FOR NORTHERN INDIA 67 



go south in July and winter in the Central 

 Provinces. Cuckoos, at seasons when they are 

 silent, are apt to be overlooked, or mistaken 

 for shikras. 



Ornithologists stationed in Central India 

 .will render a service to science if they keep 

 a sharp look-out for European cuckoos and 

 record the results of their observations. In 

 this way alone can the above theory be proved 

 or disproved. 



By the middle of the month most of the 

 rollers have settled down to domestic duties, 

 and in consequence are less noisy than they 

 were when courting. Their irritating grating 

 cries are now largely replaced by harsh tshocks of 

 delight, each tshock being accompanied by a 

 decisive movement of the tail. The cause of 

 these interjections expressing delight is a clutch 

 of white eggs or a brood of young birds, hidden 

 in a hole in a tree or a building. 



April is a month in which the pulse of bird 

 life beats very vigorously in India. He who, 

 braving the heat, watches closely the doings of 

 the feathered folk will be rewarded by the 

 discovery of at least thirty different kinds of 

 nests. Hence, it is evident that the calendar 

 for this month, unless it is to attain very large 



