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 eggs 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 sufficient- 

 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 is a 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, 

 E.E., on whose house the event occurred and indeed is still occurring. 



