Notices of New Books. 8621 



great energy. It is much ori the wing, soaring lazily about canton- 

 ments, or up and down rivers ; but after a time seats itself on some 

 palm or other tree, on the mast of a ship, and even on the ground. 

 Near cities it is very tame and fearless, and I have often seen one 

 catching fish thrown up to it by some pious Hindoo. It is said 

 sometimes to carry off young chickens and pigeons, but I have not 

 myself witnessed this. If the food it has seized be small, it devours 

 it as it flies ; but if large it generally sits down on the ground or the 

 bund of a paddy field, or carries it off to a lofty tree." — (P. 10*2). 



Milvus govinda. — " This is one of the most abundant and common 

 birds in India, found at all elevations up to 8000 feet at least, espe- 

 cially near large towns and cantonments ; and its vast numbers and 

 fearlessness are among the first objects that strike the stranger from 

 England, where birds of prey are so rare. Every large town, canton- 

 ment, and even village, has its colony of kites, which ply their busy 

 vocation from before sunrise to some time after sunset. Every large 

 camp, too, is followed by these useful scavengers, and the tent even 

 of the single traveller is daily visited by one or more, according 

 to the numbers in the neighbourhood. As is well known, kites 

 pick up garbage of all kinds, fragments of meat and fish, and gene- 

 rally the refuse of man's food. When a basket of refuse or offal is 

 thrown out in the streets to be carted away, the kites of the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood, who appear to be quite cognizant of the usual 

 time at which this is done, are all on the look-out, and dash down on 

 it impetuously, some of them seizing the most tempting morsels by 

 a rapid swoop, others deliberately sitting down on the heaps, along 

 with crows and dogs, and selecting their scraps. On such an occa- 

 sion, too, there is many a struggle to retain a larger fragment 

 than usual ; for the possessor no sooner emerges from its swoop than 

 several empty-clawed spectators instantly pursue it eagerly, till the 

 owner finds the chase too hot, and drops the bone of contention, 

 which is generally picked up long before it reaches the ground, again 

 and again to change owners, and perhaps finally to revert to its ori- 

 ginal proprietor. On such occasions there is a considerable amount 

 of squealing going on. The vast numbers of these kites in large 

 towns can hardly be realised by strangers. Captain Irby mentions 

 having seen one hundred together, but in Calcutta and elsewhere two 

 or three hundred may be seen at one time. They are excessively bold 

 and fearless, often snatching morsels off a dish en route from kitchen 

 to hall, and even, according to Adams, seizing a fragment from a 

 man's very mouth ; and several anecdotes illustrative of this are told 



