780 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



my absence from Lahore there had been a most violent dust-storm which blew 

 down half the tree in which this nest was situated. 



Nest Number XI. 



On June 23rd I discovered this nest in a low tree. The nest was very difficult 

 to get at, as it was built on a slen<ier branch. It contained five eggs, all crows. 

 On the 25th we noticed that one of these had disappeared. On the 28th I placed 

 in the nest a koel's egg, which I took from a distant nest. On July Erd one crow 

 had hatched out. «>n the 5th we found that the koel had emerged, on the Gth 

 another crow, and on the 7th all four crows had hatched out, so that the nest 

 now contained four crow nestlings and one young koel. On July 20th all five 

 birds were in the nest. But when I returned from the Hills on July 30th the 

 nest contained only the koel and one crow. The others were almost certainly 

 flung out o^ the nest during the severe storm which I mentioned when speaking 

 of nest number VII. This nest (number XI) was attached to very slender bran- 

 ches and must have been subjected to violent oscillations during the severe storm. 



Nest Number XII. 



On June 23rd this contained one crow's egg, a second had been added by the 

 25th, and a third by the 27th. On the 28th I placed a koel's egg in the nest. 



On July 6th the young koel emerged. None of the crow's eggs had 

 yet hatched out. On July 9tb I noticed that one of the crow's eggs had got 

 spoiled, it had in it a hole nearly large enough to enable me to insert the 

 blunt end of my pencil. The young koel, although nearly three days old, was so 

 small that it could easily go inside a crow's egg. On July 10th the three 

 crow's eggs were still in the nest, so that the parents bad sat for some days 

 upon an egg wi h a large hole in it. On this date I placed in the nest a paddy- 

 bird's egg which was nearly incubated, as I wanted to see whether, if the 

 youngster was hatched in the crow's nest, the crows would feed it. 



On the I ii\\ I found in the nest the paddy-bird's egg, the koel, and a newly 

 hatched crow. The damaged egg and another egg had disappeared. No human 

 being had been up the tree. The crows had probably noticed the hole in the 

 egg and turned it out as well as another egg, for some reason best known to 

 themselves. On July 13th the young paddy-bird could be heard cheeping 

 inside the egg. 



On July 14th the koel alone was in the nest, the young crow and the paddy- 

 bird having completely disappeared. There were no signs of any one having 

 climbed up the tree. The crows must, I think, have been disgusted at the 

 appearance of the paddy-bird and turned both it and the young crow out in 

 their wrath. It is, I think, unlikely that the young koel turned out these 

 eggs and the young birds, for, as I have said, the koel nestling docs not 

 appear to mind the presence of others, and it was not until it had been hatched 

 for eight days that the nest was finally emptied of everything but itself. 



Having chronicled what took place in each of the twelve nests I had under 

 observation, it is necessary for me to offer, in conclusion, a few general 

 remarks on the facts which the enquiry has brought to light. 



