FOR NORTHERN INDIA 7 



ceylonensis), a bird that visits the plains of 

 northern India every winter. In summer it 

 retires to the Himalayas for nesting purposes. 

 Still more melodious is the call of the wood- 

 shrike, which is frequently heard at this 

 season, and indeed during the greater part of 

 the year. 



Every now and again the green barbet emits 

 his curious chuckling laugh, followed by a 

 monotonous kutur, kutur, kuturuk. At rare 

 intervals his cousin, the coppersmith, utters 

 a soft wow and thereby reminds us that he is 

 in the land of the living. These two species, 

 more especially the latter, seem to dislike the 

 cold weather. They revel in the heat ; it is 

 when the thermometer stands at something 

 over 1 00 in the shade that they feel like giants 

 refreshed, and repeat their loud calls with 

 wearying insistence throughout the hours of 

 daylight. 



The nuthatches begin to tune up in January. 

 They sing with more cheer than harmony, 

 their love-song being a sharp penetrating tee- 

 tee-tee-tee-tee. 



The hoopoe reminds us of his presence by an 

 occasional soft uk-uk-uk. His breeding season, 

 like that of the nuthatch, is about to begin. 



