127 A BIRD CALENDAR 



they leave the nest fully a week in advance 

 of the young corvi. After vacating the nest 

 they squat for some days on a branch close by ; 

 numbers of them are to be seen thus in suitable 

 localities towards the end of July. At first 

 the call of the koel is a squeak, but later it 

 takes the form of a creditable, if ludicrous, 

 attempt at a caw. The young cuckoo does 

 not seem to be able to distinguish its foster- 

 parents from other crows ; it clamours for 

 food whenever any crow comes near it. 



Of the scenes characteristic of the rains in 

 India none is more pleasing than that presented 

 by a colony of nest-building bayas or weaver- 

 birds (Ploceus bay a). These birds build in 

 company. Sometimes more than twenty of 

 their wonderful retort-like nests are to be 

 seen in one tree. This means that more than 

 forty birds are at work, and, as each of these 

 indulges in much cheerful twittering, the 

 tree in question presents an animated scene. 

 Both sexes take part in nest-construction. 



Having selected the branch of a tree from 

 which the nest will hang, the birds proceed 

 to collect material. Each completed nest 

 contains many yards of fibre not much thicker 

 than stout thread. Such material is not found 



