250 An Island on the River Jhelnm Punjab. 



propensities of the Crow tribe, one suspected that they were 

 there to prey on the eggs and young of the Herons, but T 

 never saw any thefts taking place, and the Herons appeared not 

 to mind the presence of the Crows; and birds generally aro 

 ready enough to object to dangerous intruders near their nests. 



The numerous dust and rain storms that occur in this 

 part must do a lot of harm to such colonies, for on' one occa- 

 sion when I went to the island the day after a ^bad storm^ 

 many young birds were lying dead on the ground below the 

 nests. 



or the other inhabitants of the island there is little to 

 be said. A very noisy Grey Partridge (FrancoKnus pondiceri- 

 auus) inhabits the wilderness of "Bhang" Undergrowth in 

 the tamarisk: once, and only once have I seen him — perching 

 on the lower bough of a tamarisk; yet he is 'always to be 

 heard. 



Toward-, du k large numb':'rs of Green Parrakeets (Palie- 

 or)}i'^ )ri)>alensis) and (torqnafus) arrive to roost in 

 the trees, adding their full share of noise to the general 

 contribution. Many Green Bee-eaters '(Merops viridis) perch 

 on the trees and bushes round the edge of the island, launching 

 forth ceaselessly in pursuit of some luckless insect. 



,0n one occasion I saw a tiny Heron sitting on the sand 

 by the water's edge, and stalking it found I had secured the^ 

 Little Green Heron {Bui or ides javanicus), but i<- • did not 

 appear to have a nest. My list of the Island liirds ends with 

 the Indian Oriole (Oriolus liindoo), a pair of Ring Doves 

 (Turtttr risorius), the Pied Kingfisher (Crri/Je rndis) and the 

 Indus Sandlark (AJatiduJa adamsi); but doulitless it has many 

 other visitors. 



■ ■ 



Blue -breast x Crimson-eared Waxbill Hybrid. 



By De. Maurice AmSxbk. 



On April 7th of this year I turned out from their winter 

 quarters, into my small Finch Aviary, three Blue-hreastod 

 Waxbills and a hen Cordon Bleu. The former, I knew, con- 

 sisted of two cocks and a hen, and they soon settled down 

 amicably, one of the cock Blue-breasts obviously basing 

 plighted liis troth to ihc lion Cordon Bleu. 



On June 10th, } found a typical spliei-ical nest in a 



