36 JUNGLE FOLK 



skilfully constructed affair. It is not more beautiful 

 than a dak bungalow, but, like the latter, serves the 

 purpose for which it is built. It is very like that of the 

 common crow — a loosely-put-together collection of 

 sticks, devoid of anything in the form of lining, and 

 placed fairly high up in the fork of a tree. The tree 

 selected is usually one with rather dense foliage, and 

 one of a clump or row, in preference to a solitary tree ; 

 nevertheless, I have seen a nest in an isolated tree. 

 The eggs, which are greyish white, are not laid until 

 some time after the nest has been made ready. Teesas 

 are very noisy at the nesting season ; the sitting hen 

 utters constantly a mewing cry, which renders the 

 nest easy to locate ; but her vocal efforts pale into 

 insignificance before those of the young hopefuls. 

 These, to quote Mr. Benjamin Aitken, " keep up an 

 incessant screaming for days before and after they 

 leave the nest ; so that you cannot pass within two 

 hundred yards of a brood of nearly fledged or newly 

 fledged birds without being made painfully aware of 

 their existence and good spirits." 



