Birds of the Indian Hills 



able, while hovering higher than the summits 

 of the hills, to see what is happening in the 

 valleys. In the Himalayas they cannot do this, 

 because the valleys are usually deep. The 

 kites, therefore, sail there at a lower level than 

 the hill-tops, and their plaintive chee-hee-hee- 

 hee-hee is heard throughout the day. It is 

 not a very cheerful sound, so that in this re- 

 spect the Nilgiris have an advantage over the 

 Himalayas. 



The majority of the kites appear to migrate 

 from the Nilgiris during the south-west mon- 

 soon. 



The Brahmany kite {Haliastur indus) — the 

 handsome kite with white head and breast and 

 rich chestnut-red wings — is sometimes seen on 

 the Nilgiris, but scarcely sufficiently often to 

 merit a place among the common birds. 



The three remaining raptores that are of 

 frequent occurrence on the hills of South India 

 are the shikra {Astur badius), the crested 

 goshawk {Lophosfizias trivirgatus), and the 

 kestrel {Tinnunculus alaudarius). The shikra 

 is very like the brain-fever bird in appearance. 

 It is a little smaller than the common house- 

 crow. The upper plumage is ashy grey. The 



tail is of the same hue, but with broad dark 



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