FOR NORTHERN INDIA 30 



six or seven notes that ascend and descend the 

 musical scale. It is one of the most familiar 

 of the sounds that gladden the Indian country- 

 side. The broad white eyebrow and the 

 manner in which, with drooping wings and 

 tail spread into a fan, this flycatcher waltzes 

 and pirouettes among the branches of a tree 

 render it unmistakable. The nest is a dainty 

 little cup, covered with cobweb, attached to 

 one of the lower boughs of a tree. So small 

 is the nursery that sometimes the incubating 

 bird looks as though it were sitting across a 

 branch. This species appears to rear two 

 broods every year. The first comes into 

 existence in March or late February in the 

 United Provinces and five or six weeks later 

 in the Punjab ; the second brood emerges 

 during the monsoon. 



The white-eyed buzzards weakest of all the 

 birds of prey begin to pair towards the end 

 of the month. At this season they frequently 

 rise high above the earth and soar, emitting 

 plaintive cries. 



The handsome, but destructive, green 

 parrots are now seeking, or making, cavities 

 in trees or buildings in which to deposit their 

 white eggs. 



