FOR NORTHERN INDIA 107 



black partridges call as lustily as ever, and the 

 bulbuls continue to twitter to one another 

 " stick to it ! " With the first fall of rain 

 the tunes of the paradise flycatchers and the 

 king-crows change. The former now cry 

 " Witty-ready wit," softly and gently, while 

 the calls of the latter suddenly become sweet 

 and mellow. 



Speaking generally, the monsoon seems to 

 exercise a sobering, a softening influence on 

 the voices of the birds. The pied myna forms 

 the one exception ; he does not come into 

 his full voice until the rains have set in. 



The monsoon transfigures the earth. The 

 brown, dry, hard countryside, with its dust- 

 covered trees, becomes for the time being a 

 shallow lake in which are studded emerald 

 islets innumerable. Stimulated by the rain 

 many trees put forth fresh crops of leaves. At 

 the first break in the downpour the cultiva- 

 tors rush forth with their ploughs and oxen 

 to prepare the soil for the autumn crops with 

 all the speed they may. 



There is much to interest the ornithologist 

 in June. 



Of the birds whose nests have been pre- 

 viously described the following are likely to 



