ii7 A BIRD CALENDAR 



carmine, and brightest gold. These colours 

 fade away into the darkness of the night ; the 

 stars then peep forth and twinkle brightly. 

 At the approach of " rosy-fingered " dawn 

 their lights go out, one by one. Then blue 

 tints appear in the firmament which deepen 

 into azure. The glory of the ultramarine sky 

 does not remain long without alloy : clouds 

 soon appear. So the scene ever changes, hour 

 by hour and day by day. Had the human 

 being who passes July in the plains but one 

 window to the soul and that the eye, the month 

 would be one of pure joy, a month spent 

 in the contemplation of splendid dawns, 

 brilliant days, the rich green mantle of the 

 earth, the majesty of approaching thunder- 

 clouds, and superb sunsets. But, alas, July 

 is not a month of unalloyed pleasure. The 

 temperature is tolerably low while the rain 

 is actually falling ; but the moment this 

 ceases the European is subjected to the acute 

 physical discomforts engendered by the hot, 

 steamy, oppressive atmosphere, the ferocity 

 of the sun's rays, and the teasing of thousands 

 of biting and buzzing insects which the 

 monsoon calls into being. Termites, crickets, 

 red-bugs, stink-bugs, horseflies, mosquitoes, 



