234 
Blrdf of the Jhehim Diafrict. 
of tho big lakt', and sure rno\igli flushed a fine Falcon from 
one of the first trees approached. She settled in a tree a 
short distance away, and we tried her both with the decoy 
Hawk and the net with a pigeon decoy. But although she 
eainc lo both in (urn. it was only half-heartedly, for her 
crop was bulging, and we did not catch her. Finally as 
the net was up an Eagle (Aqvila vindhiana) made, a fine 
stooj) out of the .sky on to my Pigeon, killini; it at Once 
and putting an end to our netting operations. It was a 
job requiring some care to extract the Eagle from the net 
with due respect to its formidable beak and talons ! 
Close b}'' there was a huge Peepul tree, and in it 
proved to be the eyrie of a pair of Pallas' Fishing Eagles 
{Hah'tK Ins Iciicocoryphus) who.sc wild screams I had heard 
ringing out over the lake. This was a huge structure of 
sticks, thickly lined with coarse grass and containing three 
hard-set eggvs ; it was placed high up on a side-bough but 
was easily reached. There were several fish-heads in the 
nest . I 
Two or three Common Indian Nightjars (Caprimiiljus 
asiaticus) found in a small grove ; I flushed them many 
times but they kept on returning to the same spots. With- 
out marking the exact spot as they alighted it was im- 
possible to see them on the ground, so motionless did they 
sit, and so closely did their plumage blend into their .sur- 
roundings. ' 
A Sparrow-Havvk and a male Kestrel noted ; a Barn 
Owl (Strix fJammea) caught in a well. 
November 21. — From Otu back to Sirsa . A King Vulture (Otofjyps 
calvus) seen. 
Two White Ibis (Ibis mdanocephala) noted in the 
compound ; they are now bold enough and not averse to 
scavenging round about tlie neighbourhood of the cookhouse. 
November 22. — Some thirty or more Brahminy Ducks or Ruddy Shel- 
drake (Casarca rutHa) came to feed in the morning in 
some newly irrigated fields. 
November 23. — The Euddy Sheldrakes found again at the irrigation in 
the morning as well as some Eedshanks (Totanus califhis^, 
Spotted Eedshanks (T. fuHcus), and Green Sandpipers. A 
small gaggle of Geese also passed over. Great numbers of 
Hirvndo rvsfica were hawking about over the water. In 
some rough marshy ground near by I counted 1 3 White 
Storks, three Whit* Ibis, one Black -necked Stork, and a 
few White -necked Storks. 
I received a very fine old male Sparrow-Hawk (Ac- 
cipitcr iiisns) which had been caught in the verandah of a 
bungalow in the early morning. 
November 24. — Again visited the irrigated fields and found that in 
