EALCO SEVERTJS. 113 



forest, which furnish it with a supply of small birds, on which it is said chiefly to feed. Mr. Blights specimen 

 was shot hawking after dragonflies; and no doubt the hird feeds as well on lizards, which form a large 

 proportion of the food of most Indian Raptors, from the Hawk-Eagle downwards. It is said to be crepuscular 

 in its habits. Mr. F. Bourdillon, in ' Stray Feathers ' (vol. iv. p. 354), says that its cry is shriller and weaker 

 than that of the Kestrel ; he is also of opinion that it breeds in Travancore. Wherever it does it must be in remote 

 or inaccessible forests, for nothing appears yet to be known concerning its nest and eggs. Jerdon remarks that 

 it nidificates on trees ; and Mr. Thompson, as quoted in Mr. Hume's ' Rough Notes/ says that it breeds in 

 Kumaon. He writes, " These birds regularly resort to the dense forests on the lower ranges of Kumaon and 

 Gurhwal about April. In June I watched a female bearing a small bird away, but could not find where she 

 took it to. I infer from this that she must have had a nest of fledged young ones, as there were lots of fine 

 trees standing close to where she passed me, and where she might have stopped to pluck her quarry. Later 

 observations confirm me that the bird breeds about April in our lofty and dense forests." 



Nidijication. — The Toorumtee nests exclusively on trees, making its own nest, and building a fresh one every year. 

 It is neatly built of both stout and fine twigs closely put together, and lined with fine roots and vegetable fibres, mixed 

 sometimes with straw, feathers, or pieces of rag, which are firmly interwoven with the body of the nest. It is generally 

 fixed in the fork of the top branch of a large tree, such as a mango, peepul, or tamarind, where these are to be found ; but 

 where they do not exist, it is placed in small trees, sometimes not more than 10 feet above the ground. The eggs are 

 usually four in number ; but sometimes three and five are laid. They vary from " a pale yellowish brown, with just a 

 few reddish-brown specks, to a nearly uniform dark brownish red, obscurely mottled and blotched with a somewhat darker 

 red." Sometimes there is a ring of feeble blotches round the large end, and at others a zone of darker markings round 

 the middle. They average T66 inch in length by T27 in breadth. The breeding-season lasts from January till May. 



