190 A BIRD CALENDAR 



clothing which he wears year in year out, 

 whether the mercury in the thermometer 

 stand at 115 or 32. However, many of 

 the better-educated Indians have learned from 

 Englishmen how to protect themselves against 

 cold ; we may therefore look forward to the 

 time when even the poorest Indian will be 

 able to enjoy the health-bringing, bracing 

 climate of the present month. 



By the 1st December the last of the spring 

 crops has been sown, most of the cotton has 

 been picked, and the husbandmen are busy 

 cutting and pressing the sugar-cane and irri- 

 gating the poppy and the rabi cereals. 



The crop-sown area is covered with a gar- 

 ment that, seen from a little distance, appears 

 to be made of emerald velvet. Its greenness 

 is intensified by contrast with the dried-up 

 grass on the grazing lands. In many places 

 the mustard crop has begun to flower ; the 

 bright yellow blooms serve to enliven the 

 somewhat monotonous landscape. In the 

 garden the chrysanthemums and the loquat 

 trees are still in flower ; the poinsettias put 

 forth their showy scarlet bracts and the roses 

 and violets begin to produce their fragrant 

 flowers, 



