90 A BIRD CALENDAR 



partridges. The nests of most of these have 

 been described already. 



In the present month several species begin 

 nesting operations. First and foremost among 

 these is the king-crow or black drongo (Dicrurus 

 ater). No bird, not even the roller, makes so 

 much ado about courtship and nesting as does 

 the king-crow, of which the love-making was 

 described last month. A pair of king-crows 

 regards as its castle the tree in which it has 

 elected to construct a nest. Round this tree 

 it establishes a sphere of influence into which 

 none but a favoured few birds may come. All 

 intruders are forthwith set upon by the pair of 

 little furies, and no sight is commoner at this 

 season than that of a crow, a kite, or a hawk 

 being chased by two irate drongos. The nest 

 of the king-crow is a small cup, wedged into 

 the fork of a branch high up in a tree. 



The Indian oriole (Oriolus kundoo) is one 

 of the privileged creatures allowed to enter 

 the dicrurian sphere of influence, and it takes 

 full advantage of this privilege by placing its 

 nest almost invariably in the same tree as that 

 of the king-crow. The oriole is a timid bird 

 and is glad to rear up its family under the aegis 

 of so doughty a warrior as the Black Prince of 



