VULTURES, EAGLES, ETC. 247 



year, but they rarely remain for any length of time, 

 owing to the persecution to which they are exposed 

 by the resident birds. Crows, king-crows, mynas, 

 and doves for the occasion make common cause, 

 and mob and worry the intruder until he is driven 

 off Kestrels rarely leave the open country for the 

 thickly-wooded region immediately surrounding the 

 town, but now and then one of them strays inwards 

 from the rice-fields beyond the suburbs. The only 

 locality in which I have often seen them within the 

 limits of the town, is the plain or maidan around 

 Fort William. Here they used to be met with 

 every winter, but of late years, like the grey-headed 

 wagtails, they have almost completely deserted the 

 place, which is now so much more frequented than 

 it formerly was. 



There are very few raptorial birds more splendidly 

 coloured than a mature Brahmini kite, Haliastur 

 indus. Shelley, oddly enough, speaks of an eagle 

 sitting " in the light of its golden wings," but the 

 statement might often be fairly enough made of 

 a Brahmini kite, when all the brilliant tints of his 

 upper plumage are fully illuminated by brilliant sun- 

 shine. They are at any time highly decorative 

 objects, owing to the effective contrast of bright 

 chestnut and pure white in their feathering, and 

 appear to special advantage, when, as they very 

 often do, they take up a position in the crown 

 of a coco-nut palm, and settle on the convex 



