192 A BIRD CALENDAR 



The green barbet calls spasmodically through- 

 out December, but, as a rule, only in the 

 afternoon. Towards the end of the month 

 some of the nuthatches and the robins begin 

 to tune up. On cloudy days the king-crows 

 utter the soft calls that are usually associated 

 with the rainy season. 



December, like November, although climati- 

 cally very pleasant, is a month in which the 

 activities of the feathered folk are at a com- 

 paratively low ebb. The cold, however, sends 

 to India thousands of immigrants. Most 

 of these spend the whole winter in the plains 

 of India. Of such are the redstart, the grey- 

 headed flycatcher, the snipe and the majority 

 of the game birds. Besides these regular 

 migrants there are many species which spend 

 a few days or weeks in the plains, leaving the 

 Himalayas when the weather there becomes 

 very inclement. Thus the ornithologist in 

 the plains of Northern India lives in a state 

 of expectancy from November to January. 

 Every time he walks in the fields he hopes to 

 see some uncommon winter visitor. It may 

 be a small -billed mountain thrush, a blue 

 rock- thrush, a wall -creeper, a black bulbul, 

 a flycatcher- warbler, a green- backed tit, a 



