4 BREEDING SEASONS. 
by a male kite who keeps careful guard over her, is still sitting. The 
eggs will be hatched in a few days, and the life of the young chick, which 
will probably be short and adventurous, will commence.* 
It is not essential to the pursuit of natural historythat collections 
of eges or skins should be made ; but the act of collecting is the sim- 
plest and readiest if not the only certain way of rendering the eye suflicient- 
ly familiar with the appearance of birds to enable any one to recognise and 
distinguish at a distance the various kinds one from another, and for 
this reason the making of a collection is very advisable. The interest 
in the subject so far from ceasing would even increase when the collec- 
tion was formed and the knowledge gained in the act of collecting 
remains. Experience proves that, after the acquisition of specimens is 
no longer desired, there isa pleasure in intelligently watching and 
noting the habits of birds and animals in life, the intensity of which 
grows in the minds of all true lovers of nature, just in proportion as 
its gratification is no longer encumbered with the necessity for taking 
the lives of harmless and beautiful creatures. 
The duties of an Englishman in India frequently entail a great 
deal of out-of-door life, much of which is in many instances solitary. 
To such, the need of a pursuit to interest the mind and divert it 
in leisure hours from the groove of official routine is very great, and to 
this end the study of natural history is pre-eminently adapted. Few 
countries offer greater inducements or better opportunities for it than India 
does, and its pursuit not only affords occupation and interest both in-doors 
and out-of-doors, but it is also accessible to all and necessitates no more 
costly apparatus than is within the means of every official Englishman. 
The habits of close observation which it fosters are especially useful ; 
and the careful record of personal observations supplies the much-needed 
data, without which general laws cannot be discussed or deduced. As 
to the healthy interest it developes in life, those who have experienced 
it will testify. A country which to others may seem a dreary waste is 
often to the naturalist a very mine of wealth, a ride across it, or a march 
through it, becomes replete with interest and enjoyment ; and it is earnestly 
hoped that, on perusing these pages, some of the many Englishmen 
scattered over India in solitary places may be induced to take up the 
study of ornithology, and find in it a new and growing interest which 
will while away many a pleasant hour. 
* This curious instance of aberrant instinct was pointed out to me by Col. Tucker, 
R.E., on whose house the event occurred and indeed is still occurring. 
