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



Equally clear is it, in my opinion, that the young koel does not eject either 

 crow's eggs or his fellow-nestlings. In the case of nest number II three young 

 crows and a koel were reared up and fledged, in nest number VI two young 

 koels, and in nest number IX a koel and two crows. It is true that many eggs 

 and young crows disappeared but in nearly every case this disappearance can be 

 otherwise accounted for. I think that I have said sufficient regarding the young 

 koel's lack of that peculiar irritability which characterises the common cuckoo. 

 It is possible that the young koel may sometimes turn a crow nestling out of 

 the nest, but this is, I believe, always the result of accident. At the best a 

 crow's nest is an unsafe nursery. 



Then there can be little doubt that the incubatory period of the koel's 

 egg is «1 ghtly shorter than that of the crow ; as I have already said, in every 

 nest that I have examined the young koel has always been the first bird to 

 hatch out, and in some cases the koel's egg had been laid after some of the 

 crow's eggs that were being incubated along with it. 



Some ornithologists declare that the adult koels keep an eye upon their 

 young while these are in the nest and feed them as soon as they leave it. I 

 saw no signs of this, although I watched for it. I do not think that this 

 feeding takes place as a general rule ; as, if it did, the koel, which leaves the 

 nest so much earlier than the crows, would not wait about the nesting tree, 

 as it does, until the crows are ready to fly. 



In conclusion, I should like to mention two points regarding the nest and 

 eggs of the crow. 



The first of these is the varying rates of laying of different birds. Thus in 

 nest number III the five eggs were laid within as many days, while in nest 

 number VII the first egg was laid on June 15th, the second on the 18th, 

 the third on the 20th, and the fourth on the 22nd. That is to say, four eggs 

 were laid in eight days. 



Then I noticed that there is a great deal of variation displayed in eggs of 

 the same clutch, not only in marking but in colour, shape and size. In one 

 clutch of four eggs each differed so greatly from the others that, unless I 

 had myself taken all the four eggs out of the same nest, I should have not 

 believed that one bird could have laid them. 



Lastly, the crows about Lahore seem to be very catholic in their choice of 

 materials with which to line the nest. The lining most commonly seen 

 consists of a mixture of horsehair, dried grass and soft bast-like substance. 

 One bird used pine needles, another hard twigs, and a third soft grass only. 

 Khas (pulled out of some tattle) is a very favourite lining. A few nests were 

 lined with feathers, chiefly those of green parrots and " blue jays." 



One bird lined its nest with a mixture of feathers, dried leaves and bits of 

 blue silk thread. Another nest was lined with hairs that once graced the tail of 

 a roan horse. 



