1 1 
wings American visitors to India call it the Snrprise Bird. At 
the breeding season it performs astonisliing antics in the air, 
ascending vertically, tlien dropping like a stone, to suddenly 
check itself and sail in circles, the while uttering its peculiar, 
harsh scream. Its hal)it is to take np a position on some con- 
spicuous perch and there sit, often with its throat swelled out, 
and utters at intervals a sound like (shock. Suddenly it makes a 
dash to the ground, seizes an insect which its sharp eyes have 
discovered, and devours it then and there. This bird, like the 
Magpie-robin, nestles in holes, usually in decayed trees, but 
not infrequently in deserted buildings. One pair nested in the 
chimney of my bungalow in Lahore, and no words can describe 
the weird sound which emanated from that chimney after the 
young ones liatched out. 
It is said that the Roller sometimes devours small snakes. 
It suflFers much at the hands of man on account of its beautiful 
plumage. It has also the misfortune to be sacred in the eyes of 
some Hindus. At the Durga puja festival numbers of Blue Jays 
are caught in order to be liberated at a certain religious ceremony. 
The Indian Hoopoe (^Uptipa indica), which closely re- 
sembles the European Hoopoe in appearance, is one of the most 
abundant birds in India. Four or five are usually to be seen 
feeding in every garden that boasts of anything in the nature of 
a lawn. This species uses its long Snipe-like bill as a combined 
probe and forceps to the great discomforture of those creatures 
which lurk a little way below the surface of the earth. It seems 
to feed all day long and with such feverish haste as to convey the 
impression that the hours of daylight are too few to allow it to 
obtain sufficient food. 
Ordinarily its crest is folded up like a lady's fan, but this 
opens out whenever the bird is alarmed, and is always expanded 
during flight. The Hoopoe is no musician. His only note seems 
to be a low ook, ook, ook, usually heard only in the early morning. 
Like the two species just described the Hoopoe nests in 
holes in trees or buildings. Sometimes the aperture leading to 
the nest is so small that it is not possible to squeeze into it three 
fingers at one time. The clutch of eggs is large and the young 
remain a long time in the nest. In the sanitation of this the 
