ioo GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



to state in this place that they build thousands of nests 

 in the various stations of the Punjab during the sum- 

 mer months. At least, one nest is to be found in every 

 garden. In each little nursery two or three families 

 are reared in succession. 



The koel (Eudynamis honorata) is perhaps the most 

 interesting of our summer visitors. We are all of us 

 acquainted with his fluty crescendo ku-il, ku-il, ku-il, 

 also with the excited kuk, koo-oo, koo-ooo, which the 

 bird pours forth in a veritable torrent. 



The koel is sometimes erroneously called the brain- 

 fever bird. This proud title properly belongs to an- 

 other parasite, namely the hawk cuckoo (Hierococcyx 

 varius), which does not come as far west as Lahore, 

 but may be heard at Umballa. This noisy fowl shrieks 

 brain fever, brain fever, brain fever, beginning low down 

 in the scale and ascending higher and higher until 

 his top note is reached, then he begins all over again, 

 and repeats the performance for an indefinite period. 

 He would have a future before him as a foghorn were 

 it only possible to make him call at will 1 



The cock koel is a jet black bird with a red eye and 

 a green bill. When flying he looks like a slenderly 

 built, long-tailed crow. The hen is speckled black and 

 white. This cuckoo cuckolds crows. 



The cock draws off the owners of the nest by 

 placing himself near them and screaming. The crows, 

 being short-tempered birds, rise to the bait and give 

 chase. While they are absent the hen slips into the 

 nest and lays her egg. If sufficient time be allowed she 

 destroys one or more of the eggs already in the nest. 



