An April Morning in Northern India. 193 
ing: a cock Koel fly across the garden. He alighted in a pipal 
tree. Almost before he had settled a Grey-necked Cro^vv 
(Cnrviis splendens) attacked him and made him fly ofl", crying 
" P'P- P'P-" The Crow pursued him to another ti'ee, from which 
it drove him out, then to a third and a fourth, and eventually 
both birds flew out of my sight. The Koel is parasitic on 
the Crow, and during the breeding season in June and July 
such chases are of fi cqueut occurrence, but they are some- 
what unusual at this season of the year. After listening a 
little longer to the chorus of the birds which was now aug- 
mentec: liy the songs of the Sunbird an dthe Brown Eock-chat, 
and the " tonk, tonk, tonk," of the Coppersmith I got up and 
went on to the roof to look for the nest of the Hoopoes (Upiipoi 
indica). The roof is a flat one and there is a flight of steps 
leading up to it, so the attaining thereto does not involve any 
gymnastic operations. On arriving on top both the parent 
Hoopoes were waiting for me; one had the bill empty, while 
the other was carrying something; the former swore at me, 
expanded his corona and bowed his head. ' This is the at- 
titude assumed at all times of excitement, whether the bird 
is hissing at an enemy or showing off to its mate. As I 
approached the ne'st the parent birds flew off. The presence 
of the nest was betrayed by a lot of droppings on the roof 
below the hole. The roof is composed of three terrac'es-. 
The highest is the roof of the lofty middle rooms, 
then there is a lower terrace which forms the roofs of the 
outer rooms, less lofty by four feet than the inner moms ; then 
again, at a lower level is a third terrace which is the roof 
of the verandah. In the walls of the middle rooms, quite near 
the roof are a number of small holes, made to let air into the 
house from the outside. The diameter of these holes is some 
six inches. One of these had been partially blocked up with 
brick and over part of the outer orifice was stretched a metal 
grating. T pressed this grating and was greeted with hisses, 
betraying the presence of young birds. I then put on a 
pair of gloves (having had experience of the tilth of a Hoopoe's 
nest), removed the grating and peered into the hole. As soon 
as my eyes became accustomed to the light inside, T was able 
to distinguish several young birds. I managed to pull out 
four. The fifth got into a chink between a brick 
and the upper part of the cavity and wedged itself in so 
