Birds In and About the Station. 
281 
even when you know how dillicult it is to hold tlieni. 
They are loose feathered birds, the ones I took lionic 
felt the heat at Bombay very much and lost no time jn 
discarding their clothing for wliich they were sorry when 
they arrived at Marseilles and lapidly put them on again, 
being practically in full i)lumage again by the time we reached 
Liverpool. They have a variety of call -notes which I used 
to like but a recent afternoon's experience has made me change 
my mind. 
There is a charming nullah (not far from the house we 
are staying in) which gives Dalliousie its water-supply. Higher 
up it opens out fanwise inio numerous small nullahs. ,At 
the junction the nullah has a wide rocky bed coveied with 
undergrowth, low berry -bearing bushes, wild raspberry, dock, 
balsam, and some of the stingiest kind of nettle, witii a few 
nice trees, chestnut and oak, dotted here and tiiere. Tli(> 
sides of the nullahs are forest, chiefly deodar. An ideal 
place for birds it must be in the bei'ry and seed season. Tiu; 
rocks gave off a great deal of heat, there was no shade, and it 
was a real hot and stuffy day working up for a thunderstorm ; 
altogether it was not the sort of thing one has the right to 
expect at 7000 feet and over. Also I had had a most disap- 
pointing day hi the bird line and I had made sure of finding 
birds here. I found birds, but, bar a few warblers, They 
werc) all I'meatmn; the place was stiff with them. They had 
young about to leave or just left the nest, and they objected to 
my presence and made the fact known by continually uttering 
theii' rather plaintive trisyllable whistle call. I stood it all 
right while moving up, but when I wanted to sit down and 
look round when a bit higher up, the ones lower douii took 
such a long time to calm down and those near me were so 
persistent that I was fairly driven to the peace of the deodars, 
where one was almost pleased to hear the monotonous "whe- 
oi-e" of the Barbet in place of the exasperating "whiu-hoo" 
of our friend "Streaks". 
It is small wonder that they are common, to my know- 
ledge they breed steadily three at a tinu- from A])ril 
to .lulx, and their nests are well concealed. All the nests I 
have found have been on a ledge of rock concealed by ivy 
or more commonly in a crevice in a bank, .sometimes at 
