid. + +Another spotted black-and-white bird which now begins nesting +operations is the yellow-fronted pied woodpecker (_Liopicus +mahrattensis_)--a species only a little less common than the beautiful +golden-backed woodpecker. Like all the Picidae this bird nests in the +trunk or a branch of a tree. Selecting a part of a tree which is +decayed--sometimes a portion of the bole quite close to the +ground--the woodpecker hews out with its chisel-like beak a neat +circular tunnel leading to the cavity in the decayed wood in which the +eggs will be deposited. The tap, tap, tap of the bill as it cuts into +the wood serves to guide the observer to the spot where the +woodpecker, with legs apart and tail adpressed to the tree, is at +work. In the same way a barbet's nest, while under construction, may +be located with ease. A woodpecker when excavating its nest will often +allow a human being to approach sufficiently dose to witness it throw +over its shoulder the chips of wood it has cut away with its bill. + +In the United Provinces many of the ashy-crowned finch-larks +(_Pyrrhulauda grisea_) build their nests during February. In the +Punjab they breed later; April and May being the months in which their +eggs are most often found in that province. These curious +squat-figured little birds are rendered easy of recognition by the +unusual scheme of colouring displayed by the cock--his upper parts are +earthy grey and his lower plumage is black. + +The habit of the finch-lark is to soar to a little height and then +drop to the ground, with wings closed, singing as it descends. It +invariably affects open plains. There are very few tracts of treeless +land in India which are not tenanted by finch-larks. The nest is a +mere pad of grass and feathers placed on the ground in a tussock of +grass, beside a clod of earth, or in a depression, such as a +hoof-print. The most expeditious way of finding nests of these birds +in places where they are abundant is to walk with a line of beaters +over a tract of fallow land and mark carefully the spots from which +the birds rise. + +With February the nesting season of the barn-owls (_Strix flammea_) +begins in the United Provinces, where their eggs have been taken as +early as the 17th. + +Towards the end of the month the white-browed fantail flycatchers +(_Rhipidura albifrontata_) begin to nest. The loud and cheerful song +of this little feathered exquisite is a tune of six or seven notes +that ascend and descend the musical scale. It is one of the most +familiar of the sounds that gladden the Indian countryside. The broad +white eyebrow and the manner in which, with drooping wings and tail +spread into a fan, this flycatcher waltzes and pirouettes among the +branches of a tree render it unmistakable. The nest is a dainty little +cup, covered with cobweb, attached to one of the lower boughs of a +tree. So small is the nursery that sometimes the incubating bird looks +as though it were sitting across a branch. This species appears to +rear two broods every year. The first comes into existence in March or +late February in the United Provinces and five or six weeks later in +the Punjab; the second brood emerges during the monsoon. + +The white-eyed buzzards--weakest of all the birds of prey--begin to +pair towards the end of the month. At this season they frequently rise +high above the earth and soar, emitting plaintive cries. + +The handsome, but destructive, green parrots are now seeking, or +making, cavities in trees or buildings in which to deposit their white +eggs. + +The breeding season for the alexandrine (_Palaeornis eupatrius_) and +the rose-ringed paroquet (_P. torquatus_) begins at the end of January +or early in February. March is the month in which most eggs are taken. + +In April and May the bird-catchers go round and collect the nestlings +in order to sell them at four annas apiece. Green parrots are the most +popular cage birds in India. Destructive though they be and a scourge +to the husbandman, one cannot but pity the luckless captives doomed to +spend practically the whole of their existence in small iron cages, +which, when exposed to the sun in the hot weather, as they often are, +must be veritable infernos. + +The courtship of a pair of green parrots is as amusing to watch as +that of any 'Arry and 'Arriet. Not possessing hats the amorous birds +are unable to exchange them, but otherwise their actions are quite +coster-like. The female twists herself into all manner of ridiculous +postures and utters low twittering notes. The cock sits at her side +and admires. Every now and then he shows his appreciation of her +antics by tickling her head with his beak or by joining his bill to +hers. + +Both the grey shrike and the wood-shrike begin nesting operations in +February. As, however, most of their nests are likely to be found +later in the year they are dealt with in the calendar for March. + + + + +MARCH + + And all the jungle laughed with nesting songs, + And all the thickets rustled with small life + Of lizard, bee, beetle, and creeping things + Pleased at the spring time. In the mango sprays + The sun-birds flashed; alone at his green forge + Toiled the loud coppersmith;... + ARNOLD, _The Light of Asia_. + + +In March the climate of the plains of the United Provinces varies from +place to place. In the western sub-Himalayan tracts, as in the Punjab, +the weather still leaves little to be desired. The sun indeed is +powerful; towards the end of the month the maximum shade temperature +exceeds 80 degrees, but the nights and early mornings are delightfully +cool. In all the remaining parts of the United Provinces, except the +extreme south, temperate weather prevails until nearly the end of the +month. In the last days the noonday heat becomes so great that many +persons close their bungalows for several hours daily to keep them +cool, the outer temperature rising to ninety in the shade. At night, +however, the temperature drops to 65 degrees. In the extreme south of +the Province the hot weather sets in by the middle of March. The sky +assumes a brazen aspect and, at midday, the country is swept by +westerly winds which seem to come from a titanic blast furnace. + +The spring crops grow more golden day by day. The mustard is the first +to ripen. The earlier-sown fields are harvested in March in the +eastern and southern parts of the country. The spring cereals are cut +by hand sickles, the grain is then husked by the tramping of cattle, +and, lastly, the chaff is separated from the grain on the threshing +floor, the hot burning wind often acting as a natural winnowing fan. + +The air is heavily scented with the inconspicuous inflorescences of +the mangos (_Mangifera indica_). The pipals (_Ficus religiosa_) are +shedding their leaves; the _sheshams_ (_Dalbergia sissoo_) are +assuming their emerald spring foliage. + +The garden, the jungle and the forest are beautified by the gorgeous +reds of the flowers of the silk-cotton tree (_Bombax malabarica_), the +Indian coral tree (_Erythrina indica_) and the flame-of-the-forest +(_Butea frondosa_). The sub-Himalayan forests become yellow-tinted +owing to the fading of the leaves of the _sal_ (_Shorea robusta_), +many of which are shed in March. The _sal_, however, is never entirely +leafless; the young foliage appears as the old drops off; while this +change is taking place the minute pale yellow flowers open out. + +The familiar yellow wasps, which have been hibernating during the cold +weather, emerge from their hiding-places and begin to construct their +umbrella-shaped nests or combs, which look as if they were made of +rice-paper. + +March is a month of great activity for the birds. Those that +constituted the avian chorus of February continue to sing, and to +their voices are now added those of many other minstrels. Chief of +these is the pied singer of Ind--the magpie-robin or _dhayal_--whose +song is as beautiful as that of the English robin at his best. From +the housetops the brown rock-chat begins to pour forth his exceedingly +sweet lay. The Indian robin is in full song. The little golden ioras, +hidden away amid dense foliage, utter their many joyful sounds. The +brain-fever bird grows more vociferous day by day. The crow-pheasants, +which have been comparatively silent during the colder months of the +year, now begin to utter their low sonorous _whoot_, _whoot_, _whoot_, +which is heard chiefly at dawn. + +Everywhere the birds are joyful and noisy; nowhere more so than at the +silk-cotton and the coral trees. These, although botanically very +different, display many features in common. They begin to lose their +leaves soon after the monsoon is over, and are leafless by the end of +the winter. In the early spring, while the tree is still devoid of +foliage, huge scarlet, crimson or yellow flowers emerge from every +branch. Each flower is plentifully supplied with honey; it is a +flowing bowl of which all are invited to partake, and hundreds of +thousands of birds accept the invitation with right good-will. The +scene at each of these trees, when in full flower, baffles +description. + +Scores of birds forgather there--rosy starlings, mynas, babblers, +bulbuls, king-crows, tree-pies, green parrots, sunbirds and crows. +These all drink riotously and revel so loudly that the sound may be +heard at a distance of half a mile or more. Even before the sun has +risen and begun to dispel the pleasant coolness of the night the +drinking begins. It continues throughout the hours of daylight. +Towards midday, when the west wind blows very hot, it flags somewhat, +but even when the temperature is nearer 100 degrees than 90 degrees +some avian brawlers are present. As soon as the first touch of the +afternoon coolness is felt the clamour acquires fresh vigour and does +not cease until the sun has set in a dusty haze, and the spotted +owlets have emerged and begun to cackle and call as is their wont. + +These last are by no means the only birds that hold concert parties +during the hours of darkness. In open country the jungle owlet and the +dusky-horned owl call at intervals, and the Indian nightjar +(_Caprimulgus asiaticus_) imitates the sound of a stone skimming over +ice. In the forest tracts Franklin's and Horsfield's nightjars make +the welkin ring. Scarce has the sun disappeared below the horizon when +the former issues forth and utters its harsh _tweet_. Horsfield's +nightjar emerges a few minutes later, and, for some hours after dusk +and for several before dawn, it utters incessantly its loud monotonous +_chuck_, _chuck_, _chuck_, _chuck_, _chuck_, which has been aptly +compared to the sound made by striking a plank sharply with a hammer. + +March is the month in which the majority of the shrikes or +butcher-birds go a-courting. There is no false modesty about +butcher-birds. They are not ashamed to introduce their unmelodious +calls into the avian chorus. But they are mild offenders in comparison +with the king-crows (_Dicrurus ater_) and the rollers (_Coracias +indica_). + +The little black king-crows are at all seasons noisy and vivacious: +from the end of February until the rains have set in they are +positively uproarious. Two or three of them love to sit on a telegraph +wire, or a bare branch of a tree, and hold a concert. The first +performer draws itself up to its full height and then gives vent to +harsh cries. Before it has had time to deliver itself of all it has to +sing, an impatient neighbour joins in and tries to shout it down. The +concert may last for half an hour or longer; the scene is shifted from +time to time as the participants become too excited to sit still. The +king-crows so engaged appear to be selecting their mates; nevertheless +nest-construction does not begin before the end of April. + +Some human beings may fail to notice the courtship of the king-crow, +but none can be so deaf and blind as to miss the love-making of the +gorgeous roller or blue jay. Has not everyone marvelled at the hoarse +cries and rasping screams which emanate from these birds as they fling +themselves into the air and ascend and descend as though they were +being tossed about by unseen hands? + +Their wonderful aerial performances go on continually in the hours of +daylight throughout the months of March and April; at this season the +birds, beautiful although they be, are a veritable nuisance, and most +people gratefully welcome the comparative quiet that supervenes after +the eggs have been laid. The madness of the March hare is mild +compared with that of the March roller. It is difficult to realise +that the harsh and angry-sounding cries of these birds denote, not +rage, but joy. + +The great exodus of the winter visitors from the plains of India +begins in March. It continues until mid-May, by which time the last of +the migratory birds will have reached its distant breeding ground. + +This exodus is usually preceded by the gathering into flocks of the +rose-coloured starlings and the corn-buntings. Large noisy +congregations of these birds are a striking feature of February in +Bombay, of March in the United Provinces, and of April in the Punjab. + +Rose-coloured starlings spend most of their lives in the plains of +India, going to Asia Minor for a few months each summer for nesting +purposes. In the autumn they spread themselves over the greater part +of Hindustan, most abundantly in the Deccan. + +In the third or fourth week of February the rosy starlings of Bombay +begin to form flocks. These make merry among the flowers of the coral +tree, which appear first in South India, and last in the Punjab. The +noisy flocks journey northwards in a leisurely manner, timing their +arrival at each place simultaneously with the flowering of the coral +trees. They feed on the nectar provided by these flowers and those of +the silk-cotton tree. They also take toll of the ripening corn and of +the mulberries which are now in season. Thus the rosy starlings reach +Allahabad about the second week in March, and Lahore some fifteen days +later. + +The head, neck, breast, wings and tail of the rosy starling are glossy +black, and the remainder of the plumage is pale salmon in the hen and +the young cock, and faint rose-colour in the adult cock. + +Rosy starlings feed chiefly in the morning and the late afternoon. +During the hottest part of the day they perch in trees and hold a +concert, if such a term may be applied to a torrent of sibilant +twitter. + +Buntings, like rosy starlings, are social birds, and are very +destructive to grain crops. + +As these last are harvested the feeding area of the buntings becomes +restricted, so that eventually every patch of standing crop is alive +with buntings. The spring cereals ripen in the south earlier than in +northern India, so that the cheerful buntings are able to perform +their migratory journey by easy stages and find abundant food all +along the route. + +There are two species of corn-bunting--the red-headed (_Emberiza +luteola_) and the black-headed (_E. melanocephala_). In both the lower +plumage is bright yellow. + +Among the earliest of the birds to forsake the plains of Hindustan are +the grey-lag goose and the pintail duck. These leave Bengal in +February, but tarry longer in the cooler parts of the country. Of the +other migratory species many individuals depart in March, but the +greater number remain on into April, when they are caught up in the +great migratory wave that surges over the country. The destination of +the majority of these migrants is Tibet or Siberia, but a few are +satisfied with the cool slopes of the Himalayas as a summer resort in +which to busy themselves with the sweet cares of nesting. Examples of +these more local migrants are the grey-headed and the verditer +flycatchers, the Indian bush-chat and, to some extent, the paradise +flycatcher and the Indian oriole. The case of the oriole is +interesting. All the Indian orioles (_Oriolus kundoo_) disappear from +the Punjab and the United Provinces in winter. In the former province +no other oriole replaces _O. kundoo_, but in the United Provinces the +black-headed oriole (_O. melanocephalus_) comes to take the place of +the other from October to March. When this last returns to the United +Provinces in March the greater number of _melanocephalus_ individuals +go east, a few only remaining in the sub-Himalayan tracts of the +province. + +The Indian oriole is not the only species which finds the climate of +the United Provinces too severe for it in winter; the koel and the +paradise flycatcher likewise desert us in the coldest months. From the +less temperate Punjab several species migrate in October which manage +to maintain themselves in the United Provinces throughout the year: +these are the purple sunbird, the little green and the blue-tailed +bee-eaters, and the yellow-throated sparrow. The return of these and +the other migrant species to the Punjab in March is as marked a +phenomenon as is the arrival of the swallow and the cuckoo in England +in spring. + +The behaviour of the king-crows shows the marked effect a +comparatively small difference of temperature may exert on the habits +of some birds. In the United Provinces the king-crows appear to be as +numerous in winter as in summer: in the Punjab they are very plentiful +in summer, but rare in the cold weather; while not a single king-crow +winters in the N.-W. Frontier Province. + +Of the birds of which the nests were described in January and February +the Pallas's fishing eagles have sent their nestlings into the world +to fend for themselves. + +In the case of the following birds the breeding season is fast drawing +to its close:--the dusky horned-owl, the white-backed vulture, +Bonelli's eagle, the tawny eagle, the brown fish-owl, the rock +horned-owl, the raven, the amadavat and the white-throated munia. + +The nesting season is at its height for all the other birds of which +the nests have been described, namely, most species of dove, the +jungle crow, the red-headed merlin, the purple sunbird, the nuthatch, +the fantail flycatcher, the finch-lark, the pied woodpecker, the +coppersmith, the alexandrine and the rose-ringed paroquet, the +white-eyed buzzard, the collared scops and the mottled wood-owl, the +kite, the black vulture and the pied kingfisher. + +The sand-martins breed from October to May, consequently their nests, +containing eggs or young, are frequently taken in March. Mention was +made in January and February of the Indian cliff-swallow (_Hirundo +fluvicola_). This species is not found in the eastern districts of the +United Provinces, but it is the common swallow of the western +districts. The head is dull chestnut. The back and shoulders are +glistening steel-blue. The remainder of the upper plumage is brown. +The lower parts are white with brown streaks, which are most apparent +on the throat and upper breast. These swallows normally nest at two +seasons of the year--from February till April and in July or August. + +They breed in colonies. The mud nests are spherical or oval with an +entrance tube from two to six inches long. The nests are invariably +attached to a cliff or building, and, although isolated ones are built +sometimes, they usually occur in clusters, as many as two hundred have +been counted in one cluster. In such a case a section cut parallel to +the surface to which the nests are attached looks like that of a huge +honeycomb composed of cells four inches in diameter--cells of a kind +that one could expect to be built by bees that had partaken of Mr. H. +G. Wells' "food of the gods." + +The beautiful white-breasted kingfisher, (_Halcyon smyrnensis_) is now +busy at its nest. + +This species spends most of its life in shady gardens; it feeds on +insects in preference to fish. It does not invariably select a river +bank in which to nest, it is quite content with a sand quarry, a bank, +or the shaft of a _kachcha_ well. The nest consists of a passage, some +two feet in length and three inches in diameter, leading to a larger +chamber in which from four to seven eggs are laid. + +A pair of white-breasted kingfishers at work during the early stages +of nest construction affords an interesting spectacle. Not being able +to obtain a foothold on the almost perpendicular surface of the bank, +the birds literally charge this in turn with fixed beak. By a +succession of such attacks at one spot a hole of an appreciable size +is soon formed in the soft sand. Then the birds are able to obtain a +foothold and to excavate with the bill, while clinging to the edge of +the hole. Every now and then they indulge in a short respite from +their labours. While thus resting one of the pair will sometimes +spread its wings for an instant and display the white patch; then it +will close them and make a neat bow, as if to say "Is not that nice?" +Its companion may remain motionless and unresponsive, or may return +the compliment. + +In the first days of March the bulbuls begin to breed. In 1912 the +writer saw a pair of bulbuls (_Otocompsa emeria_) building a nest on +the 3rd March. By the 10th the structure was complete and held the +full clutch of three eggs. On that date a second nest was found +containing three eggs. + +In 1913 the writer first saw a bulbul's nest on the 5th March. This +belonged to _Molpastes bengalensis_ and contained two eggs. On the +following day the full clutch of three was in the nest. + +The nesting season for these birds terminates in the rains. + +The common bulbuls of the plains belong to two genera--_Molpastes_ and +_Otocompsa_. The former is split up into a number of local species +which display only small differences in appearance and interbreed +freely at the places where they meet. They are known as the Madras, +the Bengal, the Punjab, etc., red-vented bulbul. They are somewhat +larger than sparrows. The head, which bears a short crest, and the +face are black; the rest of the body, except a patch of bright red +under the tail, is brown, each feather having a pale margin. + +In _Otocompsa_ the crest is long and rises to a sharp point which +curves forward a little over the beak. The breast is white, set off by +a black gorget. There is the usual red patch under the tail and a +patch of the same hue on each side of the face, whence the English +name for the bird--the red-whiskered bulbul. + +_Molpastes_ and _Otocompsa_ have similar habits. They are feckless +little birds that build cup-shaped nests in all manner of queer and +exposed situations. Those that live near the habitations of Europeans +nestle in low bushes in the garden, or in pot plants in the verandah. +Small crotons are often selected, preferably those that do not bear a +score of leaves. The sitting bulbul does not appear to mind the daily +shower-bath it receives when the _mali_ waters the plant. Sometimes as +many as three or four pairs of bulbuls attempt to rear up families in +one verandah. The word "attempt" is used advisedly, because, owing to +the exposed situations in which nests are built, large numbers of eggs +and young bulbuls are destroyed by boys, cats, snakes and other +predaceous creatures. The average bulbul loses six broods for every +one it succeeds in rearing. The eggs are pink with reddish markings. + +March is the month in which to look for the nest of the Indian +wren-warbler (_Prinia inornata_). _Inornata_ is a very appropriate +specific name for this tiny earth-brown bird, which is devoid of all +kind of ornamentation. Its voice is as homely as its appearance--a +harsh but plaintive _twee_, _twee_, _twee_. It weaves a nest which +looks like a ragged loofah with a hole in the side. The nest is +usually placed low down in a bush or in long grass. Sometimes it is +attached to two or more stalks of corn. In such cases the corn is +often cut before the young birds have had time to leave the nest, and +then the brood perishes. This species brings up a second family in the +rainy season. + +The barn-owls (_Strix flammea_) are now breeding. They lay their eggs +in cavities in trees, buildings or walls. In northern India the +nesting season lasts from February to June. Eggs are most likely to be +found in the United Provinces during the present month. + +The various species of babblers or seven sisters begin to nest in +March. Unlike bulbuls these birds are careful to conceal the nest. +This is a slenderly-built, somewhat untidy cup, placed in a bush or +tree. The eggs are a beautiful rich blue, without any markings. + +The hawk-cuckoo, or brain-fever bird (_Hierococcyx varius_), to which +allusion has already been made, deposits its eggs in the nests of +various species of babblers. The eggs of this cuckoo are blue, but are +distinguishable from those of the babbler by their larger size. It may +be noted, in passing, that this cuckoo does not extend far into the +Punjab. + +As stated above, most of the shrikes go a-courting in March. +Nest-building follows hard on courtship. In this month and in April +most of the shrikes lay their eggs, but nests containing eggs or young +are to be seen in May, June, July and August. Shrikes are birds of +prey in miniature. Although not much larger than sparrows they are as +fierce as falcons. + +Their habit is to seize the quarry on the ground, after having pounced +upon it from a bush or tree. Grasshoppers constitute their usual food, +but they are not afraid to tackle mice or small birds. + +The largest shrike is the grey species (_Lanius lahtora_). This is +clothed mainly in grey; however, it has a broad black band running +through the eye--the escutcheon of the butcher-bird clan. It begins +nesting before the other species, and its eggs are often taken in +February. + +The other common species are the bay-backed (_L. vittatus_) and the +rufous-backed shrike (_L. erythronotus_). These are smaller birds and +have the back red. The former is distinguishable from the latter by +having in the wings and tail much white, which is very conspicuous +during flight. + +The nest of each species is a massive cup, composed of twigs, thorns, +grasses, feathers, and, usually, some pieces of rag; these last often +hang down in a most untidy manner. The nest is, as a rule, placed in a +babool or other thorny tree, close up against the trunk. + +Three allies of the shrikes are likewise busy with their nests at this +season. These are the wood-shrike, the minivet and the cuckoo-shrike. +The wood-shrike (_Tephrodornis pondicerianus_) is an ashy-brown bird +of the size of a sparrow with a broad white eyebrow. It frequently +emits a characteristic soft, melancholy, whistling note, which Eha +describes as "Be thee cheery." How impracticable are all efforts to +"chain by syllables airy sounds"! The cup-like nest of this species is +always carefully concealed in a tree. + +Minivets are aerial exquisites. In descriptions of them superlative +follows upon superlative. The cocks of most species are arrayed in +scarlet and black; the hens are not a whit less brilliantly attired in +yellow and sable. One species lives entirely in the plains, others +visit them in the cold weather; the majority are permanent residents +of the hills. The solitary denizen of the plains--the little minivet +(_Pericrocotus peregrinus_)--is the least resplendent of them all. Its +prevailing hue is slaty grey, but the cock has a red breast and some +red on the back. The nest is a cup so small as either to be invisible +from below or to present the appearance of a knot or thickening in the +branch on which it is placed. Sometimes two broods are reared in the +course of the year--one in March, April or May and the other during +the rainy season. + +The cuckoo-shrike (_Grauculus macii_) is not nearly related to the +cuckoo, nor has it the parasitic habits of the latter. Its grey +plumage is barred like that of the common cuckoo, hence the adjective. +The cuckoo-shrike is nearly as big as a dove. It utters constantly a +curious harsh call. It keeps much to the higher branches of trees in +which it conceals, with great care, its saucer-like nest. + +As we have seen, some coppersmiths and pied woodpeckers began nesting +operations in February, but the great majority do not lay eggs until +March. + +The green barbet (_Thereoceryx zeylonicus_) and the golden-backed +woodpecker (_Brachypternus aurantius_) are now busy excavating their +nests, which are so similar to those of their respective cousins--the +coppersmith and the pied woodpecker--as to require no description. It +is not necessary to state that the harsh laugh, followed by the +_kutur_, _kutur_, _kuturuk_, of the green barbet and the eternal +_tonk_, _tonk_, _tonk_ of the coppersmith are now more vehement than +ever, and will continue with unabated vigour until the rains have +fairly set in. + +By the end of the month many of the noisy rollers have found holes in +decayed trees in which the hens can lay their eggs. The vociferous +nightjars likewise have laid upon the bare ground their salmon-pink +eggs with strawberry-coloured markings. + +The noisy spotted owlets (_Athene brama_) and the rose-ringed +paroquets (_Palaeornis torquatus_) are already the happy possessors of +clutches of white eggs hidden away in cavities of decayed trees or +buildings. + +The swifts (_Cypselus indicus_) also are busy with their nests. These +are saucer-shaped structures, composed of feathers, straw and other +materials made to adhere together, and to the beam or stone to which +the nest is attached, by the glutinous saliva of the swifts. Deserted +buildings, outhouses and verandahs of bungalows are the usual nesting +sites of these birds. At this season swifts are very noisy. Throughout +the day and at frequent intervals during the night they emit loud +shivering screams. At sunset they hold high carnival, playing, at +breakneck speed and to the accompaniment of much screaming, a game of +"follow the man from Cook's." + +The swifts are not the only birds engaged in rearing up young in our +verandahs. Sparrows and doves are so employed, as are the wire-tailed +swallows (_Hirundo smithii_). These last are steel-blue birds with red +heads and white under plumage. They derive the name "wire-tailed" from +the fact that the thin shafts of the outer pair of tail feathers are +prolonged five inches beyond the others and look like wires. +Wire-tailed swallows occasionally build in verandahs, but they prefer +to attach their saucer-shaped mud nests to the arches of bridges and +culverts. + +With a nest in such a situation the parent birds are not obliged to go +far for the mud with which the nest is made, or for the insects, +caught over the surface of water, on which the offspring are fed. + +The nesting season of wire-tailed swallows is a long one. According to +Hume these beautiful birds breed chiefly in February and March and +again in July, August and September. However, he states that he has +seen eggs as early as January and as late as November. In the +Himalayas he has obtained the eggs in April, May and June. + +The present writer's experience does not agree with that of Hume. In +Lahore, Saharanpur and Pilibhit, May and June are the months in which +most nests of this species are likely to be seen. The writer has found +nests with eggs or young on the following dates in the above-mentioned +places: May 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th; June 6th and 28th. + +The nest of June 28th was attached to a rafter of the front verandah +of a bungalow at Lahore. The owner of the house stated that the +swallows in question had already reared one brood that year, and that +the birds in question had nested in his verandah for some years. There +is no doubt that some wire-tailed swallows bring up two broods. Such +would seem to breed, as Hume says, in February and March and again in +July and August. But, as many nests containing eggs are found in May, +some individuals appear to have one brood only, which hatches out in +May or June. + +Those useful but ugly fowls, the white scavenger vultures (_Neophron +ginginianus_), depart from the ways of their brethren in that they +nidificate in March and April instead of in January and February. The +nest is an evil-smelling pile of sticks, rags and rubbish. It is +placed on some building or in a tree. + +The handsome brahminy kites (_Haliastur indicus_), attired in chestnut +and white, are now busily occupied, either in seeking for sites or in +actually building their nests, which resemble those of the common +kite. + +In the open plains the pipits (_Anthus rufulus_) and the crested larks +(_Galerita cristata_) are keeping the nesting finch-larks company. + +All three species build the same kind of nest--a cup of grass or +fibres (often a deep cup in the case of the crested lark) placed on +the ground in a hole or a depression, or protected by a tussock of +grass or a small bush. + +On the churs and sand islets in the large Indian rivers the terns are +busy with their eggs, which are deposited on the bare sand. They breed +in colonies. On the same islet are to be seen the eggs of the Indian +river tern, the black-bellied tern, the swallow-plover, the +spur-winged plover and the Indian skimmer. + +The eggs of all the above species are of similar appearance, the +ground colour being greenish, or buff, or the hue of stone or cream, +with reddish or brownish blotches. Three is the full complement of +eggs. The bare white glittering sands on which these eggs are +deposited are often at noon so hot as to be painful to touch; +accordingly during the daytime there is no need for the birds to sit +on the eggs in order to keep them warm. Indeed, it has always been a +mystery to the writer why terns' eggs laid in March in northern India +do not get cooked. Mr. A. J. Currie recently came across some eggs of +the black-bellied tern that had had water sprinkled over them. He is +of opinion that the incubating birds treat the eggs thus in order to +prevent their getting sun-baked. This theory should be borne in mind +by those who visit sandbanks in March. Whether it be true or not, +there is certainly no need for the adult birds to keep the eggs warm +in the daytime, and they spend much of their time in wheeling +gracefully overhead or in sleeping on the sand. By nightfall all the +eggs are covered by parent birds, which are said to sit so closely +that it is possible to catch them by means of a butterfly net. The +terns, although they do not sit much on their eggs during the day, +ever keep a close watch on them, so that, when a human being lands on +a nest-laden sandbank, the parent birds fly round his head, uttering +loud screams. + +The swallow-plovers go farther. They become so excited that they +flutter about on the sand, with dragging wings and limping legs, as if +badly wounded. Sometimes they perform somersaults in their intense +excitement. The nearer the intruder approaches their eggs the more +vigorous do their antics become. + +Every lover of the winged folk should make a point of visiting, late +in March or early in April, an islet on which these birds nest. He +will find much to interest him there. In April many of the young birds +will be hatched out. A baby tern is an amusing object. It is covered +with soft sand-coloured down. When a human being approaches it +crouches on the sand, half burying its head in its shoulders, and +remains thus perfectly motionless. If picked up it usually remains +limply in the hand, so that, but for its warmth, it might be deemed +lifeless. After it has been set down again on the sand, it will remain +motionless until the intruder's back is turned, when it will run to +the water as fast as its little legs can carry it. It swims as easily +as a duck. Needless to state, the parent birds make a great noise +while their young are being handled. + +Birds decline to be fettered by the calendar. Many of the species +which do not ordinarily nest until April or May occasionally begin +operations in March, hence nests of the following species, which are +dealt with next month, may occur in the present one:--the tree-pie, +tailor-bird, common myna, bank-myna, brown rock-chat, brown-backed +robin, pied wagtail, red-winged bush-lark, shikra, red-wattled +lapwing, yellow-throated sparrow, bee-eater, blue rock-pigeon, green +pigeon and grey partridge. + +March the 15th marks the beginning of the close season for game birds +in all the reserved forests of Northern India. This is none too soon, +as some individuals begin breeding at the end of the month. + + + + +APRIL + + The breeze moves slow with thick perfume + From every mango grove; + From coral tree to parrot bloom + The black bees questing rove, + The koil wakes the early dawn. + WATERFIELD, _Indian Ballads_. + + +The fifteenth of April marks the beginning of the "official" hot +weather in the United Provinces; but the elements decline to conform +to the rules of man. In the eastern and southern districts hot-weather +conditions are established long before mid-April, while in the +sub-Himalayan belt the temperature remains sufficiently low throughout +the month to permit human beings to derive some physical enjoyment +from existence. In that favoured tract the nights are usually clear +and cool, so that it is very pleasant to sleep outside beneath the +starry canopy of the heavens. + +It requires an optimist to say good things of April days, even in the +sub-Himalayan tract. Fierce scorching west winds sweep over the earth, +covering everything with dust. Sometimes the flying sand is so thick +as to obscure the landscape, and often, after the wind has dropped, +the particles remain suspended for days as a dust haze. The dust is a +scourge. It is all-pervading. It enters eyes, ears, nose and mouth. To +escape it is impossible. Closed doors and windows fail to keep it from +entering the bungalow. The only creatures which appear to be +indifferent to it are the fowls of the air. As to the heat, the +non-migratory species positively revel in it. The crows and a few +other birds certainly do gasp and pant when the sun is at its height, +but even they, save for a short siesta at midday, are as active in +April and May as schoolboys set free from a class-room. April is the +month in which the spring crops are harvested. As soon as the _Holi_ +festival is over the cultivators issue forth in thousands, armed with +sickles, and begin to reap. They are almost as active as the birds, +but their activity is forced and not spontaneous; like most +Anglo-Indian officials they literally earn their bread by the sweat of +the brow. Thanks to their unceasing labours the countryside becomes +transformed during the month; that which was a sea of smiling +golden-brown wheat and barley becomes a waste of short stubble. + +Nature gives some compensation for the heat and the dust in the shape +of mulberries, loquats, lichis and cool luscious papitas and melons +which ripen in March or April. The mango blossom becomes transfigured +into fruit, which, by the end of the month, is as large as an egg, and +will be ready for gathering in the latter half of May. + +Many trees are in flower. The coral, the silk-cotton and the _dhak_ +are resplendent with red foliage. The _jhaman_, the _siris_ and the +_mohwa_ are likewise in bloom and, ere the close of the month, the +_amaltas_ or Indian laburnum will put forth its bright yellow flowers +in great profusion. Throughout April the air is heavy with the scent +of blossoms. The _shesham_, the _sal_, the _pipal_ and the _nim_ are +vivid with fresh foliage. But notwithstanding all this galaxy of +colour, notwithstanding the brightness of the sun and the blueness of +the sky, the countryside lacks the sweetness that Englishmen associate +with springtime, because the majority of the trees, being evergreen, +do not renew their clothing completely at this season, and the foliage +is everywhere more or less obscured by the all-pervading dust. + +The great avian emigration, which began in March, now reaches its +height. During the warm April nights millions of birds leave the +plains of India. The few geese remaining at the close of March, depart +in the first days of April. + +The brahminy ducks, which during the winter months were scattered in +twos and threes over the lakes and rivers of Northern India, collect +into flocks that migrate, one by one, to cooler climes, so that, by +the end of the first week in May, the _a-onk_ of these birds is no +longer heard. The mallard, gadwall, widgeon, pintail, the various +species of pochard and the common teal are rapidly disappearing. With +April duck-shooting ends. Of the migratory species only a few +shovellers and garganey teal tarry till May. + +The snipe and the quail are likewise flighting towards their breeding +grounds. Thus on the 1st of May the avian population of India is less +by many millions than it was at the beginning of April. But the birds +that remain behind more than compensate us, by their great activity, +for the loss of those that have departed. There is more to interest +the ornithologist in April than there was in January. + +The bird chorus is now at its best. The magpie-robin is in full song. +At earliest dawn he takes up a position on the topmost bough of a tree +and pours forth his melody in a continuous stream. His varied notes +are bright and joyous. Its voice is of wide compass and very powerful; +were it a little softer in tone it would rival that of the +nightingale. The magpie-robin is comparatively silent at noonday, but +from sunset until dusk he sings continuously. + +Throughout April the little cock sunbirds deliver themselves of their +vigorous canary-like song. The bulbuls tinkle as blithely as ever. +Ioras, pied wagtails, pied chats, and wood-shrikes continue to +contribute their not unworthy items to the minstrelsy of the Indian +countryside. The robins, having by now found their true notes, are +singing sweetly and softly. The white-eyes are no longer content to +utter their usual cheeping call, the cocks give vent to an exquisite +warble and thereby proclaim the advent of the nesting season. The +_towee_, _towee_, _towee_, of the tailor-bird, more penetrating than +melodious, grows daily more vigorous, reminding us that we may now +hopefully search for his nest. Among the less pleasing sounds that +fill the welkin are the _tonk_, _tonk_, _tonk_ of the coppersmith, the +_kutur_, _kutur_, _kuturuk_ of the green barbet, and the calls of the +various cuckoos that summer in the plains of Northern India. The calls +of these cuckoos, although frequently heard in April, are uttered more +continuously in May, accordingly they are described in the calendar +for that month. + +The owls, of course, lift up their voices, particularly on moonlight +nights. The nightjars are as vociferous as they were in March; their +breeding season is now at its height. + +In the hills the woods resound with the cheerful double note of the +European cuckoo (_Cuculus canorus_). This bird is occasionally heard +in the plains of the Punjab in April, and again from July to +September, when it no longer calls in the Himalayas. This fact, +coupled with the records of the presence of the European cuckoo in +Central India in June and July, lends support to the theory that the +birds which enliven the Himalayas in spring go south in July and +winter in the Central Provinces. Cuckoos, at seasons when they are +silent, are apt to be overlooked, or mistaken for shikras. + +Ornithologists stationed in Central India will render a service to +science if they keep a sharp look-out for European cuckoos and record +the results of their observations. In this way alone can the above +theory be proved or disproved. + +By the middle of the month most of the rollers have settled down to +domestic duties, and in consequence are less noisy than they were when +courting. Their irritating grating cries are now largely replaced by +harsh _tshocks_ of delight, each _tshock_ being accompanied by a +decisive movement of the tail. The cause of these interjections +expressing delight is a clutch of white eggs or a brood of young +birds, hidden in a hole in a tree or a building. + +April is a month in which the pulse of bird life beats very vigorously +in India. He who, braving the heat, watches closely the doings of the +feathered folk will be rewarded by the discovery of at least thirty +different kinds of nests. Hence, it is evident that the calendar for +this month, unless it is to attain very large dimensions, must be a +mere catalogue of nesting species. The compiler of the calendar has to +face an _embarrass de richesses_. + +Of the common species that build in March and the previous months the +following are likely to be found with eggs or young--the jungle crows, +sunbirds, doves, pied and golden-backed woodpeckers, coppersmiths, +hoopoes, common and brahminy kites, bulbuls, shrikes, little minivets, +fantail flycatchers, wire-tailed swallows, paroquets, spotted owlets, +swifts, scavenger vultures, red-headed merlins, skylarks, crested +larks, pipits, babblers, sand-martins, cliff-swallows, nuthatches, +white-eyed buzzards, kites, black vultures, pied and white-breasted +kingfishers, finch-larks, Indian wren-warblers, wood-shrikes, +cuckoo-shrikes, green barbets, tawny eagles, and the terns and the +other birds that nest on islets in rivers. Here and there may be seen +a white-backed vulture's nest containing a young bird nearly ready to +fly. + +Towards the middle of the month the long-tailed tree-pies +(_Dendrocitta rufa_), which are nothing else than coloured crows, +begin nest-building. They are to be numbered among the commonest birds +in India, nevertheless their large open nests are rarely seen. The +explanation of this phenomenon appears to be the fact that the nest is +well concealed high up in a tree. Moreover, the pie, possessing a +powerful beak which commands respect, is not obliged constantly to +defend its home after the manner of small or excitable birds, and thus +attract attention to it. + +Fortunately for the tree-pie the kites and crows do not worry it. The +shikra (_Astur badius_) and the white-eyed buzzard (_Butastur teesa_), +which are now engaged in nest-building, are not so fortunate. The +crows regard them as fair game, hence their nest-building season is a +time of _sturm und drang_. They, in common with all diurnal birds of +prey, build untidy nests in trees--mere conglomerations of sticks, +devoid of any kind of architectural merit. The blue rock-pigeons +(_Columba intermedia_) are busily prospecting for nesting sites. In +some parts of India, especially in the Muttra and Fatehgarh districts, +these birds nest chiefly in holes in wells. More often than not a +stone thrown into a well in such a locality causes at least one pigeon +to fly out of the well. In other places in India these birds build by +preference on a ledge or a cornice inside some large building. They +often breed in colonies. At Dig in Rajputana, where they are sacred in +the eyes of Hindus, thousands of them nest in the fort, and, as Hume +remarks, a gun fired in the moat towards evening raises a dense cloud +of pigeons, "obscuring utterly the waning day and deafening one with +the mighty rushing sound of countless strong and rapidly-plied +pinions." According to Hume the breeding season for these birds in +Upper India lasts from Christmas to May day. The experience of the +writer is that April, May and June are the months in which to look for +their nests. However, in justice to Hume, it must be said that +recently Mr. A. J. Currie found a nest, containing eggs, in February. + +In April the green pigeons pair and build slender cradles, high up in +mango trees, in which two white eggs are laid. + +The songster of the house-top--the brown rock-chat (_Cercomela +fusca_)--makes sweet music throughout the month for the benefit of his +spouse, who is incubating four pretty pale-blue eggs in a nest built +on a ledge in an outhouse or on the sill of a clerestory window. This +bird, which is thought by some to be a near relative of the sparrow of +the Scriptures, is clothed in plain brown and seems to suffer from St. +Vitus' dance in the tail. Doubtless it is often mistaken for a hen +robin. For this mistake there is no excuse, because the rock-chat +lacks the brick-red patch under the tail. + +April is the month in which to look for two exquisite little +nests--those of the white-eye (_Zosterops palpebrosa_) and the iora +(_Aegithina tiphia_). White-eyes are minute greenish-yellow birds with +a conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eye. They go about in +flocks. Each individual utters unceasingly a plaintive cheeping note +by means of which it keeps its fellows apprised of its whereabouts. At +the breeding season, that is to say in April and May, the cock sings +an exceedingly sweet, but very soft, lay of six or seven notes. The +nest is a cup, about 2-1/2 inches in diameter and 3/4 of an inch in +depth. It is usually suspended, like a hammock, from the fork of a +branch; sometimes it is attached to the end of a single bough; it then +looks like a ladle, the bough being the handle. It is composed of +cobweb, roots, hair and other soft materials. Three or four tiny +pale-blue eggs are laid. + +The iora is a feathered exquisite, about the size of a tomtit. The +cock is arrayed in green, black and gold; his mate is gowned in green +and yellow. + +The iora has a great variety of calls, of these a soft and rather +plaintive long-drawn-out whistle is uttered most frequently in April +and May. + +In shape and size the nest resembles an after-dinner coffee cup. It is +beautifully woven, and, like those of the white-eye and fantail +flycatcher, covered with cobweb; this gives it a very neat appearance. +In it are laid two or three eggs of salmon hue with reddish-brown and +purple-grey blotches. + +Throughout April the sprightly tailor-birds are busy with their nests. +The tailor-bird (_Orthotomus sutorius_) is a wren with a long tail. In +the breeding season the two median caudal feathers of the cock project +as bristles beyond the others. The nest is a wonderful structure. +Having selected a suitable place, which may be a bush in a garden or a +pot plant in a verandah, the hen tailor-bird proceeds to make, with +her sharp bill, a series of punctures along the margins of one or more +leaves. The punctured edges are then drawn together, by means of +strands of cobweb, to form a purse or pocket. When this has been done +the frail bands of cobweb, which hold the edges of the leaves _in +situ_, are strengthened by threads of cotton. Lastly, the purse is +cosily lined with silk-cotton down or other soft material. Into the +cradle, thus formed, three or four white eggs, speckled with red, find +their way. + +In April cavities in trees and buildings suitable for nesting purposes +are at a premium owing to the requirements of magpie-robins, brahminy +mynas, common mynas, yellow-throated sparrows and rollers. Not +uncommonly three or four pairs of birds nest in one weather-beaten old +tree. + +Bank-mynas, white-breasted kingfishers, bee-eaters and a few belated +sand-martins are nesting in sandbanks in cavities which they +themselves have excavated. The nests of the kingfisher and the +sand-martin have already been described, that of the bank-myna belongs +to May rather than to April. + +Bee-eaters working at the nest present a pleasing spectacle. The sexes +excavate turn about. The site chosen may be a bunker on the golf +links, the butts on the rifle range, a low mud boundary between two +fields, or any kind of bank. The sharp claws of the bee-eaters enable +the birds to obtain a foothold on an almost vertical surface; this +foothold is strengthened by the tail which, being stiff, acts as a +third leg. In a surprisingly short time a cavity large enough to +conceal the bird completely is formed. The bee-eater utilises the bill +as pickaxe and the feet as ejectors. The little clouds of sand that +issue at short intervals from each cavity afford evidence of the +efficacy of these implements and the industry of those that use them. + +Two of the most charming birds in India are now occupied with family +cares. These are both black-and-white birds--the magpie-robin +(_Copsychus saularis_) and the pied wagtail (_Motacilla +maderaspatensis_). The former has already been noticed as the best +songster in the plains of India. The pattern of its plumage resembles +that of the common magpie; this explains its English name. The hen is +grey where the cock is black, otherwise there is no external +difference between the sexes. For some weeks the cock has been singing +lustily, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. In April +he begins his courtship. His display is a simple affair--mere +tail-play; the tail is expanded into a fan, so as to show the white +outer feathers, then it is either raised and lowered alternately, or +merely held depressed. Normally the tail is carried almost vertically. +The nest is invariably placed in a cavity of a tree or a building. + +The pied wagtail always nests near water. If not on the ground, the +nursery rests on some structure built by man. + +A visit to a bridge of boats in April is sure to reveal a nest of this +charming bird. Hume records a case of a pair of pied wagtails nesting +in a ferry-boat. This, it is true, was seldom used, but did +occasionally cross the Jumna. On such occasions the hen would continue +to sit, while the cock stood on the gunwale, pouring forth his sweet +song, and made, from time to time, little sallies over the water after +a flying gnat. Mr. A. J. Currie found at Lahore a nest of these +wagtails in a ferry-boat in daily use; so that the birds must have +selected the site and built the nest while the boat was passing to and +fro across the river! + +Yet another black-and-white bird nests in April. This is the pied +bush-chat (_Pratincola caprata_). The cock is black all over, save for +a white patch on the rump and a bar of white in the wing. He delights +to sit on a telegraph wire or a stem of elephant grass and there make +cheerful melody. The hen is a dull reddish-grey bird. The nest is +usually placed in a hole in the ground or a bank or a wall, sometimes +it is wedged into a tussock of grass. + +Allied to the magpie-robin and the pied bush-chat is the familiar +Indian robin (_Thamnobia cambayensis_), which, like its relatives, is +now engaged in nesting operations. This species constructs its +cup-shaped nest in all manner of strange places. Spaces in stacks of +bricks, holes in the ground or in buildings, and window-sills are held +in high esteem as nesting sites. The eggs are not easy to describe +because they display great variation. The commonest type has a pale +green shell, speckled with reddish-brown spots, which are most densely +distributed at the thick end of the egg. + +Many of the grey partridges (_Francolinus pondicerianus_) are now +nesting. This species is somewhat erratic in respect of its breeding +season. Eggs have been taken in February, March, April, May, June, +September, October, and November. The April eggs, however, outnumber +those of all the other months put together. The nest is a shallow +depression in the ground, lined with grass, usually under a bush. From +six to nine cream-coloured eggs are laid. + +Another bird which is now incubating eggs on the ground is the +did-he-do-it or red-wattled lapwing (_Sarcogrammus indicus_). The +curious call, from which this plover derives its popular name, is +familiar to every resident in India. This species nests between March +and August. The 122 eggs in the possession of Hume were taken, 12 in +March, 46 in April, 24 in May, 26 in June, 4 in July, and 8 in August. +Generally in a slight depression on the ground, occasionally on the +ballast of a rail-road, four pegtop-shaped eggs are laid; these are, +invariably, placed in the form of a cross, so that they touch each +other at their thin ends. They are coloured like those of the common +plover. The yellow-wattled lapwing (_Sarciophorus malabaricus_), which +resembles its cousin in manners and appearance, nests in April, May +and June. + +The nesting season of the various species of sand-grouse that breed in +India is now beginning. These birds, like lapwings, lay their eggs on +the ground. + +In April one may come across an occasional nest of the pied starling, +the king-crow, the paradise flycatcher, the grey hornbill, and the +oriole, but these are exceptions. The birds in question do not as a +rule begin to nest until May, and their doings accordingly are +chronicled in the calendar for that month. + + + + +MAY + + The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year. + _The Minstrelsy of the Woods_. + + Low from the brink the waters shrink; + The deer all snuff for rain; + The panting cattle search for drink + Cracked glebe and dusty plain; + The whirlwind, like a furnace blast, + Sweeps clouds of darkening sand. + WATERFIELD, _Indian Ballads_. + + Now the burning summer sun + Hath unchalleng'd empire won + And the scorching winds blow free, + Blighting every herb and tree. + R. T. H. GRIFFITH. + + +May in the plains of India! What unpleasant memories it recalls! +Stifling nights in which sleep comes with halting steps and departs +leaving us unrefreshed. Long, dreary days beneath the punkah in a +closed bungalow which has ceased to be enlivened by the voices of the +children and the patter of their little feet. Hot drives to office, +under a brazen sky from which the sun shines with pitiless power, in +the teeth of winds that scorch the face and fill the eyes with dust. + +It is in this month of May that the European condemned to existence in +the plains echoes the cry of the psalmist: "Oh that I had wings like a +dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest"--in the Himalayas. +There would I lie beneath the deodars and, soothed by the rustle of +their wind-caressed branches, drink in the pure cool air and listen to +the cheerful double note of the cuckoo. The country-side in the plains +presents a sorry spectacle. The gardens that had some beauty in the +cold weather now display the abomination of desolation--a waste of +shrivelled flowers, killed by the relentless sun. The spring crops +have all been cut and the whole earth is dusty brown save for a few +patches of young sugar-cane and the dust-covered verdure of the mango +topes. It is true that the gold-mohur trees and the Indian laburnums +are in full flower and the air is heavily laden with the strong scent +of the _nim_ blossoms, but the heat is so intense that the European is +able to enjoy these gifts of nature only at dawn. Nor has the ripening +jack-fruit any attractions for him. He is repelled by its overpowering +scent and sickly flavour. Fortunately the tastes of all men are not +alike. In the eyes of the Indian this fruit is a dish fit to be set +before the gods. The _pipal_ trees, which are covered with tender +young leaves, now offer to the birds a feast in the form of numbers of +figs, no larger than cranberries. This generous offer is greedily +accepted by green pigeons, mynas and many other birds which partake +with right goodwill and make much noise between the courses. No matter +how intense the heat be, the patient cultivator issues forth with his +cattle before sunrise and works at his threshing floor until ten +o'clock, then he seeks the comparative coolness of the mango tope and +sleeps until the sun is well on its way to the western horizon, when +he resumes the threshing of the corn, not ceasing until the shades of +night begin to steal over the land. + +The birds do not object to the heat. They revel in it. It is true that +in the middle of the day even they seek some shady tree in which to +enjoy a siesta and await the abatement of the heat of the blast +furnace in which they live, move and have their being. The long day, +which begins for them before 4 a.m., rather than the intense heat, +appears to be the cause of this midday sleep. Except during this +period of rest at noon the birds are more lively than they were in +April. + +The breeding season is now at its height. In May over five hundred +species of birds nest in India. No individual is likely to come across +all these different kinds of nests, because, in order to do so, that +person would have to traverse India from Peshawar to Tinnevelly and +from Quetta to Tenasserim. Nevertheless, the man who remains in one +station, if he choose to put forth a little energy and defy the sun, +may reasonably expect to find the nests of more than fifty kinds of +birds. Whether he be energetic or the reverse he cannot fail to hear a +great many avian sounds both by day and by night. In May the birds are +more vociferous than at any other time of year. The fluty cries of the +koel and the vigorous screams of the brain-fever bird penetrate the +closed doors of the bungalow, as do, to a less extent, the chatter of +the seven sisters, the calls of the mynas, the _towee_, _towee_, +_towee_ of the tailor-bird, the _whoot_, _whoot_, _whoot_ of the +crow-pheasant, the monotonous notes of the coppersmith and the green +barbet, the _uk_, _uk_, _uk_ of the hoopoe, the cheerful music of the +fantail flycatcher, the three sweet syllables of the iora--_so be ye_, +the _tee_, _tee_, _tee_, _tee_ of the nuthatch, the liquid whistle of +the oriole and, last but not least, the melody of the magpie-robin. +The calls of the hoopoe and nuthatch become less frequent as the month +draws to a close; on the other hand, the melody of the oriole gains in +strength. + +As likely as not a pair of blue jays has elected to rear a brood of +young hopefuls in the chimney or in a hole in the roof. When this +happens the human occupant of the bungalow is apt to be driven nearly +to distraction by the cries of the young birds, which resemble those +of some creature in distress, and are uttered with "damnable +reiteration." + +All these sounds, however, reach in muffled form the ear of a human +being shut up in a bungalow; hence it is the voices of the night +rather than those of the day with which May in India is associated. +Most people sleep out of doors at this season, and, as the excessive +heat makes them restless, they have ample opportunity of listening to +the nightly concert of the feathered folk. The most notable performers +are the cuckoos. These birds are fully as nocturnal as the owls. The +brain-fever bird (_Hierococcyx varius_) is now in full voice, and may +be heard, both by day and by night, in all parts of Northern India, +east of Umballa. This creature has two calls. One is the eternal +"brain-fever, _brain-fever_, BRAIN-FEVER," each "brain-fever" being +louder and pitched in a higher key than the previous one, until the +bird reaches its top note. The other call consists of a volley of +descending notes, uttered as if the bird were unwinding its voice +after the screams of "brain-fever." The next cuckoo is not one whit +less vociferous than the last. It is known as the Indian koel +(_Eudynamis honorata_). This noble fowl has three calls, and it would +puzzle anyone to say which is the most powerful. The usual cry is a +crescendo _ku-il_, _ku-il_, _ku-il_, which to Indian ears is very +sweet-sounding. Most Europeans are agreed that it is a sound of which +one can have too much. The second note is a mighty avalanche of yells +and screams, which Cunningham has syllabised as _Kuk_, _kuu_, _kuu_, +_kuu_, _kuu_, _kuu_. The third cry, which is uttered only +occasionally, is a number of shrill shrieks: _Hekaree_, _karee_, +_karee_, _karee_. + +The voice of the koel is heard throughout the hours of light and +darkness in May, so that one wonders whether this bird ever sleeps. +The second call is usually reserved for dawn, when the bird is most +vociferous. This cry is particularly exasperating to Europeans, since +it often awakens them rudely from the only refreshing sleep they have +enjoyed, namely, that obtained at the time when the temperature is +comparatively low. The koel extends into the Punjab and is heard +throughout Northern India. + +The third of the cuckoos which enlivens the hot weather in the plains +is the Indian cuckoo (_Cuculus micropterus_). This species dwells +chiefly in the Himalayas, but late in April or early in May certain +individuals seek the hot plains and remain there for some months. They +do not extend very far into the peninsula, being numerous only in the +sub-Himalayan tracts as far south as Fyzabad. The call of this cuckoo +is melodious and easily recognised. Indians represent it as +_Bouto-taku_, while some Englishmen maintain that the bird says "I've +lost my love." To the writer's mind the cry is best represented by the +words _wherefore_, _wherefore_, repeated with musical cadence. This +bird does not usually call much during the day. It uplifts its voice +about two hours before sunset and continues calling intermittently +until some time after sunrise. The note is often uttered while the +bird is on the wing. + +Scarcely less vociferous than the cuckoos are the owls. Needless to +state that the tiny spotted owlets make a great noise in May. They are +loquacious throughout the year, especially on moonlight nights. Nor do +they wait for the setting of the sun until they commence to pour forth +what Eha terms a "torrent of squeak and chatter and gibberish." + +Almost as abundant as the spotted owlet is the jungle owlet +(_Glaucidium radiatum_). This species, like the last-mentioned, does +not confine its vocal efforts to the hot weather. It is vociferous +throughout the year; however, special mention must be made of it in +connection with the month of May, because it is not until a human +being sleeps out of doors that he takes much notice of the bird. + +The note of this owl is very striking. It may be likened to the noise +made by a motor cycle when it is being started. It consists of a +series of dissyllables, low at first with a pause after each, but +gradually growing in intensity and succeeding one another at shorter +intervals, until the bird seems to have got fairly into its stride, +when it pulls up with dramatic suddenness. Tickell thus syllabises its +call: _Turtuck_, _turtuck_, _turtuck_, _turtuck_, _turtuck_, _tukatu_, +_chatatuck_, _atuckatuck_. + +Another sound familiar to those who sleep out of doors at this season +is a low, soft "what," repeated at intervals of about a minute. + +The writer ascribes this call to the collared scops owl (_Scops +bakkamoena_). Mr. A. J. Currie, however, asserts that the note in +question is that emitted by spotted owlets (_Athene brama_) when they +have young. He states that he has been quite close to the bird when it +was calling. + +A little patient observation will suffice to decide the point at +issue. + +It is easy to distinguish between the two owls, as the scops has +aigrettes or "horns," which the spotted owlet lacks. + +The nightjars help to swell the nocturnal chorus. There are seven or +eight different species in India, but of these only three are commonly +heard and two of them occur mainly in forest tracts. The call of the +most widely-distributed of the Indian goatsuckers--_Caprimulgus +asiaticus_, the common Indian nightjar--is like unto the sound made by +a stone skimming over ice. Horsfield's goatsucker is a very vociferous +bird. From March till June it is heard wherever there are forests. As +soon as the shadows of the evening begin to steal across the sky its +loud _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_ cleaves the air for +minutes together. This call to some extent replaces by night the +_tonk_, _tonk_, _tonk_ of the coppersmith, which is uttered so +persistently in the day-time. In addition to this note Horsfield's +nightjar emits a low soft _chur_, _chur_, _chur_. + +The third nightjar, which also is confined chiefly to forest tracts, +is known as Franklin's nightjar (_C. monticolus_). This utters a harsh +_tweet_ which at a distance might pass for the chirp of a canary with +a sore throat. + +Other sounds heard at night-time are the plaintive _did-he-do-it +pity-to-do-it_ of the red-wattled lapwing (_Sarcogrammus indicus_), +and the shrill calls of other plovers. + +As has already been said, the nesting season is at its height in May. +With the exception of the paroquets, spotted owlets, nuthatches, black +vultures and pied kingfishers, which have completed nesting operations +for the year, and the golden-backed woodpeckers and the +cliff-swallows, which have reared up their first broods, the great +majority of the birds mentioned as having nests or young in March or +April are still busily occupied with domestic cares. + +May marks the close of the usual breeding season for the jungle crows, +skylarks, crested larks, finch-larks, wood-shrikes, yellow-throated +sparrows, sand-martins, pied wagtails, green barbets, coppersmiths, +rollers, green bee-eaters, white-breasted kingfishers, scavenger +vultures, tawny eagles, kites, shikras, spur-winged plovers, little +ringed plovers, pied woodpeckers, night herons and pied chats. In the +case of the tree-pies, cuckoo-shrikes, seven sisters, bank-mynas and +blue-tailed bee-eaters the nesting season is now at its height. All +the following birds are likely to have either eggs or nestlings in +May: the white-eyes, ioras, bulbuls, tailor-birds, shrikes, brown +rock-chats, Indian robins, magpie-robins, sunbirds, swifts, nightjars, +white-eyed buzzards, hoopoes, green pigeons, blue rock-pigeons, doves, +sparrows, the red and yellow wattled lapwings, minivets, wire-tailed +swallows, red-headed merlins, fantail flycatchers, pipits, sand-grouse +and grey partridges. The nests of most of these have been described +already. + +In the present month several species begin nesting operations. First +and foremost among these is the king-crow or black drongo (_Dicrurus +ater_). No bird, not even the roller, makes so much ado about +courtship and nesting as does the king-crow, of which the love-making +was described last month. A pair of king-crows regards as its castle +the tree in which it has elected to construct a nest. Round this tree +it establishes a sphere of influence into which none but a favoured +few birds may come. All intruders are forthwith set upon by the pair +of little furies, and no sight is commoner at this season than that of +a crow, a kite, or a hawk being chased by two irate drongos. The nest +of the king-crow is a small cup, wedged into the fork of a branch high +up in a tree. + +The Indian oriole (_Oriolus kundoo_) is one of the privileged +creatures allowed to enter the dicrurian sphere of influence, and it +takes full advantage of this privilege by placing its nest almost +invariably in the same tree as that of the king-crow. The oriole is a +timid bird and is glad to rear up its family under the aegis of so +doughty a warrior as the Black Prince of the Birds. The nest of the +oriole is a wonderful structure. Having selected a fork in a suitable +branch, the nesting bird tears off a long strip of soft pliable bark, +usually that of the mulberry tree. It proceeds to wind one end of this +strip round a limb of the forked branch, then the other end is +similarly bound to the other limb. A second and a third strip of bark +are thus dealt with, and in this manner a cradle or hammock is formed. +On it a slender cup-shaped nest is superimposed. This is composed of +grasses and fibres, some of which are wound round the limbs of the +forked branch, while others are made fast to the strands of bark. The +completed nest is nearly five inches in diameter. From below it looks +like a ball of dried grass wedged into the forked branch. + +The oriole lays from two to four white eggs spotted with dull red. The +spots can be washed off by water; sometimes their colour "runs" while +they are in the nest, thereby imparting a pink hue to the whole shell. +Both sexes take part in nest construction, but the hen alone appears +to incubate. She is a very shy creature, and is rarely discovered +actually sitting, because she leaves the nest with a little cry of +alarm at the first sound of a human footfall. + +May and June are the months in which to look for the nests of that +superb bird--the paradise flycatcher (_Terpsiphone paradisi_). This is +known as the rocket-bird or ribbon-bird because of the two long +fluttering tail feathers possessed by the cock. The hen has the +appearance of a kind of bulbul, being chestnut-hued with a white +breast and a metallic blue-black crest. For the first year of their +existence the young cocks resemble the hens in appearance. Then the +long tail feathers appear. In his third year the cock turns white save +for the black-crested head. This species spends the winter in South +India. In April it migrates northwards to summer in the shady parts of +the plains of Bengal, the United Provinces and the Punjab, and on the +lower slopes of the Himalayas. The nest is a deep, untidy-looking cup, +having the shape of an inverted cone. It is always completely covered +with cocoons and cobweb. It is usually attached to one or more of the +lower branches of a tree. Both sexes work at the nest and take part in +incubation. The long tail feathers of the sitting cock hang down from +the nest like red or white satin streamers according to the phase of +his plumage. In the breeding season the cock sings a sweet little +lay--an abridged version of that of the fantail flycatcher. When +alarmed both the cock and the hen utter a sharp _tschit_. + +May is perhaps the proper month in which to describe the nesting of +the various species of myna. + +According to Hume the normal breeding season of the common myna +(_Acridotheres tristis_) lasts from June to August, during which +period two broods are reared. This is not correct. The nesting season +of this species begins long before June. The writer has repeatedly +seen mynas carrying twigs and feathers in March, and has come across +nests containing eggs or young birds in both April and May. June +perhaps is the month in which the largest numbers of nests are seen. +The cradle of the common myna is devoid of architectural merit. It is +a mere conglomeration of twigs, grass, rags, bits of paper and other +oddments. The nesting material is dropped haphazard into a hole in a +tree or building, or even on to a ledge in a verandah. Four beautiful +blue eggs are laid. + +At Peshawar Mr. A. J. Currie once found four myna's eggs in a deserted +crows' nest in a tree. + +As has already been stated, the nest of the bank-myna (_A. +ginginianus_) is built in a hole in a well, a sandbank, or a cliff. +The birds breed in colonies; each pair excavates its own nest by means +of beak and claw. Into the holes dug out in this manner the +miscellaneous nesting materials are dropped pell-mell after the manner +of all mynas. The breeding season of this species lasts from April to +July, May being the month in which most eggs are laid. + +The black-headed or brahminy myna (_Temenuchus pagodarum_) usually +begins nesting operations about a month later than the bank-myna; its +eggs are most often taken in June. The nest, which is an untidy, +odoriferous collection of rubbish, is always in a cavity. In Northern +India a hole in a tree is usually selected; in the South buildings are +largely patronised. Some years ago the writer observed a pair of these +birds building a nest in a hole made in the masonry for the passage of +the lightning conductor of the Church in Fort St. George, Madras. + +May marks the commencement of the breeding season of the pied +starlings (_Sturnopastor contra_). In this month they begin to give +vent with vigour to their cheerful call, which is so pleasing as +almost to merit the name of song. + +Throughout the rains they continue to make a joyful noise. Not that +they are silent at other seasons; they call throughout the year, but, +except at the breeding period, their voices are comparatively subdued. + +The nest is a bulky, untidy mass of straw, roots, twigs, rags, +feathers and such-like things. It is placed fairly low down in a tree. + +Many of these nests are to be seen in May, but the breeding season is +at its height in June and July. + +The grey hornbills (_Lophoceros birostris_) are now seeking out holes +in which to deposit their eggs. The hen, after having laid the first +egg, does not emerge from the nest till the young are ready to fly. +During the whole of this period she is kept a close prisoner, the +aperture to the nest cavity having been closed by her mate and herself +with their own droppings, a small chink alone being left through which +she is able to insert her beak in order to receive the food brought to +her by the cock. + +Mr. A. J. Currie gives an interesting account of a grey hornbill's +nest he discovered at Lahore in 1910. About the middle of April he +noticed a pair of paroquets nesting in a hole in a tree. On April 28th +he saw a hornbill inspecting the hole, regardless of the noisy +protests of the paroquets. On the 30th he observed that the hole had +become smaller, and suspected that the hornbills had taken possession. +On May 1st all that was left of the hole was a slit. On May 6th Mr. +Currie watched the cock hornbill feeding the hen. First the male bird +came carrying a fig in his bill. Seeing human beings near the nest, he +did not give the fig to the hen but swallowed it and flew off. +Presently the cock reappeared with a fig which he put into the slit in +the plastering; after he had parted with the fig he began to feed the +hen by bringing up food from his crop. During the process the beak of +the hen did not appear at the slit. + +On May 7th Mr. Currie opened out the nest. The hole was sixteen feet +from the ground and the orifice had a diameter of three inches; all of +this except a slit, broadest at the lower part, was filled up by +plaster. This plaster was odourless and contained embedded in it a +number of fig seeds. + +The nest hole was capacious, its dimensions being roughly 1 foot by 1 +foot by 2 feet. From the bottom five handfuls of pieces of dry bark +were extracted. Three white eggs were found lying on these pieces of +bark. The sitting hen resented the "nest-breaking," and, having pecked +viciously at the intruder, tried to escape by climbing up to the top +of the nest hole. She was dragged out of her retreat by the beak, +after an attempt to pull her out by the tail had resulted in all her +tail feathers coming away in her captor's hand! + +The young green parrots have all left their nests and are flying about +in noisy flocks. They may be distinguished from the adults by the +short tail and comparatively soft call. + +Most pairs of hoopoes are now accompanied by at least one young bird +which is almost indistinguishable from the adults. The young birds +receive, with squeaks of delight, the grubs or caterpillars proffered +by the parents. Occasionally a pair of hoopoes may be seen going +through the antics of courtship preparatory to raising a second brood. + +In scrub-jungle parties of partridges, consisting of father, mother +and five or six little chicks, wander about. + +As the shades of night begin to fall family parties of spotted owlets +issue from holes in trees or buildings. The baby birds squat on the +ground in silence, while the parents make sallies into the air after +flying insects which they bring to the young birds. + +The peafowl and sarus cranes are indulging in the pleasures of +courtship. The young cranes, that were hatched out in the monsoon of +last year, are now nearly as big as their parents, and are well able +to look after themselves; ere long they will be driven away and made +to do so. The display of the sarus is not an elaborate process. The +cock turns his back on the hen and then partially opens his wings, so +that the blackish primaries droop and the grey secondary feathers are +arched. In this attitude he trumpets softly. + +The water-hens have already begun their uproarious courtship. Their +weird calls must be heard to be appreciated. They consist of series of +_kok_, _koks_ followed by roars, hiccups, cackles and gurgles. + +Black partridges, likewise, are very noisy throughout the month of +May. Their nesting season is fast approaching. + +Even as April showers in England bring forth May flowers, so does the +April sunshine in India draw forth the marriage adornments of the +birds that breed in the rains. The pheasant-tailed jacanas are +acquiring the long tail feathers that form the wedding ornaments of +both sexes. + +The various species of egret and the paddy bird all assume their +nuptial plumes in May. + +In the case of the egret these plumes are in great demand and are +known to the plumage trade as "ospreys." + +The plumes in question consist of long filamentous feathers that grow +from the neck of the egret and also from its breast. In most countries +those who obtain these plumes wait until the birds are actually +nesting before attempting to secure them, taking advantage of the fact +that egrets nest in colonies and of the parental affection of the +breeding birds. A few men armed with guns are able to shoot every +adult member of the colony, because the egrets continue to feed their +young until they are shot. As the plumes of these birds are worth +nearly their weight in gold, egrets have become extinct in some parts +of the world. + +The export of plumage from India is unlawful, but this fact does not +prevent a very large feather trade being carried on, since it is not +difficult to smuggle "ospreys" out of the country. + +Doubtless the existing Notification of the Government of India, +prohibiting the export of plumage, has the effect of checking, to some +extent, the destruction of egrets, but there is no denying the fact +that many of the larger species are still shot for their plumes while +breeding. + +In the case of cattle-egrets (_Bubulcus coromandus_) the custom of +shooting them when on the nest has given place to a more humane and +more sensible method of obtaining their nuchal plumes. These, as we +have seen, arise early in May, but the birds do not begin to nest +until the end of June. The cattle-egret is gregarious; it is the large +white bird that accompanies cattle in order to secure the insects put +up by the grazing quadrupeds. Taking advantage of the social habits of +these egrets the plume-hunters issue forth early in May and betake +themselves, in parties of five or six, to the villages where the birds +roost. Their apparatus consists of two nets, each some eight feet long +and three broad. These are laid flat on the ground in shallow water, +parallel to one another, about a yard apart. The inner side of each +net is securely pegged to the ground. By an ingenious arrangement of +sticks and ropes a man, taking cover at a distance of twenty or thirty +yards, by giving a sharp pull at a pliable cane, can cause the outer +parts of each net to spring up and meet to form an enclosure which is, +in shape, not unlike a sleeping-pal tent. When the nets have been set +in a pond near the trees where the cattle-egrets roost at night and +rest in the day-time, two or three decoy birds--captured egrets with +their eyes sewn up to prevent them struggling or trying to fly +away--are tethered in the space between the two nets; these last, +being laid flat under muddy water, are invisible. Sooner or later an +egret in one of the trees near by, seeing some of its kind standing +peacefully in the water, alights near them. Almost before it has +touched the ground the cane is pulled and the egret finds itself a +prisoner. One of the bird-catchers immediately runs to the net, +secures the victim, opens out its wings, and, holding each of these +between the big and the second toe, pulls out the nuchal plumes. This +operation lasts about five seconds. The bird is then set at liberty, +far more astonished than hurt. It betakes itself to its wild +companions, and the net is again set. Presently another egret is +caught and divested of its plumes, and the process continues all day. + +The bird-catchers spend six weeks every year in obtaining cattle-egret +plumes in this manner. They sell the plumes to middle-men, who dispose +of them to those who smuggle them out of India. + +If stuffed birds were used as decoys and the plumes of the captured +birds were snipped off with scissors instead of being pulled out, the +operation could be carried on without any cruelty, and, if legalised +and supervised by the Government, it could be made a source of +considerable revenue. + + + + +JUNE + + 'Tis raging noon; and, vertical, the sun + Darts on the head direct his forceful rays; + O'er heaven and earth, far as the ranging eye + Can sweep, a dazzling deluge reigns; and all + From pole to pole is undistinguish'd blaze. + + * * * * * + + All-conquering heat, oh, intermit thy wrath, + And on my throbbing temples potent thus + Beam not so fierce! incessant still you flow, + And still another fervent flood succeeds. + Pour'd on the head profuse. In vain I sigh, + + * * * * * + + Thrice happy he who on the sunless side + Of a romantic mountain, forest crown'd + Beneath the whole collected shade reclines. + J. THOMSON. + + With dancing feet glad peafowl greet + Bright flash and rumbling cloud; + Down channels steep red torrents sweep; + The frogs give welcome loud; + + * * * * * + + No stars in skies, but lantern-flies + Seem stars that float to earth. + WATERFIELD, _Indian Ballads_. + + +There are two Indian Junes--the June of fiction and the June of fact. +The June of fiction is divided into two equal parts--the dry half and +the wet half. The former is made up of hot days, dull with dust haze, +when the shade temperature may reach 118 degrees, and of oppressive +nights when the air is still and stagnant and the mercury in the +thermometer rarely falls below 84 degrees. Each succeeding period of +four-and-twenty hours seems more disagreeable and unbearable than its +predecessor, until the climax is reached about the 15th June, when +large black clouds appear on the horizon and roll slowly onwards, +accompanied by vivid lightning, loud peals of thunder and torrential +rain. In the June of fact practically the whole month is composed of +hot, dry, dusty, oppressive days; for the monsoon rarely reaches +Northern India before the last week of the month and often tarries +till the middle of July, or even later. + +The first rain causes the temperature to fall immediately. It is no +uncommon thing for the mercury in the thermometer to sink 20 degrees +in a few minutes. While the rain is actually descending the weather +feels refreshingly cool in contrast to the previous furnace-like heat. +Small wonder then that the advent of the creative monsoon is more +heartily welcomed in India than is spring in England. No sound is more +pleasing to the human ear than the drumming of the first monsoon rain. + +But alas! the physical relief brought by the monsoon is only +temporary. The temperature rises the moment the rain ceases to fall, +and the prolonged breaks in the rains that occur every year render the +last state of the climate worse than the first. The air is so charged +with moisture that it cannot absorb the perspiration that emanates +from the bodies of the human beings condemned to existence in this +humid Inferno. For weeks together we live in a vapour-bath, and to the +physical discomfort of perpetual clamminess is added the irritation of +prickly heat. + +Moreover, the rain brings with it myriads of torments in the form of +termites, beetles, stinking bugs, flies, mosquitoes and other creeping +and flying things, which bite and tease and find their way into every +article of food and drink. The rain also awakens from their slumbers +the frogs that have hibernated and aestivated in the sun-baked beds of +dried-up ditches and tanks. These awakened amphibia fill the welkin +with their croakings, which take the place of the avian chorus at +night. The latter ceases with dramatic abruptness with the first fall +of monsoon rain. During the monsoon the silence of the night is broken +only by the sound of falling raindrops, or the croaking of the frogs, +the stridulation of crickets innumerable, and the owlet's feeble call. +Before the coming of the monsoon the diurnal chorus of the day birds +begins to flag because the nesting season for many species is drawing +to a close. The magpie-robin still pours forth his splendid song, but +the quality of the music in the case of many individuals is already +beginning to fall off. The rollers, which are feeding their young, are +far less noisy than they were at the time of courtship. The barbets +and coppersmiths, although not so vociferous as formerly, cannot, even +in the monsoon, be charged with hiding their lights under a bushel. +Towards the end of June the _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_ of +Horsfield's nightjar is not often heard, but the bird continues to +utter its soft churring note. The iora's cheerful calls still resound +through the shady mango tope. The sunbirds, the fantail flycatchers, +the orioles, the golden-backed woodpeckers, the white-breasted +kingfishers and the black partridges call as lustily as ever, and the +bulbuls continue to twitter to one another "stick to it!" With the +first fall of rain the tunes of the paradise flycatchers and the +king-crows change. The former now cry "Witty-ready wit," softly and +gently, while the calls of the latter suddenly become sweet and +mellow. + +Speaking generally, the monsoon seems to exercise a sobering, a +softening influence on the voices of the birds. The pied myna forms +the one exception; he does not come into his full voice until the +rains have set in. + +The monsoon transfigures the earth. The brown, dry, hard countryside, +with its dust-covered trees, becomes for the time being a shallow lake +in which are studded emerald islets innumerable. Stimulated by the +rain many trees put forth fresh crops of leaves. At the first break in +the downpour the cultivators rush forth with their ploughs and oxen to +prepare the soil for the autumn crops with all the speed they may. + +There is much to interest the ornithologist in June. + +Of the birds whose nests have been previously described the following +are likely to have eggs or young: white-eyes, ioras, tailor-birds, +king-crows, robins, sparrows, tree-pies, seven sisters, +cuckoo-shrikes, Indian wren-warblers (second brood), sunbirds (second +brood), swifts, fantail flycatchers (second brood), orioles, paradise +flycatchers, grey horn-bills, and the various mynas, bulbuls, +butcher-birds, doves, pigeons and lapwings. The following species have +young which either are in the nest or have only recently left it: +roller, hoopoe, brown rock-chat, magpie-robin, coppersmith, green +barbet, nightjar, white-eyed buzzard, pipit, wire-tailed swallow, +white-breasted kingfisher, grey partridge, kite, golden-backed +woodpecker (second brood), and the several species of bee-eater and +lark. + +With June the breeding season for the blue rock and green pigeons +ends. In the _sal_ forests the young jungle-fowl have now mostly +hatched out and are following the old hens, or feeding independently. + +Some of the minivets are beginning to busy themselves with a second +brood. + +The breeding operations of a few species begin in June. + +Chief of these is that arch-villain _Corvus splendens_--the Indian +house-crow. Crows have no fine feathers, hence the cocks do not +"display" before the hens. To sing they know not how. Their courtship, +therefore, provides a feast for neither the eye nor the ear of man. +The lack of ornaments and voice perhaps explains the fact that among +crows there is no noisy love-making. Crows make a virtue of necessity. +Any attempt at courtship after the style of the costermonger is +resented by the whole corvine community. The only amorous display +permitted in public is head-tickling. The cock and the hen perch side +by side, one ruffles the feathers of the neck, the other inserts its +bill between the ruffled feathers of its companion and gently tickles +its neck, to the accompaniment of soft gurgles. + +Crows are the most intelligent of birds. Like the other fowls of the +air in which the brain is well developed, they build rough untidy +nests--mere platforms placed in the fork of a branch of almost any +kind of tree. The usual materials used in nest-construction are twigs, +but crows do not limit themselves to these. They seem to take a +positive pride in pressing into service materials of an uncommon +nature. Cases are on record of nests composed entirely of +spectacle-frames, wires used for the fixing of the corks of soda-water +bottles, or pieces of tin discarded by tinsmiths. + +Four, five or six eggs are laid; these are of a pale greenish-blue +hue, speckled or flaked with sepia markings. The hen alone collects +the materials for the nest, but the cock supervises her closely, +following her about and criticising her proceedings as she picks up +twigs and works them into the nest. + +From the time of the laying of the first egg until the moment of the +departure of the last young bird, one or other of the parents always +mounts guard over the nest, except when they are chasing a koel. Crows +are confirmed egg-lifters and chicken-stealers; they apply their +standard of morality to other birds, and, in consequence, never leave +their own offspring unguarded. A crow's nest at which there is no +adult crow certainly contains neither eggs nor young birds. + +As has already been stated, crows spend, much time in teasing and +annoying other birds. Retribution overtakes them in the nesting +season. The Indian koel (_Eudynamis honorata_) cuckolds them. The +crows either are aware of this or have an instinctive dislike to this +cuckoo. The sight of the koel affects a crow in much the same way as a +red cloth irritates a bull. One of these cuckoos has but to perch in a +tree that contains a crow's nest and begin calling in order to make +both the owners of the nest attack him. The koel takes full advantage +of this fact. The cock approaches the nest and begins uttering his +fluty _kuil_, _kuil_. The crows forthwith dash savagely at him. He +flies off pursued by them. He can easily outdistance his pursuers, but +is content to keep a lead of a few feet, crying _pip-pip_ or +_kuil-kuil_, and thus he lures the parent crows to some distance. No +sooner are their backs turned than the hen koel slips quietly into the +nest and deposits an egg in it. If she have time she carries off or +throws out one or more of the legitimate eggs. When the crows return +to the nest, having failed to catch the cock koel, they do not appear +to notice the trick played upon them, although the koel's egg is +smaller than theirs and of an olive-green colour. Through the greater +part of June and July the koels keep the crows busy chasing them. +Something approaching pandemonium reigns in the neighbourhood of a +colony of nesting crows: from dawn till nightfall the shrieks and +yells of the koels mingle with the harsh notes of the crows. + +Sometimes the crows return from the chase of the cock koel before the +hen is ready, and surprise her in the nest; then they attack her. She +flees in terror, and is followed by the corvi. Her screams when being +thus pursued are loud enough to awaken the Seven Sleepers. She has +cause for alarm, for, if the raging crows catch her, they will +assuredly kill her. Such a tragedy does sometimes occur. + +Not infrequently it happens that more than one koel's egg is laid in a +crow's nest. + +The incubation period of the egg of the koel is shorter than that of +the crow, the consequence is that when, as usually happens, there is +one of the former and several of the latter in a nest, the young koel +is invariably the first to emerge. It does not attempt to eject from +the nest either the legitimate eggs or the young crows when they +appear on the scene. Indeed, it lives on excellent terms with its +foster brethren. But to say this is to anticipate, for as a rule, +neither young koels nor baby crows hatch out until July. + +The crow-pheasants (_Centropus sinensis_), which are cuckoos that do +not lead a parasitic existence, are now busy with nursery duties. The +nest of the crow-pheasant or coucal is a massive structure, globular +in shape, with the entrance at one side. Large as the nest is, it is +not often discovered by the naturalist because it is almost invariably +situated in the midst of an impenetrable thicket. Three or four +pure-white eggs are laid. + +The white-necked storks or beef-steak birds (_Dissura episcopus_) are +busy at their nests in June. These birds build in large trees, usually +at a distance from water. The nest is rudely constructed of twigs. It +is about one and a half feet in diameter. The eggs are placed in a +depression lined with straw, grass or feathers. White-necked storks +often begin nest-building about the middle of May, but eggs are rarely +laid earlier than the second week of June. House-crows nest at the +same time of year, and they often worry the storks considerably by +their impudent attempts to commit larceny of building material. + +The breeding season of the paddy-birds has now fairly begun. These +birds, usually so solitary in habit, often nest in small colonies, +sometimes in company with night-herons. The nest is a slender platform +of sticks placed high up in a tree, often in the vicinity of human +habitations. Nesting paddy-birds, or pond-herons as they are +frequently called, utter all manner of weird calls, the one most +frequently heard being a curious gurgle. + +Some of the amadavats build nests in June, but the great majority +breed during the winter months. + +As soon as the first rains have fallen a few of the pheasant-tailed +jacanas begin nesting operations, but the greater number breed in +August; for this reason their nests are described in the calendar for +that month. + +In June a very striking bird makes its appearance in Northern India. +This is the pied crested cuckoo (_Coccystes jacobinus_). Its under +parts are white, as is a bar in the wing. The remainder of the plumage +is glossy black. The head is adorned by an elegant crest. The pied +cuckoo has a peculiar metallic call, which is as easy to recognise as +it is difficult to describe. The bird victimises, not crows, but +babblers; nevertheless the corvi seem to dislike it as intensely as +they dislike koels. + +By the beginning of the month the great majority of the cock _bayas_ +or weaver-birds have assumed their black-and-golden wedding garment; +nevertheless they do not as a rule begin to nest before July. + +The curious excrescence on the bill of the drake _nukta_ or comb-duck +is now much enlarged. This betokens the approach of the nesting season +for that species. + +If the monsoon happen to burst early many of the birds which breed in +the rains begin building their nests towards the end of June, but, in +nine years out of ten, July marks the beginning of the breeding period +of aquatic birds, therefore the account of their nests properly finds +place in the calendar of that month, or of August, when the season is +at its height. + + + + +JULY + + Alas! creative nature calls to light + Myriads of winged forms in sportive flight, + When gathered clouds with ceaseless fury pour + A constant deluge in the rushing shower. + _Calcutta: A Poem_. + + +In July India becomes a theatre in which Nature stages a mighty +transformation scene. The prospect changes with kaleidoscopic +rapidity. The green water-logged earth is for a time overhung by dull +leaden clouds; this sombre picture melts away into one, even more +dismal, in which the rain pours down in torrents, enveloping +everything in mist and moisture. Suddenly the sun blazes forth with +indescribable brilliance and shines through an atmosphere, clear as +crystal, from which every particle of dust has been washed away. +Fleecy clouds sail majestically across the vaulted firmament. Then +follows a gorgeous sunset in which changing colours run riot through +sky and clouds--pearly grey, jet black, dark dun, pale lavender, deep +mauve, rich carmine, and brightest gold. These colours fade away into +the darkness of the night; the stars then peep forth and twinkle +brightly. At the approach of "rosy-fingered" dawn their lights go out, +one by one. Then blue tints appear in the firmament which deepen into +azure. The glory of the ultramarine sky does not remain long without +alloy: clouds soon appear. So the scene ever changes, hour by hour and +day by day. Had the human being who passes July in the plains but one +window to the soul and that the eye, the month would be one of pure +joy, a month spent in the contemplation of splendid dawns, brilliant +days, the rich green mantle of the earth, the majesty of approaching +thunderclouds, and superb sunsets. But, alas, July is not a month of +unalloyed pleasure. The temperature is tolerably low while the rain is +actually falling; but the moment this ceases the European is subjected +to the acute physical discomforts engendered by the hot, steamy, +oppressive atmosphere, the ferocity of the sun's rays, and the teasing +of thousands of biting and buzzing insects which the monsoon calls +into being. Termites, crickets, red-bugs, stink-bugs, horseflies, +mosquitoes, beetles and diptera of all shapes and sizes arise in +millions as if spontaneously generated. Many of these are creatures of +the night. Although born in darkness all seem to strive after light. +Myriads of them collect round every burning lamp in the open air, to +the great annoyance of the human being who attempts to read out of +doors after dark. The spotted owlets, the toads and the lizards, +however, take a different view of the invasion and partake eagerly of +the rich feast provided for them. Notwithstanding the existence of +_chiks_, or gauze doors, the hexapods crowd into the lighted bungalow, +where every illumination soon becomes the centre of a collection of +the bodies of the insects that have been burned by the flame, or +scorched by the lamp chimney. Well is it for the rest of creation that +most of these insects are short-lived. The span of life of many is but +a day: were it much longer human beings could hardly manage to exist +during the rains. Equally unbearable would life be were all the +species of monsoon insects to come into being simultaneously. +Fortunately they appear in relays. Every day some new forms enter on +the stage of life and several make their exit. The pageant of insect +life, then, is an ever-changing one. To-day one species predominates, +to-morrow another, and the day after a third. Unpleasant and +irritating though these insect hosts be to human beings, some pleasure +is to be derived from watching them. Especially is this the case when +the termites or white-ants swarm. In the damp parts of Lower Bengal +these creatures may emerge at any time of the year. In Calcutta they +swarm either towards the close of the rainy season or in spring after +an exceptionally heavy thunderstorm. In Madras they emerge from their +hiding-places in October with the northeast monsoon. In the United +Provinces the winged termites appear after the first fall of the +monsoon rain in June or July as the case may be. These succulent +creatures provide a feast for the birds which is only equalled by that +furnished by a flight of locusts. In the case of the termites it is +not only the birds that partake. The ever-vigilant crows are of course +the first to notice a swarm of termites, and they lose no time in +setting to work. The kites are not far behind them. These great birds +sail on the outskirts of the flight, seizing individuals with their +claws and transferring them to the beak while on the wing. A few +king-crows and bee-eaters join them. On the ground below +magpie-robins, babblers, toads, lizards, musk-rats and other +terrestrial creatures make merry. If the swarm comes out at dusk, as +often happens, bats and spotted owlets join those of the gourmands +that are feasting while on the wing. + +The earth is now green and sweet. The sugar-cane grows apace. The +rice, the various millets and the other autumn crops are being sown. +The cultivators take full advantage of every break in the rains to +conduct agricultural operations. + +As we have seen, the nocturnal chorus of the birds is now replaced by +the croaking of frogs and the stridulation of crickets. In the +day-time the birds still have plenty to say for themselves. The +brain-fever birds scream as lustily as they did in May and June. The +koel is, if possible, more vociferous than ever, especially at the +beginning of the month. The Indian cuckoo does not call so frequently +as formerly, but, by way of compensation, the pied crested cuckoo +uplifts his voice at short intervals. + +The _whoot_, _whoot_, _whoot_ of the crow-pheasant booms from almost +every thicket. The iora, the coppersmith, the barbet, the +golden-backed woodpecker, and the white-breasted kingfisher continue +to call merrily. The pied starlings are in full voice; their notes +form a very pleasing addition to the avian chorus. Those magpie-robins +that have not brought nesting operations to a close are singing +vigorously. The king-crows are feeding their young ones in the +greenwood tree, and crooning softly to them _pitchu-wee_. At the +_jhils_ the various waterfowl are nesting and each one proclaims the +fact by its allotted call. Much strange music emanates from the +well-filled tank; the indescribable cries of the purple coots, the +curious "fixed bayonets" of the cotton teal and the weird cat-like +mews of the jacanas form the dominant notes of the aquatic symphony. + +In July the black-breasted or rain-quail (_Coturnix coromandelica_) is +plentiful in India. Much remains to be discovered regarding the +movements of this species. It appears to migrate to Bengal, the United +Provinces, the Punjab and Sind shortly before the monsoon bursts, but +it is said to arrive in Nepal as early as April. It would seem to +winter in South India. It is a smaller bird than the ordinary grey +quail and has no pale cross-bars on the primary wing feathers. The +males of this species are held in high esteem by Indians as fighting +birds. Large numbers of them are netted in the same way as the grey +quail. Some captive birds are set down in a covered cage by a +sugar-cane field in the evening. Their calls attract a number of wild +birds, which settle down in the sugar-cane in order to spend the day +there. At dawn a net is quietly stretched across one end of the field. +A rope is then slowly dragged along over the growing crop in the +direction of the net. This sends all the quail into the net. + +Very fair sport may be obtained in July by shooting rain-quail that +have been attracted by call birds. + +July marks the end of one breeding season and the beginning of +another. As regards the nesting season, birds fall into four classes. +There is the very large class that nests in spring and summer. Next in +importance is the not inconsiderable body that rears up its broods in +the rains when the food supply is most abundant. Then comes the small +company that builds nests in the pleasant winter time. Lastly there +are the perennials--such birds as the sparrow and the dove, which nest +at all seasons. In the present month the last of the summer nesting +birds close operations for the year, and the monsoon birds begin to +lay their eggs. July is therefore a favourable month for bird-nesting. +Moreover, the sun is sometimes obscured by cloud and, under such +conditions, a human being is able to remain out of doors throughout +the day without suffering much physical discomfort. + +With July ends the normal breeding season of the tree-pies, +white-eyes, ioras; king-crows, bank-mynas, paradise flycatchers, brown +rock-chats, Indian robins, dhayals, red-winged bush-larks, sunbirds, +rollers, swifts, green pigeons, lapwings and butcher-birds. + +The paradise flycatchers leave Northern India and migrate southwards a +few weeks after the young birds have left the nest. + +Numbers of bulbuls' nests are likely to be found in July, but the +breeding time of these birds is rapidly drawing to its close. Sparrows +and doves are of course engaged in parental duties; their eggs have +been taken in every month of the year. + +The nesting season is now at its height for the white-necked storks, +the koels and their dupes--the house-crows, also for the various +babblers and their deceivers--the brain-fever birds and the pied +crested cuckoos. The tailor-birds, the ashy and the Indian +wren-warblers, the brahminy mynas, the wire-tailed swallows, the +amadavats, the sirkeer cuckoos, the pea-fowl, the water-hens, the +common and the pied mynas, the cuckoo-shrikes and the orioles are all +fully occupied with nursery duties. The earliest of the brain-fever +birds to be hatched have left the nest. Like all its family the young +hawk-cuckoo has a healthy appetite. In order to satisfy it the +unfortunate foster-parents have to work like slaves, and often must +they wonder why nature has given them so voracious a child. When it +sees a babbler approaching with food, the cuckoo cries out and flaps +its wings vigorously. Sometimes these completely envelop the parent +bird while it is thrusting food into the yellow mouth of the cuckoo. +The breast of the newly-fledged brain-fever bird is covered with dark +brown drops, so that, when seen from below, it looks like a thrush +with yellow legs. Its cries, however, are not at all thrushlike. + +Many of the wire-tailed swallows, minivets and white-browed fantail +flycatchers bring up a second brood during the rains. The loud +cheerful call of the last is heard very frequently in July. + +Numbers of young bee-eaters are to be seen hawking at insects; they +are distinguishable from adults by the dullness of the plumage and the +fact that the median tail feathers are not prolonged as bristles. + +Very few crows emerge from the egg before the 1st of July, but, during +the last week in June, numbers of baby koels are hatched out. The +period of incubation for the koel's egg is shorter than that of the +crow, hence at the outset the baby koel steals a march on his +foster-brothers. Koel nestlings, when they first emerge from the egg, +differ greatly in appearance from baby crows. The skin of the koel is +black, that of crow is pink for the first two days of its existence, +but it grows darker rapidly. The baby crow is the bigger bird and has +a larger mouth with fleshy sides. The sides of the mouth of the young +koel are not fleshy. The neck of the crow nestling is long and the +head hangs down, whereas the koel's neck is short and the bird carries +its head huddled in its shoulders. Crows nest high up in trees, these +facts are therefore best observed by sending up an expert climber with +a tin half-full of sawdust to which a long string is attached. The +climber lets down the eggs or nestlings in the tin and the observer +can examine them in comfort on _terra firma_. The parent crows do not +appear to notice how unlike the young koels are to their own +nestlings, for they feed them most assiduously and make a great uproar +when the koels are taken from the nest. Baby crows are noisy +creatures; koels are quiet and timid at first, but become noisier as +they grow older. + +The feathers of crow nestlings are black in each sex. Young koels fall +into three classes: those of which the feathers are all black, those +of which a few feathers have white or reddish tips, those which are +speckled black and white all over because each feather has a white +tip. The two former appear to be young cocks and the last to be hens. +Baby koels, in addition to hatching out before their foster-brethren, +develop more quickly, so that they leave the nest fully a week in +advance of the young corvi. After vacating the nest they squat for +some days on a branch close by; numbers of them are to be seen thus in +suitable localities towards the end of July. At first the call of the +koel is a squeak, but later it takes the form of a creditable, if +ludicrous, attempt at a caw. The young cuckoo does not seem to be able +to distinguish its foster-parents from other crows; it clamours for +food whenever any crow comes near it. + +Of the scenes characteristic of the rains in India none is more +pleasing than that presented by a colony of nest-building bayas or +weaver-birds (_Ploceus baya_). These birds build in company. Sometimes +more than twenty of their wonderful retort-like nests are to be seen +in one tree. This means that more than forty birds are at work, and, +as each of these indulges in much cheerful twittering, the tree in +question presents an animated scene. Both sexes take part in +nest-construction. + +Having selected the branch of a tree from which the nest will hang, +the birds proceed to collect material. Each completed nest contains +many yards of fibre not much thicker than stout thread. Such material +is not found in quantity in nature. The bayas have, therefore, to +manufacture it. This is easily done. The building weaver-bird betakes +itself to a clump of elephant-grass, and, perching on one of the +blades, makes a notch in another near the base. Then, grasping with +its beak the edge of this blade above the notch, the baya flies away +and thus strips off a narrow strand. Sometimes the strand adheres to +the main part of the blade at the tip so firmly that the force of the +flying baya is not sufficient to sever it. The bird then swings for a +few seconds in mid-air, suspended by the strip of leaf. Not in the +least daunted the baya makes a fresh effort and flies off, still +gripping the strand firmly. At the third, if not at the second +attempt, the thin strip is completely severed. Having secured its +prize the weaver-bird proceeds to tear off one or two more strands and +then flies with these in its bill to the nesting site, uttering cries +of delight. The fibres obtained in this manner are bound round the +branch from which the nest will hang. More strands are added to form a +stalk; when this has attained a length of several inches it is +gradually expanded in the form of an umbrella or bell. The next step +is to weave a band of grass across the mouth of the bell. In this +condition the nest is often left unfinished. Indians call such +incomplete nests _jhulas_ or swings; they assert that these are made +in order that the cocks may sit in them and sing to their mates while +these are incubating the eggs. It may be, as "Eha" suggests, that at +this stage the birds are dissatisfied with the balance of the nest and +for this reason leave it. If the nest, at this point of its +construction, please the weaver-birds they proceed to finish it by +closing up the bell at one side of the cross-band to form a receptacle +for the eggs, and prolonging the other half of the bell into a long +tunnel or neck. This neck forms the entrance to the nest; towards its +extremity it becomes very flimsy so that it affords no foothold to an +enemy. Nearly every baya's nest contains some lumps of clay attached +to it. Jerdon was of opinion that the function of these is to balance +the nest properly. Indians state that the bird sticks fireflies into +the lumps of clay to light up the nest at night. This story has found +its way into some ornithological text-books. There is no truth in it. +The present writer is inclined to think that the object of these lumps +of clay is to prevent the light loofah-like nest swinging too +violently in a gale of wind. + +Both sexes take part in nest-construction. After the formation of the +cross-bar at the mouth of the bell one of the birds sits inside and +the other outside, and they pass the strands to each other and thus +the weaving proceeds rapidly. While working at the nest the bayas, +more especially the cocks, are in a most excited state. They sing, +scream, flap their wings and snap the bill. Sometimes one cock in his +excitement attacks a neighbour by jumping on his back! This results in +a fight in which the birds flutter in the air, pecking at one another. +Often the combatants "close" for a few seconds, but neither bird seems +to get hurt in these little contests. + +Every bird-lover should make a point of watching a company of +weaver-birds while these are constructing their nests. The tree or +trees in which they build can easily be located by sending a servant +in July to search for them. The favourite sites for nests in the +United Provinces seem to be babul trees that grow near borrow pits +alongside the railroad. + +In the rainy season two other birds weave nests, which are nearly as +elegant as those woven by the baya. These birds, however, do not nest +in company. They usually build inside bushes, or in long grass. + +For this reason they do not lend themselves to observation while at +work so readily as bayas do. The birds in question are the Indian and +the ashy wren-warbler. + +The former species brings up two broods in the year. One, as has been +mentioned, in March and the other in the "rains." + +The nest of the Indian wren-warbler (_Prinia inornata_) is, except for +its shape and its smaller size, very like that of a weaver-bird. It is +an elongated purse or pocket, closely and compactly woven with fine +strips of grass from 1/40 to 1/20 inch in breadth. The nest is entered +by a hole near the top. Both birds work at the nest, clinging first to +the neighbouring stems of grass or twigs, and later to the nest itself +when this has attained sufficient dimensions to afford them foothold. +They push the ends of the grass in and out just as weaver-birds do. +Like the baya, the Indian wren-warbler does not line its nest. The +eggs are pale greenish-blue, richly marked by various shades of deep +chocolate and reddish-brown. As Hume remarks: "nothing can exceed the +beauty or variety of markings, which are a combination of bold +blotches, clouds and spots, with delicate, intricately woven lines, +recalling somewhat ... those of our early favourite--the +yellow-hammer." + +The ashy wren-warbler (_Prinia socialis_) builds two distinct kinds of +nest. One is just like that of the tailor-bird, being formed by sewing +or cobbling together two, three, four or five leaves, and lining the +cup thus formed with down, wool, cotton or other soft material. The +second kind of nest is a woven one. This is a hollow ball with a hole +in the side. The weaving is not so neat as that of the baya and the +Indian wren-warbler. Moreover, several kinds of material are usually +worked into the nest, which is invariably lined. + +The building of two totally different types of nest is an interesting +phenomenon, and seems to indicate that under the name _Prinia +socialis_ are classed two different species, which anatomically are so +like one another that systematists are unable to separate them. Both +kinds of nests are found in the same locality and at the same time of +the year. Against the theory that there are two species of ashy +wren-warbler is the fact that there is no difference in appearance +between the eggs found in the two kinds of nest. All eggs are +brick-red or mahogany colour, without any spots or markings. + +Many of the Indian cliff-swallows, of which the nests are described in +the calendar for March, bring up a second brood in the "rains." + +Needless to state that in the monsoon the tank and the _jhil_ are the +happy hunting grounds of the ornithologist. + +In July and August not less than thirty species of waterfowl +nidificate. Floating nests are constructed by sarus cranes, purple +coots and the jacanas. The various species of egrets breed in colonies +in trees in some village not far from a tank; in company with them +spoonbills, cormorants, snake-birds, night-herons and other birds +often nest. The white-breasted waterhen constructs its nursery in a +thicket at the margin of some village pond. The resident ducks are +also busy with their nests. These are in branches of trees, in holes +in trees or old buildings, or on the ground. + +When describing the nesting operations of waterfowl in Northern India +it is difficult to apportion these between July and August, for the +eggs of almost all such species are as likely to be found in the one +month as in the other. A few individuals begin to lay in June, the +majority commence in July, but a great many defer operations until +August. There is scarcely an aquatic species of which it can be said: +"It never lays before August." Nor are there many of which it can be +asserted: "Their eggs are never found after July." + +Individuals differ in their habit. A retarded monsoon means that the +water-birds begin to nest later than usual. The first fall of the +monsoon rain seems to be the signal for the commencement of nesting +operations, but by no means every pair of birds obeys the signal +immediately. + +The nearest approach to a generalisation which it is possible to make +is that the egrets and paddy-birds are usually the first of the +monsoon breeders to begin nest-building, while the spot-billed duck, +the whistling teal and the bronze-winged jacana are the last. In other +words, the eggs of the former are most likely to be found in July and +those of the latter in August. + +As the calendar for this month has already attained considerable +dimensions, a description of the nests of all these water-birds is +given in the August calendar. It is, however, necessary to state that +the eggs of the following birds are likely to be found in July: purple +coot, common coot, bronze-winged and pheasant-tailed jacana, black +ibis, white-necked stork, cormorant, snake-bird, cotton teal, comb +duck, spot-billed duck, spoonbill, and the various herons and egrets. + + + + +AUGUST + + See! the flushed horizon flames intense + With vivid red, in rich profusion streamed + O'er heaven's pure arch. At once the clouds assume + Their gayest liveries; these with silvery beams + Fringed lovely; splendid those in liquid gold, + And speak their sovereign's state. He comes, behold! + MALLET. + + +The transformation scene described in July continues throughout +August. Torrential rain alternates with fierce sunshine. The earth is +verdant with all shades of green. Most conspicuous of these are the +yellowish verdure of the newly-transplanted rice, the vivid emerald of +the young plants that have taken root, the deeper hue of the growing +sugar-cane, and the dark green of the mango topes. + +Unless the monsoon has been unusually late in reaching Northern India +the autumn crops are all sown before the first week in August. The +sugar-cane is now over five feet in height. The cultivators are busily +transplanting the better kinds of rice, or running the plough through +fields in which the coarser varieties are growing. + +The aloes are in flower. Their white spikes of drooping tulip-like +flowers are almost the only inflorescences to be seen outside gardens +at this season of the year. The mango crop is over, but that of the +pineapples takes its place. + +At night-time many of the trees are illumined by hundreds of +fireflies. These do not burn their lamps continuously. Each insect +lets its light shine for a few seconds and then suddenly puts it out. +It sometimes happens that all the fireflies in a tree show their +lights and extinguish them simultaneously and thereby produce a +luminous display which is strikingly beautiful. Fireflies are to be +seen during the greater part of the year, but they are far more +abundant in the "rains" than at any other season. + +As in July so in August the voices of the birds are rarely heard after +dark. The nocturnal music is now the product of the batrachian band, +ably seconded by the crickets. + +During a prolonged break in the rains the frogs and toads are hushed, +except in _jhils_ and low-lying paddy fields. Cessation of the rain, +however, does not silence the crickets. + +The first streak of dawn is the signal for the striking up of the +jungle and the spotted owlets. Hard upon them follow the koels and the +brain-fever birds. These call only for a short time, remaining silent +during the greater part of the day. Other birds that lift up their +voices at early dawn are the crow-pheasant, the black partridge and +the peacock. These also call towards dusk. As soon as the sun has +risen the green barbets, coppersmiths, white-breasted kingfishers and +king-crows utter their familiar notes; even these birds are heard but +rarely in the middle of the day, nor have their voices the vigour that +characterised them in the hot weather. Occasionally the brown +rock-chat emits a few notes, but he does so in a half-hearted manner. +In the early days of August the magpie-robins sing at times; their +song, however, is no longer the brilliant performance it was. By the +end of the month it has completely died away. + +The Indian cuckoo no more raises its voice in the plains, but the pied +crested-cuckoo continues to call lustily and the pied starlings make a +joyful noise. The oriole's liquid _pee-ho_ is gradually replaced by +the loud _tew_, which is its usual cry at times when it is not +nesting. + +The water-birds, being busy at their nests, are of course noisy, but, +with the exception of the loud trumpeting of the sarus cranes, their +vocal efforts are heard only at the _jhil_. + +The did-he-do-its, the rollers, the bee-eaters, two or three species +of warblers and the perennial singers complete the avian chorus. + +Numbers of rosy starlings are returning from Asia Minor, where they +have reared up their broods. The inrush of these birds begins in July +and continues till October. They are the forerunners of the autumn +immigrants. Towards the end of the month the garganey or blue-winged +teal (_Querquedula circia_), which are the earliest of the migratory +ducks to visit India, appear on the tanks. Along with them comes the +advance-guard of the snipe. The pintail snipe (_Gallinago stenura_) +are invariably the first to appear, but they visit only the eastern +parts of Northern India. Large numbers of them sojourn in Bengal and +Assam. Stragglers appear in the eastern portion of the United +Provinces; in the western districts and in the Punjab this snipe is a +_rara avis_. By the third week in August good bags of pintail snipe +are sometimes obtained in Bengal. The fantail or full-snipe (_G. +coelestis_) is at least one week later in arriving. This species has +been shot as early as the 24th August, but there is no general +immigration of even the advance-guard until quite the end of the +month. + +The jack-snipe (_G. gallinula_) seems never to appear before +September. + +Most of the monsoon broods of the Indian cliff-swallow emerge from the +eggs in August. The "rains" breeding season of the amadavats or red +munias is now over, and the bird-catcher issues forth to snare them. + +His stock-in-trade consists of some seed and two or three amadavats in +one of the pyramid-shaped wicker cages that can be purchased for a few +annas in any bazaar. To the base of one of the sides of the cage a +flap is attached by a hinge. The flap, which is of the same shape and +size as the side of the cage, is composed of a frame over which a +small-meshed string net is stretched. A long string is fastened to the +apex of the flap and passed through a loop at the top of the cage. +Selecting an open space near some tall grass in which amadavats are +feeding, the bird-catcher sets down the cage and loosens the string so +that the flap rests on the earth. Some seed is sprinkled on the flap. +Then the trapper squats behind a bush, holding the end of the string +in his hand. The cheerful little _lals_ inside the cage soon begin to +twitter and sing, and their calls attract the wild amadavats in the +vicinity. These come to the cage, alight on the flap, and begin to eat +the seed. The bird-catcher gives the string a sharp pull and thus +traps his victims between the flap and the side of the cage. He then +disentangles them, places them in the cage, and again sets the trap. + +Almost all the birds that rear up their young in the spring have +finished nesting duties for the year by August. Here and there a pair +of belated rollers may be seen feeding their young. Before the +beginning of the month nearly all the young crows and koels have +emerged from the egg, and the great majority of them have left the +nest. Young house-crows are distinguished from adults by the +indistinctness of the grey on the neck. They continually open their +great red mouths to clamour for food. + +The wire-tailed swallows, swifts, pied crested-cuckoos, +crow-pheasants, butcher-birds, cuckoo-shrikes, fantail flycatchers, +babblers, white-necked storks, wren-warblers, weaver-birds, common and +pied mynas, peafowl, and almost all the resident water-birds, waders +and swimmers, except the terns and the plovers, are likely to have +eggs or young. The nesting season of the swifts and butcher-birds is +nearly over. In the case of the others it is at its height. The +wire-tailed swallows and minivets are busy with their second broods. +The nests of most of these birds have already been described. + +The Indian peafowl (_Pavo cristatus_) usually lay their large white +eggs on the ground in long grass or thick undergrowth. Sometimes they +nestle on the grass-grown roofs of deserted buildings or in other +elevated situations. Egrets, night-herons, cormorants, darters, +paddy-birds, openbills, and spoonbills build stick nests in trees. +These birds often breed in large colonies. In most cases the site +chosen is a clump of trees in a village which is situated on the +border of a tank. Sometimes all these species nest in company. Hume +described a village in Mainpuri where scores of the above-mentioned +birds, together with some whistling teal and comb-ducks, nested +simultaneously. After a site has been selected by a colony the birds +return year after year to the place for nesting purposes. The majority +of the eggs are laid in July, the young appearing towards the end of +that month or early in the present one. + +The nest of the sarus crane (_Grus antigone_) is nearly always an +islet some four feet in diameter, which either floats in shallow water +or rises from the ground and projects about a foot above the level of +the water. The nest is composed of dried rushes. It may be placed in a +_jhil_, a paddy field, or a borrow pit by the railway line. A +favourite place is the midst of paddy cultivation in some low-lying +field where the water is too deep to admit of the growing of rice. Two +very large white eggs, rarely three, are laid. This species makes no +attempt to conceal its nest. In the course of a railway journey in +August numbers of incubating saruses may be seen by any person who +takes the trouble to look for them. + +"Raoul" makes the extraordinary statement that incubating sarus cranes +do not sit when incubating, but hatch the eggs by standing over them, +one leg on each side of the nest! Needless to say there is no truth +whatever in this statement. The legs of the sitting sarus crane are +folded under it, as are those of incubating flamingos and other +long-legged birds. + +Throughout the month of August two of the most interesting birds in +India are busy with their nests. They are the pheasant-tailed and the +bronze-winged jacana. These birds live, move and have their being on +the surface of lotus-covered tanks. Owing to the great length of their +toes jacanas are able to run about with ease over the surface of the +floating leaves of water-lilies and other aquatic plants, or over +tangled masses of rushes and water-weeds. + +In the monsoon many tanks are so completely covered with vegetation +that almost the only water visible to a person standing on the bank +consists of the numerous drops that have been thrown on to the flat +surfaces of the leaves, where they glisten in the sun like pearls. + +Two species of jacana occur in India: the bronze-winged (_Motopus +indicus_) and the pheasant-tailed jacana or the water-pheasant +(_Hydrophasianus chirurgus_). They are to be found on most tanks in +the well-watered parts of the United Provinces. They occur in small +flocks and are often put up by sportsmen when shooting duck. They emit +weird mewing cries. The bronze-winged jacana is a black bird with +bronze wings. It is about the size of a pigeon, but has much longer +legs. The pheasant-tailed species is a black-and-white bird. In winter +the tail is short, but in May both sexes grow long pheasant-like +caudal feathers which give the bird its popular name. The +bronze-winged jacana does not grow these long tail feathers. + +The nests of jacanas are truly wonderful structures. They are just +floating pads of rushes and leaves of aquatic plants. Sometimes +practically the whole of the pad is under water, so that the eggs +appear to be resting on the surface of the tank. The nest of the +bronze-winged species is usually larger and more massive than that of +the water-pheasant. The latter's nest is sometimes so small as hardly +to be able to contain the eggs--a little, shallow, circular cup of +rushes and water-weeds or floating lotus leaves or tufts of +water-grass. The eggs of the two species show but little similarity. +Both, however, are very beautiful and remarkable. The eggs of the +bronze-winged jacana have a rich brownish-bronze background, on which +black lines are scribbled in inextricable confusion, so that the egg +looks as though Arabic texts had been scrawled over it. This species +might well be called "the Arabic writing-master." The eggs of the +water-pheasant are in shape like pegtops without the peg. They are of +a dark rich green-bronze colour, and devoid of any markings. + +The nest of the handsome, but noisy, purple coot (_Porphyrio +poliocephalus_) is a platform of rushes and reeds which is sometimes +placed on the ground in a rice field, but is more often floating, and +is then tethered to a tree or some other object. From six to ten eggs +are laid. These are very beautiful objects. The ground colour is +delicate pink. This is spotted and blotched with crimson; beneath +these spots there are clouds of pale purple which have the appearance +of lying beneath the surface of the shell. + +The white-breasted water-hen (_Gallinula phoenicura_) is a bird that +must be familiar to all. One pair, at least, is to be found in every +village which boasts of a tank and a bamboo clump, no matter how small +these be. The water-hen is a black bird about the size of the average +bazaar fowl, with a white face, throat and breast. It carries its +short tail almost erect, and under this is a patch of brick-red +feathers. During most seasons of the year it is a silent bird, but +from mid-May until the end of the monsoon it is exceedingly noisy, +and, were it in the habit of haunting our gardens and compounds, its +cries would attract as much attention as do those of the koel and the +brain-fever bird. As, however, water-hens are confined to tiny hamlets +situated far away from cities, many people are not acquainted with +their calls, which "Eha" describes as "roars, hiccups and cackles." +The nest is built in a bamboo clump or other dense thicket. The eggs +are stone-coloured, with spots of brown, red and purple. The young +birds, when first hatched, are covered with black down, and look like +little black ducklings. They can run, swim and dive as soon as they +leave the egg. Little parties of them are to be seen at the edge of +most village tanks in August. + +The resident ducks are all busy with their nests. The majority of them +lay their eggs in July, so that in August they are occupied with their +young. + +The cotton-teal (_Nettopus coromandelianus_) usually lays its eggs in +a hole in a mango or other tree. The hollow is sometimes lined with +feathers and twigs. It is not very high up as a rule, from six to +twelve feet above the ground being the usual level. The tree selected +for the nesting site is not necessarily close to water. Thirteen or +fourteen eggs seem to be the usual clutch, but as many as twenty-two +have been taken from one nest. Young teal, when they emerge from the +egg, can swim and walk, but they are unable to fly. No European seems +to have actually observed the process whereby they get from the nest +to the ground or the water. It is generally believed that the parent +birds carry them. Mr. Stuart Baker writes that a very intelligent +native once told him that, early one morning, before it was light, he +was fishing in a tank, when he saw a bird flutter heavily into the +water from a tree in front of him and some twenty paces distant. The +bird returned to the tree, and again, with much beating of the wings, +fluttered down to the surface of the tank; this performance was +repeated again and again at intervals of some minutes. At first the +native could only make out that the cause of the commotion was a bird +of some kind, but after a few minutes, he, remaining crouched among +the reeds and bushes, saw distinctly that it was a cotton-teal, and +that each time it flopped into the water and rose again it left a +gosling behind it. The young ones were carried somehow in the feet, +but the parent bird seemed to find the carriage of its offspring no +easy matter; it flew with difficulty, and fell into the water with +considerable force. + +August is the month in which some fortunate observer will one year be +able to confirm or refute this story. + +The comb-duck or _nukta_ (_Sarcidiornis melanotus_), which looks more +like a freak of some domesticated breed than one of nature's own +creatures, makes, in July or August, a nest of grass and sticks in a +hole in a tree or in the fork of a stout branch. Sometimes disused +nests of other species are utilised. About a dozen eggs is the usual +number of the clutch, but Anderson once found a nest containing no +fewer than forty eggs. + +The lesser whistling-teal (_Dendrocygna javanica_) usually builds its +nest in a hollow in a tree. Sometimes it makes use of the deserted +nursery of another species, and there are many cases on record of the +nest being on the ground, a _bund_, or a piece of high ground in a +_jhil_. Eight or ten eggs are laid. + +The little grebe or dabchick (_Podiceps albipennis_) is another +species that lays in July or August. This bird, which looks like a +miniature greyish-brown duck without a tail, must be familiar to +Anglo-Indians, since at least one pair are to be seen on almost every +pond or tank in Northern India. Although permanent residents in this +country, little grebes leave, in the "rains," those tanks that do not +afford plenty of cover, and betake themselves to a _jhil_ where +vegetation is luxuriant. The nest, like that of other species that +build floating cradles, is a tangle of weeds and rushes. When the +incubating bird leaves the nest she invariably covers the white eggs +with wet weeds, and, as Hume remarks, it is almost impossible to catch +the old bird on the nest or to take her so much by surprise as not to +allow her time to cover up the eggs. As a matter of fact, these birds +spend very little time upon the nest in the day-time. The sun's rays +are powerful enough not only to supply the heat necessary for +incubation but to bake the eggs. This _contretemps_, however, is +avoided by placing wet weeds on the eggs and by the general moisture +of the nest. No better idea of the heat of India during the monsoon +can be furnished than that afforded by the case of some cattle-egrets' +eggs taken by a friend of the writer's in August, 1913. He found a +clutch of four eggs; not having leisure at the time to blow them, he +placed them in a bowl on the drawing-room mantelshelf. On the evening +of the following day he heard some squeaks, but, thinking that these +sounds emanated from a musk-rat or one of the other numerous rent-free +tenants of every Indian bungalow, paid little heed to them. When, +however, the same sounds were heard some hours later and appeared to +emanate from the mantelpiece, he went to the bowl, and, lo and behold, +two young egrets had emerged! These were at once fed. They lived for +three days and appeared to be in good health, when they suddenly gave +up the ghost. + + + + +SEPTEMBER + + And sweet it is by lonely meres + To sit, with heart and soul awake, + Where water-lilies lie afloat, + Each anchored like a fairy boat + Amid some fabled elfin lake: + To see the birds flit to and fro + Along the dark-green reedy edge. + MARY HOWITT. + + +September is a much-abused month. Many people assert that it is the +most unpleasant and unhealthy season of the year. + +Malarial and muggy though it is, September scarcely merits all the +evil epithets that are applied to it. The truth is that, after the +torrid days of the hot weather and the humid heat of the rainy season, +the European is thoroughly weary of his tropical surroundings, his +vitality is at a low ebb, he is languid and irritable, thus he +complains bitterly of the climate of September, notwithstanding the +fact that it is a distinct improvement on that of the two preceding +months. + +In the early part of the month the weather differs little from that of +July and August. The days are somewhat shorter and the sun's rays +somewhat less powerful, in consequence the average temperature is +slightly lower. Normally the rains cease in the second half of the +month. Then the sky resumes the fleckless blueness which characterises +it during the greater part of the year. The blue of the sky is more +pure and more intense in September than at other times, except during +breaks in the monsoon, because the rain has washed from the atmosphere +the myriads of specks of dust that are usually suspended in it. + +The cessation of the rains is followed by a period of steamy heat. As +the moisture of the air gradually diminishes the temperature rises. +But each September day is shorter than the one before it, and, hour by +hour, the rays of the sun part with some of their power. Towards the +end of the month the nights are cooler than they have been for some +time. At sunset the village smoke begins to hang low in a diaphanous +cloud--a sure sign of the approaching cold weather. The night dews are +heavy. In the morning the blades of grass and the webs of the spiders +are bespangled with pearly dewdrops. Cool zephyrs greet the rising +sun. At dawn there is, in the last days of the month, a touch of cold +in the air. + +The Indian countryside displays a greenness which is almost +spring-like; not quite spring-like, because the fierce greens induced +by the monsoon rains are not of the same hues as those of the young +leaves of spring. The foliage is almost entirely free from dust. This +fact adds to the vernal appearance of the landscape. The _jhils_ and +tanks are filled with water, and, being overgrown with luxuriant +vegetation, enhance the beauty of the scene. But, almost immediately +after the cessation of the rains, the country begins to assume its +usual look. Day by day the grass loses a little of its greenness. The +earth dries up gradually, and its surface once more becomes dusty. The +dust is carried to the foliage, on which it settles, subduing the +natural greenery of the leaves. No sooner do the rains cease than the +rivers begin to fall. By November most of them will be sandy wastes in +which the insignificant stream is almost lost to view. + +The mimosas flower in September. Their yellow spherical blossoms are +rendered pale by contrast with the deep gold hue of the blooms of the +_san_ (hemp) which now form a conspicuous feature of the landscape in +many districts. The cork trees (_Millingtonia hortensis_) become +bespangled with hanging clusters of white, long-tubed, star-like +flowers that give out fragrant perfume at night. + +The first-fruits of the autumn harvest are being gathered in. Acre +upon acre of the early-sown rice falls before the sickle. The +threshing-floors once again become the scene of animation. The fallow +fields are being prepared for the spring crops and the sowing of the +grain is beginning. + +Throughout the month insect life is as rich and varied as it was in +July and August. + +The brain-fever bird and the koel call so seldom in September that +their cries, when heard, cause surprise. The voice of the pied +crested-cuckoo no longer falls upon the ear, nor does the song of the +magpie-robin. The green barbets lift up their voices fairly +frequently, but it is only on rare occasions that their cousins--the +coppersmiths--hammer on their anvils. The pied mynas are far less +vociferous than they were in July and August. + +By the end of September the bird chorus has assumed its winter form, +except that the grey-headed flycatchers have not joined it in numbers. + +Apart from the sharp notes of the warblers, the cooing of the doves, +the hooting of the crow-pheasants, the wailing of the kites, the +cawing of the crows, the screaming of the green parrots, the +chattering of the mynas and the seven sisters, the trumpeting of the +sarus cranes and the clamouring of the lapwings, almost the only bird +voices commonly heard are those of the fantail flycatcher, the +amadavat, the wagtail, the oriole, the roller and the sunbird. + +The cock sunbirds are singing brilliantly although they are still +wearing their workaday garments, which are quaker brown save for one +purple streak along the median line of the breast and abdomen. + +Many birds are beginning to moult. They are casting off worn feathers +and assuming the new ones that will keep them warm during the cool +winter months. With most birds the new feathers grow as fast as the +old ones fall out. In a few, however, the process of renewal does not +keep pace with that of shedding; the result is that the moulting bird +presents a mangy appearance. The mynas afford conspicuous examples of +this; when moulting their necks often become almost nude, so that the +birds bear some resemblance to miniature vultures. + +Great changes in the avifauna take place in September. + +The yellow-throated sparrows, the koels, the sunbirds, the bee-eaters, +the red turtle-doves and the majority of the king-crows leave the +Punjab. From the United Provinces there is a large exodus of +brain-fever birds, koels, pied crested-cuckoos, paradise flycatchers +and Indian orioles. These last are replaced by black-headed orioles in +the United Provinces, but not in the Punjab. + +On the other hand, the great autumnal immigration takes place +throughout the month. Before September is half over the migratory +wagtails begin to appear. Like most birds they travel by night when +migrating. They arrive in silence, but on the morning of their coming +the observer cannot fail to notice their cheerful little notes, which, +like the hanging of the village smoke, are to be numbered among the +signs of the approach of winter. The three species that visit India in +the largest numbers are the white (_Motacilla alba_), the masked (_M. +personata_) and the grey wagtail (_M. melanope_). In Bengal the first +two are largely replaced by the white-faced wagtail (_M. leucopsis_). +The names "white" and "grey" are not very happy ones. The white +species is a grey bird with a white face and some black on the head +and breast; the masked wagtail is very difficult to distinguish from +the white species, differing in having less white and more black on +the head and face, the white constituting the "mask"; the grey wagtail +has the upper plumage greenish-grey and the lower parts +sulphur-yellow. The three species arrive almost simultaneously, but +the experience of the writer is that the grey bird usually comes a day +or two before his cousins. + +On one of the last ten days of September the first batch of Indian +redstarts (_Ruticilla frontalis_) reaches India. Within twenty days of +the coming of these welcome little birds it is possible to dispense +with punkas. + +Like the redstarts the rose-finches and minivets begin to pour into +India towards the end of September. The snipe arrive daily throughout +the month. + +With the first full moon of September come the grey quail (_Coturnix +communis_). These, like the rain-quail, afford good sport with the gun +if attracted by call birds set down overnight. When the stream of +immigrating quail has ceased to flow, these birds spread themselves +over the well-cropped country. It then becomes difficult to obtain a +good bag of quail until the time of the spring harvest, when they +collect in the crops that are still standing. + +Thousands of blue-winged teal invade India in September, but most of +the other species of non-resident duck do not arrive until October or +even November. + +Not the least important of the September arrivals are the migratory +birds of prey. None of the owls seem to migrate. Nor do the vultures, +but a large proportion of the diurnal raptores leaves the plains of +India in the spring. + +To every migratory species of raptorial bird, that captures living +quarry, there is a non-migratory counterpart or near relative. It +would almost seem as if each species were broken up into two clans--a +migratory and a stationary one. Thus, of each of the following pairs +of birds the first-named is migratory and the other non-migratory: the +steppe-eagle and the tawny eagle, the large Indian and the common +kite, the long-legged and the white-eyed buzzard, the sparrow-hawk and +the shikra, the peregrine and the lugger falcon, the common and the +red-headed merlin, the kestrel and the black-winged kite. + +It is tempting to formulate the theory that the raptores are migratory +or the reverse according or not as they prey on birds of passage, and +that the former migrate merely in order to follow their quarry. +Certain facts seem to bear out this theory. The peregrine falcon, +which feeds largely on ducks, is migratory, while the lugger falcon--a +bird not particularly addicted to waterfowl--remains in India +throughout the year. + +The necessity of following their favourite quarry may account for the +migratory habits of some birds of prey, but it does not apply to all. +Thus, the osprey, which feeds almost exclusively on fish, is merely a +winter visitor to India. Again, there is the kestrel. This preys on +non-migratory rats and mice, nevertheless it leaves the plains in the +hot weather and goes to the Himalayas to breed. All the species of +birds of prey cited above as migratory begin to arrive in the plains +of India in September. The merlins come only into the Punjab, but most +of the other raptores spread over the whole of India. + +The various species of harrier make their appearance in September. +These are birds that cannot fail to attract attention. They usually +fly slowly a few feet above the surface of the earth so that they can +drop suddenly on their quarry. They squat on the ground when resting, +but their wings are long and their bodies light, so that they do not +need much rest. Those who shoot duck have occasion often to say hard +things of the marsh-harrier and the peregrine falcon, because these +birds are apt to come as unbidden guests to the shoot and carry off +wounded duck and teal before the _shikari_ has time to retrieve them. + +Of the migratory birds of prey the kestrel is perhaps the first to +arrive; the osprey and the peregrine falcon are among the last. + +Very few observations of the comings and the goings of the various +raptorial birds have been recorded; in the present state of our +knowledge it is not possible to compile an accurate table showing the +usual order in which the various species appear. This is a subject to +which those persons who dwell permanently in one place might with +advantage direct their attention. + +As regards nesting operations September is not a month of activity. + +On the 15th the close season for game birds ends in the Government +forests; and by that date the great majority of them have reared up +their broods. Grey partridge's eggs, it is true, have been taken in +September; but as we have seen, grey partridges, like doves and kites, +can scarcely be said to have a breeding season; they lay eggs whenever +it seemeth good to them. + +A few belated peafowl may still be found with eggs, but these are +exceptions. Most of the hens are strutting about proudly, accompanied +by their chicks, while the cocks are shedding their trains. Other +species of which the eggs may be found in the present month are the +white-throated munia, the common and the large grey babblers, and, of +course, the various species of dove. + +Before the last day of August all the young mynas have emerged from +the egg, and throughout the first half of September numbers of them +are to be seen following their parents and clamouring for food. Most +of the koels have departed, but some individuals belonging to the +rising generation remind us that they are still with us by emitting +sounds which are very fair imitations of the "sqwaking" of young +crows. + +Baby koels are as importunate as professional beggars and solicit food +of every crow that passes by, to the great disgust of all but their +foster-parents. + +The majority of the seven sisters have done with nursery duties for a +season. Some flocks, however, are still accompanied by impedimenta in +the shape of young babblers or pied crested-cuckoos. The impedimenta +make far more noise than the adult birds. They are always hungry, or +at any rate always demanding food in squeaky tones. With each squeak +the wings are flapped violently, as if to emphasise the demand. Every +member of a flock appears to help to feed the young birds irrespective +of whose nests these have been reared in. + +Throughout September bayas are to be seen at their nests, but, before +the month draws to its close, nearly all the broods have come out into +the great world. The nests will remain until next monsoon, or even +longer, as monuments of sound workmanship. + +In September numbers of curious brown birds, heavily barred with +black, make their appearance. These are crow-pheasants that have +emerged from nests hidden away in dense thickets. In a few weeks these +birds will lose their barred feathers and assume the black plumage and +red wings of the adult. By the end of August most of the night-herons +and those of the various species of egrets that have not been killed +by the plume-hunters are able to congratulate themselves on having +successfully reared up their broods. In September they lose their +nuptial plumes. + + + + +OCTOBER + + Ye strangers, banished from your native glades, + Where tyrant frost with famine leag'd proclaims + "Who lingers dies"; with many a risk ye win + The privilege to breathe our softer air + And glean our sylvan berries. + GISBORNE'S _Walks in a Forest_. + + +October in India differs from the English month in almost every +respect. The one point of resemblance is that both are periods of +falling temperature. + +In England autumn is the season for the departure of the migratory +birds; in India it is the time of their arrival. + +The chief feature of the English October--the falling of the +leaves--is altogether wanting in the Indian autumn. + +Spring is the season in which the pulse of life beats most vigorously +both in Europe and in Asia; it is therefore at that time of year that +the trees renew their garments. + +In England leaves are short-lived. After an existence of about six +months they "curl up, become brown, and flutter from their sprays." In +India they enjoy longer lives, and retain their greenness for the +greater part of a year. A few Indian trees, as, for example, the +shesham, lose their foliage in autumn; the silk-cotton and the coral +trees part with their leaves gradually during the early months of the +winter, but these are the exceptions; nearly all the trees retain +their old leaves until the new ones appear in spring, so that, in this +country, March, April and May are the months in which the dead leaves +lie thick upon the ground. + +In many ways the autumn season in Northern India resembles the English +spring. The Indian October may be likened to April in England. Both +are months of hope, heralds of the most pleasant period of the year. +In both the countryside is fresh and green. In both millions of avian +visitors arrive. + +Like the English April, October in Northern India is welcome chiefly +for that to which it leads. But it has merits of its own. Is not each +of its days cooler than the preceding one? Does it not produce the +joyous morn on which human beings awake to find that the hot weather +is a thing of the past? + +Throughout October the sun's rays are hot, but, for an hour or two +after dawn, especially in the latter half of the month, the climate +leaves little to be desired. An outing in the early morning is a thing +of joy, if it be taken while yet the air retains the freshness +imparted to it by the night, and before the grass has yielded up the +sparkling jewels acquired during the hours of darkness. It is good to +ride forth on an October morn with the object of renewing acquaintance +with nimble wagtails, sprightly redstarts, stately demoiselle cranes +and other newly-returned migrants. In addition to meeting many winter +visitors, the rider may, if he be fortunate, come upon a colony of +sand-martins that has begun nesting operations. + +The husbandman enjoys very little leisure at this season of the year. +From dawn till sunset he ploughs, or sows, or reaps, or threshes, or +winnows. + +The early-sown rice yields the first-fruits of the _kharif_ harvest. +By the end of the month it has disappeared before the sickle and many +of the fields occupied by it have been sown with gram. The hemp +(_san_) is the next crop to mature. In some parts of Northern India +its vivid yellow flowers are the most conspicuous feature of the +autumn landscape. They are as brilliantly coloured as broom. The _san_ +plant is not allowed to display its gilded blooms for long, it is cut +down in the prime of life and cast into a village pond, there to soak. +The harvesting of the various millets, the picking of the cotton, and +the sowing of the wheat, barley, gram and poppy begin before the close +of the month. The sugar-cane, the _arhar_ and the late-sown rice are +not yet ready for the sickle. Those crops will be cut in November and +December. + +As in September so in October the birds are less vociferous than they +were in the spring and the hot weather. During the earlier part of the +month the notes of the koel and the brain-fever bird are heard on rare +occasions; before October has given place to November, these noisy +birds cease to trouble. The pied starlings have become comparatively +subdued, their joyful melody is no longer a notable feature of the +avian chorus. In the first half of the month the green barbets utter +their familiar cries at frequent intervals; as the weather grows +colder they call less often, but at no season of the year do they +cease altogether to raise their voices. The _tonk_, _tonk_, _tonk_ of +the coppersmith is rarely heard in October; during the greater part of +the cold weather this barbet is a silent creature, reminding us of its +presence now and then by calling out _wow_ softly, as if half ashamed +at the sound of its voice. The oriole now utters its winter note +_tew_, and that sound is heard only occasionally. + +It is unnecessary to state that the perennials--the crows, kites, +doves, bee-eaters, tree-pies, tailor-birds, cuckoo-shrikes, green +parrots, jungle and spotted owlets--are noisy throughout the month. + +The king-crows no longer utter the soft notes which they seem to keep +for the rainy season; but, before settling down to the sober delights +of the winter, some individuals become almost as lively and vociferous +as they were in the nesting season. Likewise some pairs of "blue jays" +behave, in September and October, as though they were about to +recommence courtship; they perform strange evolutions in the air and +emit harsh cries, but these lead to nothing; after a few days of noisy +behaviour the birds resume their more normal habits. + +The hoopoes have been silent for some time, but in October a few of +them take up their refrain--_uk-uk-uk-uk_, and utter it with almost as +much vigour as they did in March. + +It would thus seem that the change of season, the approach of winter, +has a stimulating influence on king-crows, rollers and hoopoes, +causing the energy latent within them suddenly to become active and to +manifest itself in the form of song or dance. + +In October the pied chat and the wood-shrike frequently make sweet +melody. Throughout the month the cock sunbirds sing as lustily and +almost as brilliantly as canaries; many of them are beginning to +reassume the iridescent purple plumage which they doffed some time +ago. From every mango tope emanates the cheerful lay of the fantail +flycatcher and the lively "Think of me ... Never to be" of the +grey-headed flycatcher. Amadavats sing sweet little songs without +words as they flit about among the tall grasses. + +In the early morning and at eventide, the crow-pheasants give vent to +their owl-like hoot, preceded by a curious guttural _kok-kok-kok_. The +young ones, that left the nest some weeks ago, are rapidly losing +their barred plumage and are assuming the appearance of the adult. By +the middle of November very few immature crow-pheasants are seen. + +Migration and moulting are the chief events in the feathered world at +the present season. The flood of autumn immigration, which arose as a +tiny stream in August, and increased in volume nightly throughout +September, becomes, in October, a mighty river on the bosom of which +millions of birds are borne. + +Day by day the avian population of the _jhils_ increases. At the +beginning of the month the garganey teal are almost the only migratory +ducks to be seen on them. By the first of November brahminy duck, +gadwall, common teal, widgeon, shovellers and the various species of +pochard abound. With the duck come demoiselle cranes, curlews, storks, +and sandpipers of various species. The geese and the pintail ducks, +however, do not return to India until November. These are the last of +the regular winter visitors to come and the first to go. + +The various kinds of birds of prey which began to appear in September +continue to arrive throughout the present month. + +Grey-headed and red-breasted flycatchers, minivets, bush-chats, +rose-finches and swallows pour into the plains from the Himalayas, +while from beyond those mountains come redstarts, wagtails, starlings, +buntings, blue-throats, quail and snipe. Along with the other migrants +come numbers of rooks and jackdaws. These do not venture far into +India; they confine themselves to the North-West Frontier Province and +the Punjab, where they remain during the greater part of the winter. +The exodus, from the above-mentioned Provinces, of the bee-eaters, +sunbirds, yellow-throated sparrows, orioles, red turtle-doves and +paradise flycatchers is complete by the end of October. The above are +by no means the only birds that undergo local migration. The great +majority of species probably move about in a methodical manner in the +course of the year; a great deal of local migration is overlooked, +because the birds that move away from a locality are replaced by +others of their kind that come from other places. + +During a spell of exceptionally cold weather a great many Himalayan +birds are driven by the snow into the plains of India, where they +remain for a few days or weeks. Some of these migrants are noticed in +the calendar for December. + +In October the annual moult of the birds is completed, so that, +clothed in their warm new feathers, they are ready for winter some +time before it comes. In the case of the redstart, the bush-chat, most +of the wagtails, and some other species, the moult completely changes +the colouring of the bird. The reason of this is that the edges of the +new feathers are not of the same colour as the inner parts. Only the +margins show, because the feathers of a bird overlap like slates on a +roof, or the scales of a fish. After a time the edges of the new +feathers become worn away, and then the differently-hued deeper parts +begin to show, so that the bird gradually resumes the appearance it +had before the moult. When the redstarts reach India in September most +of the cocks are grey birds, because of the grey margins to their +feathers; by the middle of April, when they begin to depart, many of +them are black, the grey margins of the feathers having completely +disappeared; other individuals are still grey because the margins of +the feathers are broader or have not worn so much. + +October is the month in which the falconer sallies forth to secure the +hawks which will be employed in "the sport of kings" during the cold +weather. There are several methods of catching birds of prey, as +indeed there are of capturing almost every bird and beast. The amount +of poaching that goes on in this country is appalling, and, unless +determined efforts are made to check it, there is every prospect of +the splendid fauna of India being ruined. The sportsman is bound by +all manner of restrictions, but the poacher is allowed to work his +wicked will on the birds and beasts of the country, almost without let +or hindrance. + +The apparatus usually employed for the capture of the peregrine, the +shahin and other falcons is a well-limed piece of cane, about the +length of the expanse of a falcon's wings. To the middle of this a +dove, of which the eyelids have been sewn up, is tied. When a wild +falcon appears on the scene the bird-catcher throws into the air the +cane with the luckless dove attached to it. The dove flies about +aimlessly, being unable to see, and is promptly pounced upon by the +falcon, whose wings strike the limed cane and become stuck to it; then +falcon and dove fall together to the ground, where they are secured by +the bird-catcher. + +Another method largely resorted to is to tether a myna, or other small +bird, to a peg driven into the ground, and to stretch before this a +net, about three feet broad and six long, kept upright by means of two +sticks inserted in the ground. Sooner or later a bird of prey will +catch sight of the tethered bird, stoop to it, and become entangled in +the net. + +A third device is to catch a buzzard and tie together some of the +flight feathers of the wing, so that it can fly only with difficulty +and cannot go far before it falls exhausted to the ground. To the feet +of the bird of which the powers of flight have been thus curtailed a +bundle of feathers is tied. Among the feathers several horsehair +nooses are set. When a bird of prey, of the kind on which the falconer +has designs, is seen the buzzard is thrown into the air. It flaps +along heavily, and is immediately observed by the falcon, which thinks +that the buzzard is carrying some heavy quarry in its talons. Now, the +buzzard is a weakling among the raptores and all the other birds of +prey despise it. Accordingly, the falcon, unmindful of the proverb +which says that honesty is the best policy, swoops down on the buzzard +with intent to commit larceny, and becomes entangled in the nooses. +Then both buzzard and falcon fall to the ground, struggling violently. +All that the bird-catcher has to do now is to walk up and secure his +prize. + +October marks the beginning of a lull in the nesting activities of +birds, a lull that lasts until February. As we have seen, the nesting +season of the birds that breed in the rains ends in September, +nevertheless a few belated crow-pheasants, sarus cranes and +weaver-birds are often to be found in October still busy with +nestlings, or even with eggs; the latter usually prove to be addled, +and this explains the late sitting of the parent. October, however, is +the month in which the nesting season of the black-necked storks +(_Xenorhynchus asiaticus_) begins, if the monsoon has been a normal +one and the rains have continued until after the middle of September. +This bird begins to nest shortly after the monsoon rains have ceased. +Hard-set eggs have been taken in the beginning of September and as +late as 27th December. Most eggs are laid during the month of October. +The nest is a large saucer-shaped platform of twigs and sticks. Hume +once found one "fully six feet long and three broad." The nest is +usually lined with grass or some soft material and is built high up in +a tree. The normal number of eggs is four, these are of a dirty white +hue. + + + + +NOVEMBER + + It is the very carnival of nature, + The loveliest season that the year can show! + + * * * * * + + The gently sighing breezes, as they blow, + Have more than vernal softness.... + BERNARD BARTON. + + +The climate of Northern India is one of extremes. Six months ago +European residents were seeking in vain suitable epithets of +disapprobation to apply to the weather; to-day they are trying to +discover appropriate words to describe the charm of November. It is +indeed strange that no poet has yet sung the praises of the perfect +climate of the present month. + +The cold weather of Northern India is not like any of the English +seasons. Expressed in terms of the British climate it is a dry summer, +warmest at the beginning and the end, in which the birds have +forgotten to nest. + +The delights of the Indian winter are enhanced for the Englishman by +the knowledge that, while he lives beneath a cloudless sky and enjoys +genial sunshine, his fellow-men in England dwell under leaden clouds +and endure days of fog, and mist, and rain, and sleet, and snow. In +England the fields are bare and the trees devoid of leaves; in India +the countryside wears a summer aspect. + +The sowings of the spring cereals are complete by the fifteenth of +November; those of the tobacco, poppy and potato continue throughout +the month. By the beginning of December most of the fields are covered +by an emerald carpet. + +The picking of the cotton begins in the latter part of October, with +the result that November is a month of hard toil for the ponies that +have to carry the heavy loads of cotton from the fields into the +larger towns. By the middle of the month all the _san_ has been cut +and the water-nuts have been gathered in. Then the pressing of the +sugar-cane begins in earnest. The little presses that for eight months +have been idle are once again brought into use, and, from mid-November +until the end of January, the patient village oxen work them, tramping +in circles almost without interruption throughout the short hours of +daylight. + +The custard-apples are ripening; the cork trees are white with pendent +jasmine-like flowers, and the loquat trees--the happy hunting ground +of flocks of blithe little white-eyes--put forth their inconspicuous +but strongly scented blossoms. Gay chrysanthemums are the most +conspicuous feature of the garden. The shesham and the silk-cotton +trees are fast losing their leaves, but all the other trees are +covered with foliage. + +The birds revel, like man, in the perfect conditions afforded by the +Indian winter; indeed, the fowls of the air are affected by climate to +a greater extent than man is. + +Those that winter in England suffer considerable hardship and +privation, while those that spend the cold weather in India enjoy life +to the uttermost. + +Consider the birds, how they fare on a winter's day in England when +there is a foot of snow lying on the ground and the keen east wind +whistles through the branches of the trees. In the lee of brick walls, +hayricks and thick hedges groups of disconsolate birds stand, seeking +some shelter from the piercing wind. The hawthorn berries have all +been eaten. Insect food there is none; it is only in the summer time +that the comfortable hum of insects is heard in England. Thus the +ordinary food supply of the fowls of the air is greatly restricted, +and scores of field-fares and other birds die of starvation. The +snow-covered lawn in front of every house, of which the inmates are in +the habit of feeding the birds, is the resort of many feathered +things. Along with the robins and sparrows--habitual recipients of the +alms of man--are blackbirds, thrushes, tits, starlings, chaffinches, +rooks, jackdaws and others, which in fair weather avoid, or scorn to +notice, man. These have become tamed by the cold, and, they stand on +the snow, cold, forlorn and half-starved--a miserable company of +supplicants for food. Throughout the short cold winter days scarcely a +bird note is heard; the fowls of the air are in no mood for song. + +Contrast the behaviour of the birds on a winter's day in India. In +every garden scores of them lead a joyful existence. Little flocks of +minivets display their painted wings as they flit hither and thither, +hunting insects on the leaves of trees. Amid the foliage warblers, +wood-shrikes, bulbuls, tree-pies, orioles and white-eyes busily seek +for food. Pied and golden-backed woodpeckers, companies of nuthatches, +and, here and there, a wryneck move about on the trunks and branches, +looking into every cranny for insects. King-crows, bee-eaters, fantail +and grey-headed flycatchers seek their quarry on the wing, making +frequent sallies into the open from their leafy bowers. Butcher-birds, +rollers and white-breasted kingfishers secure their victims on the +ground, dropping on to them silently from their watchtowers. +Magpie-robins, Indian robins, redstarts and tailor-birds likewise +capture their prey on the ground, but, instead of waiting patiently +for it to come to them, they hop about fussily in quest of it. Bright +sunbirds flit from bloom to bloom, now hovering in the air on +rapidly-vibrating wings, now dipping their slender curved bills into +the calyces. + +On the lawn wagtails run nimbly in search of tiny insects, hoopoes +probe the earth for grubs, mynas strut about, in company with +king-crows and starlings, seeking for grasshoppers. + +Overhead, swifts and swallows dash joyously to and fro, feasting on +the minute flying things that are found in the air even on the coolest +days. Above them, kites wheel and utter plaintive cries. Higher still, +vultures soar in grim silence. Flocks of emerald paroquets fly +past--as swift as arrows shot from bows--seeking grain or fruit. + +In the shady parts of the garden crow-pheasants look for snakes and +other crawling things, seven sisters rummage among the fallen leaves +for insects, and rose-finches pick from off the ground the tiny seeds +on which they feed. + +The fields and open plains swarm with larks, pipits, finch-larks, +lapwings, plovers, quail, buntings, mynas, crows, harriers, buzzards, +kestrels, and a score of other birds. + +But it is at the _jhils_ that bird life seems most abundant. On some +tanks as many as sixty different kinds of winged things may be +counted. There are the birds that swim in the deep water--the ducks, +teal, dabchicks, cormorants and snake-birds; the birds that run about +on the floating leaves of water-lilies and other aquatic plants--the +jacanas, water-pheasants and wagtails; the birds that wade in the +shallow water and feed on frogs or creatures that lurk hidden in the +mud--the herons, paddy-birds, storks, cranes, pelicans, whimbrels, +curlews, ibises and spoonbills; the birds that live among sedges and +reeds--the snipe, reed-warblers, purple coots and water-rails. Then +there are the birds that fly overhead--the great kite-like ospreys +that frequently check their flight to drop into the water with a big +splash, in order to secure a fish; the kingfishers that dive so neatly +as barely to disturb the smooth surface of the lake when they enter +and leave it; the graceful terns that pick their food off the face of +the _jhil_; the swifts and swallows that feed on the insects which +always hover over still water. + +Go where we will, be it to the sun-steeped garden, the shady mango +grove, the dusty road, the grassy plain, the fallow field, or among +the growing crops, there do we find bird life in abundance and food in +plenty to support it. + +This is not the breeding season, therefore the bird choir is not at +its best, nevertheless the feathered folk everywhere proclaim the +pleasure of existence by making a joyful noise. From the crowded +_jhil_ emanate the sweet twittering of the wagtails, the clanging call +of the geese, the sibilant note of the whistling teal, the curious +_a-onk_ of the brahminy ducks, the mewing of the jacanas and the +quacking of many kinds of ducks. Everywhere in the fields and the +groves are heard the cawing of the crows, the wailing of the kites, +the cooing of the doves, the twittering of the sparrows, the crooning +of the white-eyes, the fluting of the wood-shrikes, the tinkling of +the bulbuls, the chattering of the mynas, the screaming of the green +parrots, the golden-backed woodpeckers and the white-breasted +kingfishers, the mingled harmony and discord of the tree-pies, the +sharp monosyllabic notes of the various warblers, the melody of the +sunbirds and the flycatchers. The green barbets also call +spasmodically throughout the month, chiefly in the early morning and +the late afternoon, but the only note uttered by the coppersmith is a +soft _wow_. The hoopoe emits occasionally a spasmodic _uk-uk-uk_. + +The migrating birds continue to pour into India during the earlier +part of November. The geese are the last to arrive, they begin to come +before the close of October, and, from the second week of November +onwards, V-shaped flocks of these fine birds may be seen or heard +overhead at any hour of the day or night. + +The nesting activities of the fowls of the air are at their lowest ebb +in November. Some thirty species are known to rear up young in the +present month as opposed to five hundred in May. In the United +Provinces the only nest which the ornithologist can be sure of finding +is that of the white-backed vulture. + +Some of the amadavats are still nesting. Most of the eggs laid by +these birds in the rains yielded young ones in September, but it often +happens that the brood does not emerge from the eggs until the end of +October, with the result that in the earlier part of the present month +parties of baby amadavats are to be seen enjoying the first days of +their aerial existence. A few black-necked storks do not lay until +November; thus there is always the chance of coming upon an incubating +stork in the present month. Here and there a grey partridge's nest +containing eggs may be found. As has been said, the nesting season of +this species is not well-defined. + +The quaint little thick-billed mites known as white-throated munias +(_Munia malabarica_) are also very irregular as to their nesting +habits. Their eggs have been taken in every month of the year except +June. + +In some places Indian sand-martins are busy at their nests, but the +breeding season of the majority of these birds does not begin until +January. + +Pallas's fishing-eagle is another species of which the eggs are likely +to be found in the present month. If a pair of these birds have a nest +they betray the fact to the world by the unmusical clamour they make +from sunrise to sunset. + +The nesting season of the tawny eagle or wokab (_Aquila vindhiana_) +begins in November. The nest is a typical raptorial one, being a large +platform of sticks. It may attain a length of three feet and it is +usually as broad as it is long; it is about six inches in depth. It is +generally lined with leaves, sometimes with straw or grass and a few +feathers. It is placed at the summit of a tree. Two eggs are usually +laid. These are dirty white, more or less speckled with brown. The +young ones are at first covered with white down; in this respect they +resemble baby birds of prey of other species. The man who attempts to +take the eggs or young of this eagle must be prepared to ward off the +attack of the female, who, as is usual among birds of prey, is larger, +bolder and more powerful than the male. At Lahore the writer saw a +tawny eagle stoop at a man who had climbed a tree and secured the +eagle's eggs. She seized his turban and flew off with it, having +inflicted a scratch on his head. For the recovery of his turban the +egg-lifter had to thank a pair of kites that attacked the eagle and +caused her to drop that article while defending herself from their +onslaught. + + + + +DECEMBER + + Striped squirrels raced; the mynas perked and pricked, + The seven sisters chattered in the thorn, + The pied fish-tiger hung above the pool, + The egrets stalked among the buffaloes, + The kites sailed circles in the golden air; + About the painted temple peacocks flew. + ARNOLD, _The Light of Asia_. + + +In the eyes of the Englishman December in Northern India is a month of +halcyon days, of days dedicated to sport under perfect climatic +conditions, of bright sparkling days spent at the duck tank, at the +snipe _jhil_, in the _sal_ forest, or among the Siwaliks, days on +which office files rest in peace, and the gun, the rifle and the rod +are made to justify their existence. Most Indians, unfortunately, hold +a different opinion of December. These love not the cool wind that +sweeps across the plains. To them the rapid fall of temperature at +sunset is apt to spell pneumonia. + +The average villager is a hot-weather organism. He is content with +thin cotton clothing which he wears year in year out, whether the +mercury in the thermometer stand at 115 degrees or 32 degrees. +However, many of the better-educated Indians have learned from +Englishmen how to protect themselves against cold; we may therefore +look forward to the time when even the poorest Indian will be able to +enjoy the health-bringing, bracing climate of the present month. + +By the 1st December the last of the spring crops has been sown, most +of the cotton has been picked, and the husbandmen are busy cutting and +pressing the sugar-cane and irrigating the poppy and the _rabi_ +cereals. + +The crop-sown area is covered with a garment that, seen from a little +distance, appears to be made of emerald velvet. Its greenness is +intensified by contrast with the dried-up grass on the grazing lands. +In many places the mustard crop has begun to flower; the bright yellow +blooms serve to enliven the somewhat monotonous landscape. In the +garden the chrysanthemums and the loquat trees are still in flower; +the poinsettias put forth their showy scarlet bracts and the roses and +violets begin to produce their fragrant flowers. + +The bird choir is composed of comparatively few voices. Of the +seasonal choristers the grey-headed flycatchers are most often heard. +The fantail flycatchers occasionally sing their cheerful lay, but at +this season they more often emit a plaintive call, as if they were +complaining of the cold. + +Some of the sunbirds are still in undress plumage; a few have not yet +come into song, these give vent only to harsh scolding notes. From the +thicket emanate sharp sounds--_tick-tick_, _chee-chee_, _chuck-chuck_, +_chiff-chaff_; these are the calls of the various warblers that winter +with us. Above the open grass-land the Indian skylarks are singing at +Heaven's gate; these birds avoid towns and groves and gardens, in +consequence their song is apt to be overlooked by human beings. Very +occasionally the oriole utters a disconsolate-sounding _tew_; he is a +truly tropical bird; it is only when the sun flames overhead out of a +brazen sky that he emits his liquid notes. Here and there a hoopoe, +more vigorous than his fellows, croons softly--_uk_, _uk_, _uk_. The +coppersmith now and then gives forth his winter note--a subdued _wow_; +this is heard chiefly at the sunset hour. + +The green barbet calls spasmodically throughout December, but, as a +rule, only in the afternoon. Towards the end of the month some of the +nuthatches and the robins begin to tune up. On cloudy days the +king-crows utter the soft calls that are usually associated with the +rainy season. + +December, like November, although climatically very pleasant, is a +month in which the activities of the feathered folk are at a +comparatively low ebb. The cold, however, sends to India thousands of +immigrants. Most of these spend the whole winter in the plains of +India. Of such are the redstart, the grey-headed flycatcher, the snipe +and the majority of the game birds. Besides these regular migrants +there are many species which spend a few days or weeks in the plains, +leaving the Himalayas when the weather there becomes very inclement. +Thus the ornithologist in the plains of Northern India lives in a +state of expectancy from November to January. Every time he walks in +the fields he hopes to see some uncommon winter visitor. It may be a +small-billed mountain thrush, a blue rock-thrush, a wall-creeper, a +black bulbul, a flycatcher-warbler, a green-backed tit, a verditer +flycatcher, a black-throated or a grey-winged ouzel, a dark-grey +bush-chat, a pine-bunting, a Himalayan whistling thrush, or even a +white-capped redstart. Indeed, there is scarcely a species which +inhabits the lower ranges of the Himalayas that may not be driven to +the plains by a heavy fall of snow on the mountains. Naturally it is +in the districts nearest the hills that most of these rare birds are +seen--but there is no part of Northern India in which they may not +occur. + +The nesting activity of birds in Upper India attains its zenith in +May, and then declines until it reaches its nadir in November. With +December it begins again to increase. + +Of those birds whose nests were described last month the white-backed +vulture, Pallas's fishing-eagle, the tawny eagle, the sand-martin and +the black-necked stork are likely to be found with eggs or young in +the present month. + +December marks the beginning of the nesting season for three large +owls--the brown fish-owl, the rock horned-owl and the dusky +horned-owl. The brown fish-owl (_Ketupa ceylonensis_) is a bird almost +as large as a kite. It has bright orange orbs and long, pointed +aigrettes. Its legs are devoid of feathers. According to Blanford it +has a dismal cry like _haw_, _haw_, _haw_, _ho_. "Eha" describes the +call as a ghostly hoot--a _hoo hoo hoo_, far-reaching, but coming from +nowhere in particular. These two descriptions do not seem to agree. +There is nothing unusual in this. + +The descriptions of the calls of the nocturnal birds of prey given by +India ornithologists are notoriously unsatisfactory. This is perhaps +not surprising when we consider the wealth of bird life in this +country. It is no easy matter to ascertain the perpetrators of the +various sounds of the night, and, when the naturalist has succeeded in +fixing the author of any call, he finds himself confronted with the +difficult task of describing the sound in question. Bearing in mind +the way in which human interjections baffle the average writer, we +cannot be surprised at the poor success that crowns the endeavours of +the naturalist to syllabise bird notes. + +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. + +Ordinarily the nesting season of the common kite (_Milvus govinda_) +does not begin until February, but as the eggs of this bird have been +taken as early as the 29th December, mention of it must be made in the +calendar for the present month. A similar remark applies to the hoopoe +(_Upupa indica_). + +Doves nest in December, as they do in every other month. + +Occasionally a colony of cliff-swallows (_Hirundo flavicolla_) takes +time by the forelock and begins to build one of its honeycomb-like +congeries of nests in December. This species was dealt with in the +calendar for February. + +Blue rock-pigeons mostly nest at the beginning of the hot weather. +Hume, however, states that some of these birds breed as early as +Christmas Day. Mr. P. G. S. O'Connor records the finding of a nest +even earlier than that. The nest in question was in a weir of a canal. +The weir was pierced by five round holes, each about nine inches in +diameter. Through four of these the water was rushing, but the fifth +was blocked by debris, and on this a pair of pigeons had placed their +nest. + + + + +GLOSSARY + + +_Arhar_. A leguminous crop plant which attains a height of four feet +or more. + +_Chik_. A curtain composed of a number of very thin strips of wood. +Chiks are hung in front of doors and windows in India with the object +of keeping out insects, but not air. + +_Holi_. A Hindu festival. + +_Jhil_. A lake or any natural depression which is filled with +rain-water at all or in certain seasons. + +_Kharif_. Autumn. Rice and other crops which are reaped in autumn are +called _kharif_ crops. Crops such as wheat which are cut in spring are +called _rabi_ crops. Two crops (sometimes three) are raised in India +annually. + +_Megas_. Sugar-cane from which the juice has been extracted. + +_Rabi_. Spring. See _Kharif_. + +_Shikari_. One who goes hunting or shooting. + +_Tope_. A term applied to a grove of mango trees, artificially +planted. Thousands of such topes exist in Northern India. In some +places they are quite a feature of the landscape. + + + + +INDEX + + +Amadavat. _See_ Red munia + + +Babbler, common (_Crateropus canorus_), 36, 49, 68, 82, 89, 108, 120, +124, 142, 156, 162, 163, 183 +--large grey (_Argya malcomi_), 162 + +Barbet, green (_Thereiceryx zeylonicus_), 7, 20, 53, 66, 68, 82, 89, +106, 108, 121, 138, 155, 168, 185, 192 + +Baya. _See_ Weaver-bird + +Bee-eater, 3, 73, 74, 108, 120, 125, 139, 157, 169, 172, 182 +--blue-tailed (_Merops philippinus_), 43, 89 +--little green (_M. viridis_), 43, 89 + +Blue Jay. _See_ Roller + +Blue-throat, 172 + +Brain-fever bird. _See_ Hawk-cuckoo + +Bulbul, 5, 20, 36, 65, 68, 89, 107, 108, 123, 182, 185 +--Bengal (_Molpastes bengalensis_), 47 +--black (_Hypsipetes psaroides_), 192 +--red-whiskered (_Otocompsa emeria_), 46 + +Bunting, 40, 41, 172, 183 +--black-headed (_Emberiza melanocephala_), 41 +--pine (_Emberiza leucocephala_), 193 +--red-headed (_Emberiza luteola_), 41 + +Buzzard, 175, 183 +--long-legged (_Buteo ferox_), 160 +--white-eyed (_Butastur teesa_), 30, 44, 68, 69, 89, 108, 160 + + +Chat, 3 +--brown-rock (_Cercomela fuscus_), 59, 70, 89, 108, 123, 138 +--dark grey bush (_Oreicola ferrea_), 193 +--Indian bush (_Pratincola maura_), 42, 172, 173 +--pied bush (_Pratincola caprata_), 21, 65, 74, 89, 170 + +Coot, common (_Fulica atra_), 135 +--purple (_Porphyrio poliocephalus_), 121, 133, 135, 146, 184 + +Coppersmith or crimson-breasted barbet (_Xantholaema haematocephala_), +7, 20, 23, 44, 53, 66, 68, 82, 89, 106, 108, 121, 138, 169, 185, 191 + +Cormorant, 3, 133, 135, 142, 183 + +Crane, 184 +--demoiselle (_Anthropoides virgo_), 167, 171 +--sarus (_Grus antigone_), 5, 98, 133, 143, 156, 176 + +Creeper, wall, 192 + +Crow, 13, 36, 69, 119, 156, 169, 183, 185 +--black, or jungle crow or corby (_Corvus macrorhynchus_), 5, 25, 44, +68, 89 +--house (_Corvus splendens_), 5, 108, 113, 124, 125, 141, 162 + +Crow-pheasant or coucal (_Centropus sinensis_), 36, 82, 112, +120, 138, 142, 156, 164, 170, 176, 183 + +Cuckoo, European (_Cuculus canorus_), 66, 80 +--hawk (_Hierococcyx varius_), 20, 36, 49, 82, 84, 120, 124, 138, 155, +157, 168 +--Indian (_Cuculus micropterus_), 85, 120, 138 +--pied crested (_Coccystes jacobinus_), 114, 120, 124, 138, 142, 155, +157, 163 +--sirkeer (_Taccocua leschenaulti_), 124 + +Cuckoo-shrike (_Grauculus macii_), 5, 51, 52, 89, 108, 124, 142, 169 + +Curlew, 171, 184 + + +Dabchick, or little grebe (_Podiceps albipennis_), 150, 183 + +Darter. _See_ Snake-bird + +Dhayal. _See_ Magpie-robin + +Did-he-do-it. _See_ Red-wattled lapwing + +Dove, 8, 9, 21, 44, 54, 68, 89, 108, 123, 156, 162, 169, 174, 185 +--little brown (_Turtur cambayensis_), 5 +--red turtle (_Oenopopelia tranquebarica_), 157, 172 +--ring (_Turtur risorius_), 5 +--spotted (_Turtur suratensis_), 5 + +Drongo or king-crow (_Dicrurus ater_), 3, 36, 38, 43, 77, 90, 107, +108, 120, 121, 138, 157, 169, 170, 182, 192 + +Duck, 3, 133, 146, 183, 185 +--brahminy (_Casarca rutila_), 64, 185 +--comb or nukta (_Sarcidiornis melanotus_), 115, 135, 143, +149 +--gadwall (_Chaulelasmus streperus_), 64, 171 +--mallard (_Anas boscas_), 64 +--pintail (_Dafila acuta_), 41, 64, 171 +--pochard (_Netta ferina_), 64, 171 +--shoveller (_Spatula clypeata_), 171 +--spot-billed (_Anas poecilorhyncha_), 134, 135 +--widgeon (_Mareca penelope_), 64, 171 + + +Eagle, 21 +--Bonelli's (_Hieraetus fasciatus_), 10, 44, 197 +--Pallas's fishing (_Haliaetus leucoryphus_), 11, 43, 187, 193 +--steppe (_Aquila bifasciata_), 160 +--tawny (_Aquila vindhiana_), 11, 44, 68, 89, 160, 187, 193 + +Egret, 99, 133, 134, 135, 142 +--cattle (_Bubulcus coromandus_), 100, 151 + + +Falcon, lugger (_Falco jugger_), 160 +--peregrine (_Falco peregrinus_), 160, 161, 174 +--shahin (_Falco peregrinator_), 174 + +Finch, rose (_Carpodacus erythrinus_), 158, 172, 183 + +Finch-lark, ashy-crowned (_Pyrrhulauda grisea_), 28, 44, 56, 68, 89, +183 + +Flycatcher, 3, 185 +--fantail (_Rhipidura albifrontata_), 5, 29, 44, 68, 83, 89, 106, 108, +125, 142, 156, 170, 182, 191 +--grey-headed (_Culicicapa ceylonensis_), 6, 21, 42, 156, 170, 172, +182, 191, 192 +--paradise (_Terpsiphone paradisi_), 42, 43, 77, 92, 107, 108, 123, +157, 172 +--red-breasted (_Siphia albicilla_), 172 +--verditer (_Stoparola melanops_), 42, 193 + + +Gadwall. _See_ Duck + +Goatsucker. _See_ Nightjar + +Goose, 3, 64, 171, 185 +--grey-lag (_Anser ferus_), 41 + +Grebe. _See_ Dabchick + + +Harrier, 161, 183 + +Hawk, sparrow, 160 + +Heron, 135, 184 +--night (_Nycticorax griseus_), 89, 113, 133, 142 +--pond, or paddy-bird (_Ardeola grayii_), 99, 113, 134, 142, 184 + +Honeysucker. _See_ Sunbird + +Hoopoe (_Upupa indica_), 7, 17, 20, 23, 68, 83, 97, 108, 170, 182, +185, 191, 197 + +Hornbill, grey (_Lophoceros birostris_), 78, 95, 108 + + +Ibis, 184 +--black (_Inocotis papillosus_), 135 + +Iora (_Aegithina tiphia_), 35, 65, 71, 72, 83, 89, 106, 108, 121, 123 + + +Jacana, 121, 133, 185 +--bronze-winged (_Metopus indicus_), 134, 135, 144, 145, 183 +--pheasant-tailed (_Hydrophasianus chirurgus_), 114, 135, 144, 145, +183 + +Jackdaw, 3, 172 + +Jungle-fowl (_Gallus ferrugineus_), 108 + + +Kestrel, 160, 161, 183 + +King-crow. _See_ Drongo + +Kingfisher, 184, 185 +--pied (_Ceryle rudis_), 27, 44, 68, 88 +--white-breasted (_Halcyon smyrnensis_), 5, 45, 68, 73, 89, 106, 108, +121, 138, 182 + +Kite (_Milvus govinda_), 5, 14, 26, 44, 68, 89, 108, 119, 156, 160, +169, 183, 185, 191 +--black-winged (_Elanus caeruleus_), 160 +--brahminy (_Haliastur indicus_), 56, 68 +--large Indian (_Milvus melanotis_), 160 + +Koel (_Eudynamis honorata_), 8, 43, 82, 84, 110, 120, 124, 125, 138, +141, 155, 157, 163, 168 + + +Lapwing, 108, 123, 183 +--red-wattled (_Sarcogrammus indicus_), 5, 77, 88, 89, 139 +--yellow-wattled (_Sarciophorus malabaricus_), 77, 89 + +Lark, crested (_Galerita cristata_), 21, 56, 89, 108 +--red-winged bush (_Mirafra erythroptera_), 123 +--sky (_Alauda gulgula_), 21, 68, 89, 108, 183, 191 + + +Mallard. _See_ Duck + +Martin, sand (_Cotyle sinensis_), 14, 21, 44, 68, 73, 89, 167, 187, +193 + +Merlin, common (_Aesalon regulus_), 160, 161 +--red-headed (_Aesalon chicquera_), 12, 21, 44, 68, 89, 160 + +Minivet, 51, 158, 172, 181 +--little (_Pericrocotus peregrinus_), 52, 68, 89, 125, 142 + +Munia, 21 +--red or amadavat (_Estrelda amandava_), 15, 44, 124, 140, 156, 186 +--white-throated (_Uroloncha malabarica_), 16, 44, 162, 186 + +Myna, 5, 82, 108, 156, 157, 175, 182, 183 +--bank (_Acridotheres ginginianus_), 59, 89, 94, 123 +--brahminy (_Temenuchus pagodarum_), 73, 94, 124 +--common (_Acridotheres tristis_), 59, 73, 93, 124, 142, 162, 185 +--pied. _See_ Pied Starling + + +Nightjar, 53, 66, 87, 89, 108 +--Franklin's (_Caprimulgus monticolus_), 37, 88 +--Horsfield's (_Caprimulgus horsfieldi_), 37, 88, 106 +--Indian (_Caprimulgus asiaticus_), 37, 88 + +Nuthatch (_Sitta castaneiventris_), 7, 20, 23, 44, 68, 83, 88, 182, +192 + + +Openbill (_Anastomus oscitans_), 142 + +Oriole, 78, 83, 106, 108, 124, 138, 156, 157, 169, 172, 182, 191 +--black-headed (_Oriolus melanocephalus_), 20, 42 +--Indian (_Oriolus kundoo_), 42, 90 + +Osprey, 3, 160, 161, 184 + +Ouzel, black-throated (_Merula atrigularis_), 193 +--grey-winged (_Merula boulboul_), 193 + +Owl, 66, 159 +--barn (_Strix flammea_), 29, 49 +--brown fish (_Ketupa ceylonensis_), 14, 21, 44, 193, 194, 195 +--collared scops (_Scops bakkamaena_), 22, 44, 87 +--dusky horned (_Bubo coromandus_), 6, 14, 22, 193, 196 +--mottled wood (_Syrnium ocellatum_), 22, 44 +--rock horned (_Bubo bengalensis_), 14, 21, 44, 193, 195 + +Owlet, jungle (_Glaucidium radiatum_), 6, 86, 138, 169 +--spotted (_Athene brama_), 6, 53, 68, 86, 88, 98, 118, 138, 169 + + +Paddy-bird. _See_ Pond-heron + +Paroquet or green parrot, 5, 30, 36, 68, 88, 97, 156, 169, 183, 185 +--alexandrine (_Palaeornis eupatrius_), 31, 44 +--rose-winged (_Palaeornis torquatus_), 31, 44, 53 + +Parrot, green _See_ Paroquet + +Partridge, black (_Francolinus vulgaris_), 98, 107, 138 +--grey (_Francolinus pondicerianus_), 76, 89, 97, 108, 162, 186 + +Pea-fowl (_Pavo cristatus_), 98, 124, 138, 142, 162 + +Pelican, 3, 184 + +Pie, tree (_Dendrocitta rufa_), 5, 36, 59, 68, 89, 108, 123, 169, 185 + +Pigeon, blue rock (_Columba intermedia_), 17, 22, 69, 89, 108, 197 +--green (_Crocopus phoenicopterus_), 89, l08, 123 + +Pipit (_Anthus rufulus_), 56, 68, 89, 108 + +Plover, 142, 183 +--little ringed (_Aegialitis dubia_), 89 +--spur-winged (_Hoplopterus ventralis_), 57, 89 +--swallow (_Glareola lactea_), 57 + +Pochard. _See_ Duck + + +Quail, 64, 183 +--grey (_Coturnix communis_), 159, 172 +--rain (_Coturnix coromandelica_), 121 + + +Rail, water (_Rallus indicus_), 184 + +Raven, 3, 14, 44, 197 + +Redstart, Indian (_Ruticilla frontalis_), 158, 167, 172, 173, 182, 192 +--white-capped (_Chimarrhornis leucocephalus_), 193 + +Robin, Indian (_Thamnobia cambayensis_), 21, 35, 59, 65, 76, 89, 108, +123, 182, 191 +--magpie (_Copsychus saularis_), 8, 35, 65, 73, 74, 83, 89, 106, 108, +120, 121, 123, 138, 155, 182 + +Roller or "blue jay" (_Coracias indica_), 38, 39, 53, 67, 73, 83, 89, +106, 108, 123, 139, 141, 156, 169, 170, 182 + +Rook, 3, 172 + + +Sand-grouse, 77, 89 + +Sandpiper, 171 + +Seven Sisters. _See_ Babbler + +Shikra (_Astur badius_), 69, 89, 160 + +Shoveller. _See_ Duck + +Shrike, 38, 50, 68, 89, 108, 123, 142, 182 +--bay-backed (_Lanius vittatus_), 51 +--large grey (_Lanius lahtora_), 21, 32, 50 +--rufous-backed (_Lanius erythronotus_), 51 + +Skimmer, Indian (_Rhynchops albicollis_), 57 + +Skylark. _See_ Lark + +Snake-bird (_Plotus melanogaster_), 3, 133, 135, 142, 183 + +Snipe, 3, 64, 139, 158, 172, 184, 192 +--fantail or full (_Gallinago coelestis_), 140 +--jack (_Gallinago gallinula_), 140 +--pintail (_Gallinago stenura_), 139 + +Sparrow (_Passer domesticus_), 54, 89, 108, 123, 185 +--yellow-throated (_Gymnorhis flavicollis_), 43, 73, 89, 157, 172 + +Spoonbill, 135, 142 + +Starling, 3, 172, 182 +--pied (_Sternopastor contra_), 77, 94, 107, 124, 138, 142, 155, 168 +--rosy (_Pastor roseus_), 36, 40, 139 + +Stork, 171, 184 +--black-necked (_Xenorhynchus asiaticus_), 176, 186, 193 +--white-necked (_Dissura episcopus_), 113, 124, 135, 142 + +Sunbird, purple (_Arachnechthra asiatica_), 3, 6, 8, 20, 24, 36, 43, +44, 65, 68, 89, 106, 108, 123, 156, 157, 170, 172, 182, 185, 191 + +Swallow, 172, 182, 184 +--Indian cliff (_Hirundo fluvicola_), 17, 22, 44, 68, 89, 133, 140, +197 +--wire-tailed (_Hirundo smithii_), 54, 68, 89, 108, 124, 125, 142 + +Swift (_Cypselus indicus_), 54, 68, 89, 108, 123, 142, 182, 184 + + +Tailor-bird (_Orthotomus sutorius_), 5, 59, 65, 72, 82, 89, 108, 124, +169, 182 + +Teal, 3, 64, 143, 171, 183 +--cotton (_Nettopus coromandelianus_), 121, 135, 148 +--garganey or blue-winged (_Querquedula circia_), 139, 159, 171 +--whistling (_Dendocygna javanica_), 185 + +Tern, 57, 68, 142, 184 +--black-bellied (_Sterna melanogaster_), 57 +--river, (_Sterna seena_), 57 + +Thrush, blue rock (_Petrophila cyanus_), 192 +--Himalayan whistling (_Myophoneus temmincki_), 193 +--small-billed mountain (_Oreocincla dauma_), 192 + +Tit, green-backed (_Parus monticola_), 192 + + +Vulture, 21, 159, 183 +--Pondicherry or black (_Otogyps calvus_), 26, 44, 68, 88 +--scavenger (_Neophron ginginianus_), 56, 68, 89 +--white-backed (_Pseudogyps bengalensis_), 9, 68, 186, 193 + + +Wagtail, 156, 157, 167, 172, 173, 182, 183, 184 +--grey (_Motacilla melanope_), 158 +--masked (_Motacilla personata_), 158 +--pied (_Motacilla maderaspatensis_), 59, 65, 74, 89 +--white (_Motacilla alba_), 158 +--white-faced (_Motacilla leucopsis_), 158 + +Warbler, 139, 156, 181, 185, 191 +--ashy wren (_Prinia socialis_), 124, 132, 142 +--flycatcher (_Cryptolopha xanthoschista_), 192 +--Indian wren (_Prinia inornata_), 48, 68, 108, 124, 131, 142 +--reed (_Acrocephalus stentoreus_), 184 + +Water-hen, white-breasted (_Gallinula phoenicura_), 98, 124, 133, 146 + +Weaver-bird or baya (_Ploceus baya_), 114, 127, 142, 163, 176 + +Whimbrel, 184 + +White-eye (_Zosterops palpebrosa_), 5, 65, 71, 89, 108, 123, 180, 182, +185 + +Widgeon. _See_ Duck + +Woodpecker, golden-backed (_Brachypternus aurantius_), 5, 53, 68, 89, +106, 108, 121, 182 +--pied (_Liopicus mahrattensis_), 28, 44, 53, 68, 89, 182 + +Wood-shrike (_Tephrodornis pondicerianus_), 7, 32, 51, 65, 68, 89, +170, 182, 185 + +Wryneck, 182 + + + + +ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Nature_.--"We may commend the book as an excellent example of 'Nature +teaching.'" + +_Literary World_.--"Mr. Dewar makes us laugh while he teaches us.... +These twenty essays are in all ways delightful." + +_Saturday Review_.--"A number of excellent books on Natural +History ... proceed from Anglo-Indian authors; and certainly this ... is +worthy of its predecessors." + +_Academy_.--"A chatty anecdote book ... showing a sense of humour and +kindly insight ... many amusing stories." + +_Indian Daily News_.--"Brightly and cleverly written ... pleasant and +amusing reading." + +_Morning Post_ (Delhi).--"A treasure-trove of literary art." + +_Madras Mail_.--"Mr. Dewar ... displays quite remarkable knowledge and +insight as well as a pretty wit.... Mr. Dewar's volume is calculated +to give delight to all who are interested in the creatures of God's +earth. Its humours will raise many a smile, while its keenness and +accuracy of observation should induce many readers to study more +closely the ... life ... around them." + +_Civil and Military Gazette_.--"Shows the faculty of observation as +well as a pleasant style." + +_Englishman_.--"The reader will easily fall under the sway of the +writer's charms.... Mr. Dewar's book is as interesting as it is +entertaining." + + + + +BOMBAY DUCKS +AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE EVERYDAY BIRDS AND BEASTS FOUND IN A +NATURALIST'S EL DORADO +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR +ILLUSTRATED BY MAJOR F. D. S. FAYRER + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Standard_.--"The book is entertaining, even to a reader who is not a +naturalist first and a reader afterwards.... The illustrations cannot +be too highly praised." + +_Daily News_.--"A charming introduction to a great many interesting +birds." + +_Scotsman_.--"Like a good curry, it is richly and agreeably seasoned +with a pungent humour." + +_Manchester Guardian_.--"A series of clever and accurate essays on +Indian Natural History written by a man who really knows the birds and +beasts." + +_Daily Chronicle_.--"A series of informing and often diverting +chapters." + +_Tribune_.--"Those who know India ... will find themselves smiling +again and again at the vivid recollection called up by these +descriptions." + +_Times_.--"A collection of bright popular papers by an observant +naturalist." + +_Pall Mall Gazette_.--"Most entertaining dissertations on the tricks +and manners of many birds and beasts in India." + +_Yorkshire Daily Observer_.--"This handsome and charming book ... the +author has many interesting observations to record, and he does so in +a very racy manner." + +_Spectator_.--"Mr. Douglas Dewar's book is excellent ... the +photographs of birds by Captain Fayrer ... are most remarkable." + +_Graphic_.--"Light and easy, yet full of information." + +_County Gentleman_.--"Thoroughly interesting." + +_Illustrated London News_.--"Mr. Dewar ... has collected a series of +essays on bird life which for sprightliness and charm are equal to +anything written since that classic 'The Tribes on my Frontier' was +published." + +_Shooting Times_.--"... a more delightful work ... has not passed +through our hands for many a long day.... There is not a dull line in +the book, which is beautifully illustrated." + +_Truth_.--"... a naturalist with a happy gift for writing in a bright +and entertaining way, yet without any sacrifice of scientific +accuracy." + +_Outlook_.--"... the essays make pleasant reading.... We doubt if +anything better has been done in bird photography." + +_Pioneer_.--"... not only is the book very fascinating to read, but +most instructive." + +_Indian Daily News_.--"Mr. Dewar's excellent book ... beautifully +illustrated." + +_Indian Daily Telegraph_.--"Mr. Dewar's book is of the kind of +delightful volume which is always to be kept at hand and dipped into." + +_Madras Mail_.--"Phil Robinson delighted a generation that knew not +'Eha,' and now Mr. Dewar will complete a trio which, for some time to +come at least, will stand for all that is best in that branch of +literature which they have made their own." + +_Civil and Military Gazette_.--"A volume which is far the best of its +kind since the immortal works of Phil Robinson and 'Eha.'" + +_The Indian Field_.--"... these charming chapters.... There is not a +dull paragraph in the whole book." + + + + +BIRDS OF THE PLAINS +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Daily Chronicle_.--"Here is a work worthy of all commendation to +those who love birds." + +_Daily Graphic_.--"... a work which all bird lovers will welcome ... +beautifully illustrated." + +_Daily Express_.--"... light, sprightly and thoroughly entertaining." + +_Globe_.--"Mr. Dewar ... is gifted with the descriptive art in a high +degree, and his vivacious style communicates the characters and habits +of the birds with unerring fidelity and infinite spirit." + +_Sportsman_.--"Mr. Dewar has a delightfully simple and quaintly +humorous way of expressing himself, and his clever word-pictures of +bird-life make charming reading." + +_Manchester Guardian_.--"His breezy style is pleasant and easy +reading. The photographs deserve the highest praise." + +_Manchester Courier_.--"Mr. Dewar has produced a book that will +delight not only ornithologists, but all who have the good fortune to +light on this humorously instructive volume." + +_Western Morning News_.--"The book is enjoyable from the playful +preface to the last chapter." + +_Spectator_.--"... the contents are excellent." + +_Field_.--"... it may well stand on the same bookshelf with the +entertaining and instructive writings of 'Eha.'" + +_Madame_.--"... accounts of many birds written in the author's +inimitable style." + +_Outlook_.--"... as charming a volume--avowedly ornithological--as it +has been our good fortune to encounter." + +_Sunday Times_.--"Mr. Dewar, like Goldsmith, has a delightful style." + +_Pall Mall Gazette_.--"Mr. Dewar's volume is one of the best recent +examples of sound information conveyed in attractive literary form." + +_Literary World_.--"Upon every page ... there is a merit to justify +the existence of the page." + +_Dundee Advertiser_.--"... just as good reading as ... 'Bombay Ducks,' +and to say so much is to bestow high praise." + +_Birmingham Post_.--"There is a gladness in his aspect, a pleasing +inquisitiveness concerning bird mystery, and a simple, candid style of +self-revelation in his essays full of fascination, with touches now +and again that remind one of the descriptive qualities of Francis A. +Knight. The wood-joy that inspired the felicitous phrases and +delightful reflections of John Burroughs in the Western Hemisphere +finds its counterpart in these Indian bird-pictures." + +_Indian Field_.--"... not a volume that will grow dusty and uncared +for on a neglected shelf." + +_Times of India_.--"The book has a charm all its own, and is written +with rare humour, a humour that in no way detracts from its scientific +utility." + +_Englishman_.--"One of the most interesting books on bird-life we have +seen." + + + + +INDIAN BIRDS +A KEY TO THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Pall Mall Gazette_.--"This practical and useful work ... is a key to +the everyday birds of the Indian plains, in which birds are classified +according to their habits and outward differences ... and familiarity +with these pages would enable the average man in a few weeks to know +all the birds he meets in an Indian station." + +_Daily Mail_.--"The plan of this clever little volume ... is as simple +as it is ingenious.... It is a safe and thorough guide." + +_Athenaeum_.--"Mr. Dewar is a capable guide." + +_Manchester Guardian_.--"... new, original and invaluable to the +beginner ... it is a small book, but it represents a wonderful amount +of thoughtful ingenuity and patient work." + +_Daily News_.--"We feel inclined to defy any Indian bird to hide its +identity from an enquirer armed with this volume." + +_Truth_.--"An admirable practical handbook of Indian ornithology." + +_Scotsman_.--"Mr. Dewar's compact, clearly classified, concise and +comprehensive manual ... cannot but prove eminently serviceable." + +_Spectator_.--"The book is most carefully compiled and much ingenuity +is displayed in framing this artificial analysis." + +_Western Daily Mercury_.--"A very interesting volume." + +_Manchester Courier_.--"All ornithologists in India ... will +appreciate and value 'Indian Birds.'" + +_Literary Post_.--"... a model of all that such a book should be." + +_Pioneer_.--"The plan of the book is unique.... It can be heartily +recommended." + +_Indian Field_.--"We can thoroughly recommend this book to all not +versed in ornithology and who wish to know our birds without having to +kill them." + + + + +JUNGLE FOLK +ACCOUNTS OF SOME OF THE SMALLER FRY OF THE INDIAN JUNGLE +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Westminster Gazette_.--"Mr. Dewar writes brightly and cleverly about +these lesser jungle folk." + +_Scotsman_.--"... interesting and delightful." + +_Evening Standard_.--"The author ... writes not only out of the +fulness of his knowledge, but in a pleasant unpedantic style." + +_Liverpool Daily Post_.--"... most readable and enjoyable." + +_Sunday Times_.--"We give his book the highest praise possible when we +say that it will serve as a matter-of-fact commentary to Mr. Kipling's +'Jungle Books.'" + +_Irish Independent_.--"... a work of the most captivating charm." + +_Outlook_.--"... pleasant little essays." + +_Literary World_.--"This lively book ... abounds in word-pictures and +happy humour." + +_Glasgow Evening News_.--"Mr. Douglas Dewar writes with accustomed +grace and sympathetic knowledge." + +_Academy_.--"... with Mr. Dewar there is a smile on every page, and +his touch is so light that one only realises, when the process is at +an end, that a large amount of information has been imparted in an +amusing form." + +_Western Morning News_.--"Every page makes for easy reading and ready +attention." + +_Shooting Times_.--"... delightful reading." + +_Catholic Herald_.--"Quite the most interesting natural history work +we have seen for a long time." + +_Manchester Courier_.--"Mr. Dewar's ... shrewd observation, his quaint +humour and his wide knowledge of Indian bird-life make his every page +interesting." + +_The World_.--"We have read and enjoyed much of his work before, but +we think that 'Jungle Folk' makes even more delightful reading than +anything that has come from its author's pen." + +_Birmingham Daily Post_.--"... entertaining sketches ... and light +dissertations." + +_Times of India_.--"Mr. Dewar's bright and pleasant pages." + +_Madras Mail_.--"The reader who has perused Mr. Dewar's books merely +for amusement will find that he has incidentally added a good deal to +his knowledge of Indian natural history." + + + + +GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Globe_.--"Mr. Dewar gives us something more than 'glimpses' of Indian +bird-life in his very interesting volume." + +_Standard_.--"Not the least merit of the book is the author's +unwillingness to take anything for granted." + +_Spectator_.--"We know nothing better to recommend to an amateur +ornithologist who finds himself in India for the first time." + +_Guardian_.--"... vivid and delightful." + +_Observer_.--"... full of special knowledge." + +_Scotsman_.--"... a lively and interesting series of short studies." + +_Daily Graphic_.--"The book is full of the right sort of information +about birds." + +_Field_.--"... chatty and graphically written." + +_Daily Citizen_.--"... very pleasant and very instructive reading." + +_The World_.--"We have read and enjoyed his earlier efforts, but we +think that his latest will be found the most valuable and enduring of +all his work." + +_Pall Mall Gazette_.--"... much first-hand observation and +experience." + +_Birmingham Daily Post_.--"These ... 'glimpses' ... so full of alert +observation and racy description, are delightful and informing +reading." + +_Newcastle Daily Chronicle_.--"... his accounts ... make us feel that +we have been with him in something more than the spirit." + +_Pioneer_.--"The charm of the volume ... lies in the evidence of the +immense amount of observation carried out by the writer." + + + + +BIRDS OF INDIAN HILLS +A GUIDE TO THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE INDIAN HILL STATIONS +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Sunday Times_.--"Excellent is hardly good enough a term for this +volume." + +_Times_.--"Mr. Dewar writes accurately and vividly of his selected +group of birds in the Himalayas and Nilgiris, and adds a list of those +to be found in the Palni Hills." + +_Field_.--"Mr. Dewar gives short descriptions of the most notable +species, not in wearisome detail as affected by some writers, but in a +few sentences which carry enough to enable the reader to recognise a +bird when he sees it." + +_Aviatic Review_.--"... a very useful, compact little volume." + +_Pall Mall Gazette_.--"The book will appeal most of all to those who +have occasion to visit Indian hill stations." + +_Morning Post_.--"Now and again he gives us little pictures of +bird-life, which are pleasant proofs that he is, like M. Fabre, a +master of the new science that will not select the facts or distort +them to suit some splendid generalisation." + + + + +THE MAKING OF SPECIES +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR AND FRANK FINN +_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS_ +A BOOK THAT BRINGS DARWINISM UP TO DATE + + +PRESS OPINIONS + +_Truth_.--"'The Making of Species' will do much to arrest the +fossilisation of biological science in England." + +_Outlook_.--"... a book of knowledge and originality. Messrs. Dewar +and Finn are capable investigators. This work is thoroughly +characteristic of our day. A long volume full of interest and very +clearly written." + +_Literary World_.--"The book is certainly to be welcomed for the +concise way in which it deals with the greatest problem of zoology." + +_Aberdeen Free Press_.--"The book is well written. We do not doubt +that the work will produce good fruit and attract considerable +attention." + +_Daily Telegraph_.--"Interesting and suggestive. It should receive +wide attention." + +_Dublin Daily Express_.--"The merits of the book are undoubtedly +great. We recommend it to the attentive study of all who are +interested in the subject of evolution." + +_Manchester Courier_.--"The amateur entering this perplexing field +could hardly have a better guide." + +_Nation_.--"An exceptionally interesting book." + +_Scotsman_.--"Impartial and awakening." + +_Bristol Mercury_.--"The authors ... handle a subject which has an +obvious controversial side with strength, and there are convincing +qualities as well as lucidity in the views so admirably set forth." + +_Times_.--"The two authors ... deal suggestively with the difficulties +of natural selection ... and their arguments are supported by a goodly +array of facts." + +_Liverpool Courier_.--"Contains a great deal of well-marshalled +observation." + +_Lancet_.--"A very interesting book ... simply and clearly written." + +_Dundee Advertiser_.--"... a book which is at the same time one of the +most interesting and readable on the controversial aspects of natural +history published in recent years." + +_The Christian World_.--"This very interesting work." + +_Bristol Times_.--"A work of value, which will give occasion to many +to think, and an admirable presentation of facts." + +_Westminster Review_.--"... written in popular language and contains +many original observations." + +_Daily Chronicle_.--"An interesting and suggestive book." + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Bird Calendar for Northern India, by +Douglas Dewar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BIRD CALENDAR FOR NORTHERN INDIA *** + +***** This file should be named 18237.txt or 18237.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/3/18237/ + +Produced by Ron Swanson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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