A Calcutta Bird Colony 



up in the trees to scare them off by rattling- in the 

 wind ; but these failed of their effect, and at last 

 it was determined that some, at any rate, of the 

 birds would have to be shot. Accordingly, a 

 well-known Calcutta sportsman kindly undertook 

 the task, and, after several dozens of the herons 

 had been killed, they at last evacuated the place 

 to a great extent. Of the cormorants not one fell 

 a victim, for at the first firing these wary birds 

 took wing and went out of shot, and were careful 

 not to expose themselves subsequently. Of 

 course, these operations were carried on when 

 the darters were away, as it was not desired to 

 discourage the presence of these valuable and 

 ornamental birds. Their immunity, of course, 

 involved the presence of some of their former 

 associates in the breeding season, and when I 

 left Calcutta in the winter of 1902, there was 

 abundant reason for again giving the herons and 

 cormorants a hint not to abuse their privileges ; 

 but it had been practically shown that their num- 

 bers could be kept down to a working average, 

 and I have since heard that this interesting colony 

 is still allowed to continue. The attachment of 

 the birds to their nests was well shown when at 

 one time the breeding herons and cormorants 

 were raided by a pair of one of the Indian sea- 

 eagles ; when one of these dreaded birds alighted 

 none of the former would take wing, though there 



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