26 JUNGLE FOLK 



excite the suspicions of the kite. He turns his eyes 

 uneasily from crow to crow, and, although he utters no 

 sound, he is probably cursing his luck that he has not 

 a visual organ at the back of his head. If he is a sensible 

 bird he will at once fly off, in hopes that the perditions 

 crows will not follow him. If he remains, the pos- 

 teriorly situated crow takes a peck at his tail. He, of 

 course, turns upon the aggressor, and thus gives the 

 front bird the opportunity for which it has been waiting. 

 Sooner or later the kite has to move on. 



Kites are very fond of settling on the tops of posts, 

 and on other spiky places ; this feature they share 

 with crows, green parrots, blue jays, and other birds. 

 I cannot bring myself to believe that such perches 

 are comfortable ; but, just as a small boy will prefer 

 balancing himself upon a narrow railing to sitting on a 

 proper seat, so do birds seem to enjoy perching on all 

 sorts of impossible places. Birds are like small boys in 

 many respects. A kite, of course, enjoys one great 

 advantage when he elects to rest upon such a perch : 

 it is then impossible for "ribald" crows to come and 

 squat to right and to left of him. 



Kites are not migratory birds in most parts of India. 

 It is said, however, that the kites leave Calcutta during 

 the rains. I have never visited the " Queen of Indian 

 cities," so I cannot say whether or not the kites act 

 thus. Jerdon, Blanford, and Cunningham all declare 

 that they do ; but Finn writes : " How such an idea 

 could have arisen I do not know. I have always noticed 

 kites in the rains, and have never heard that they were 

 ever in the habit of leaving Calcutta then." The truth 



