66 A BIRD CALENDAR 



more penetrating than melodious, grows daily 

 more vigorous, reminding us that we may now 

 hopefully search for his nest. Among the 

 less pleasing sounds that fill the welkin are 

 the tonk, tonk, tonk of the coppersmith, the 

 kutur, kutur, kuturuk of the green barbet, and 

 the calls of the various cuckoos that summer 

 in the plains of Northern India. The calls 

 of these cuckoos, although frequently heard 

 in April, are uttered more continuously in 

 May, accordingly they are described in the 

 calendar for that month. 



The owls, of course, lift up their voices, 

 particularly on moonlight nights. The night- 

 jars are as vociferous as they were in 

 March ; their breeding season is now at its 

 height. 



In the hills the woods resound with the 

 cheerful double note of the European cuckoo 

 (Cuculus canorus). This bird is occasionally 

 heard in the plains of the Punjab in April, and 

 again from July to September, when it no 

 longer calls in the Himalayas. This fact, 

 coupled with the records of the presence of 

 the European cuckoo in Central India in 

 June and July, lends support to the theory that 

 the birds which enliven the Himalayas in spring 



