76 A BIRD CALENDAR 



a white patch on the rump and a bar of white 

 in the wing. He delights to sit on a telegraph 

 wire or a stem of elephant grass and there make 

 cheerful melody. The hen is a dull reddish- 

 grey bird. The nest is usually placed in a hole in 

 the ground or a bank or a wall, sometimes it is 

 wedged into a tussock of grass. 



Allied to the magpie-robin and the pied bush- 

 chat is the familiar Indian robin (Thamnobia 

 cambayensis), which, like its relatives, is now 

 engaged in nesting operations. This species 

 constructs its cup-shaped nest in all manner of 

 strange places. Spaces in stacks of bricks, holes 

 in the ground or in buildings, and window-sills 

 are held in high esteem as nesting sites. The 

 eggs are not easy to describe because they 

 display great variation. The commonest type 

 has a pale green shell, speckled with reddish- 

 brown spots, which are most densely distributed 

 at the thick end of the egg. 



Many of the grey partridges (Francolinus 

 pondicerianus) are now nesting. This species 

 is somewhat erratic in respect of its breeding 

 season. Eggs have been taken in February, 

 March, April, May, June, September, October, 

 and November. The April eggs, however, 

 outnumber those of all the other months put 



