82 A BIRD CALENDAR 



than the intense heat, appears to be the cause 

 of this midday sleep. Except during this 

 period of rest at noon the birds are more lively 

 than they were in April. 



The breeding season is now at its height. 

 In May over five hundred species of birds nest 

 in India. No individual is likely to come 

 across all these different kinds of nests, because, 

 in order to do so, that person would have to 

 traverse India from Peshawar to Tinnevelly 

 and from Quetta to Tenasserim. Nevertheless, 

 the man who remains in one station, if he 

 choose to put forth a little energy and defy 

 the sun, may reasonably expect to find the 

 nests of more than fifty kinds of birds. Whether 

 he be energetic or the reverse he cannot fail 

 to hear a great many avian sounds both by 

 day and by night. In May the birds are more 

 vociferous than at any other time of year. 

 The fluty cries of the koel and the vigorous 

 screams of the brain-fever bird penetrate the 

 closed doors of the bungalow, as do, to a less 

 extent, the chatter of the seven sisters, the 

 calls of the mynas, the towee, towee, towee of 

 the tailor-bird, the whoot, whoot, whoot of the 

 crow-pheasant, the monotonous notes of the 

 coppersmith and the green barbet, the uk, uk, 



