the United Provinces too severe for it in winter; the koel and the
paradise flycatcher likewise desert us in the coldest months. From the
less temperate Punjab several species migrate in October which manage
to maintain themselves in the United Provinces throughout the year:
these are the purple sunbird, the little green and the blue-tailed
bee-eaters, and the yellow-throated sparrow. The return of these and
the other migrant species to the Punjab in March is as marked a
phenomenon as is the arrival of the swallow and the cuckoo in England
in spring.
The behaviour of the king-crows shows the marked effect a
comparatively small difference of temperature may exert on the habits
of some birds. In the United Provinces the king-crows appear to be as
numerous in winter as in summer: in the Punjab they are very plentiful
in summer, but rare in the cold weather; while not a single king-crow
winters in the N.-W. Frontier Province.
Of the birds of which the nests were described in January and February
the Pallas's fishing eagles have sent their nestlings into the world
to fend for themselves.
In the case of the following birds the breeding season is fast drawing
to its close:--the dusky horned-owl, the white-backed vulture,
Bonelli's eagle, the tawny eagle, the brown fish-owl, the rock
horned-owl, the raven, the amadavat and the white-throated munia.
The nesting season is at its height for all the other birds of which
the nests have been described, namely, most species of dove, the
jungle crow, the red-headed merlin, the purple sunbird, the nuthatch,
the fantail flycatcher, the finch-lark, the pied woodpecker, the
coppersmith, the alexandrine and the rose-ringed paroquet, the
white-eyed buzzard, the collared scops and the mottled wood-owl, the
kite, the black vulture and the pied kingfisher.
The sand-martins breed from October to May, consequently their nests,
containing eggs or young, are frequently taken in March. Mention was
made in January and February of the Indian cliff-swallow (_Hirundo
fluvicola_). This species is not found in the eastern districts of the
United Provinces, but it is the common swallow of the western
districts. The head is dull chestnut. The back and shoulders are
glistening steel-blue. The remainder of the upper plumage is brown.
The lower parts are white with brown streaks, which are most apparent
on the throat and upper breast. These swallows normally nest at two
seasons of the year--from February till April and in July or August.
They breed in colonies. The mud nests are spherical or oval with an
entrance tube from two to six inches long. The nests are invariably
attached to a cliff or building, and, although isolated ones are built
sometimes, they usually occur in clusters, as many as two hundred have
been counted in one cluster. In such a case a section cut parallel to
the surface to which the nests are attached looks like that of a huge
honeycomb composed of cells four inches in diameter--cells of a kind
that one could expect to be built by bees that had partaken of Mr. H.
G. Wells' "food of the gods."
The beautiful white-breasted kingfisher, (_Halcyon smyrnensis_) is now
busy at its nest.
This species spends most of its life in shady gardens; it feeds on
insects in preference to fish. It does not invariably select a river
bank in which to nest, it is quite content with a sand quarry, a bank,
or the shaft of a _kachcha_ well. The nest consists of a passage, some
two feet in length and three inches in diameter, leading to a larger
chamber in which from four to seven eggs are laid.
A pair of white-breasted kingfishers at work during the early stages
of nest construction affords an interesting spectacle. Not being able
to obtain a foothold on the almost perpendicular surface of the bank,
the birds literally charge this in turn with fixed beak. By a
succession of such attacks at one spot a hole of an appreciable size
is soon formed in the soft sand. Then the birds are able to obtain a
foothold and to excavate with the bill, while clinging to the edge of
the hole. Every now and then they indulge in a short respite from
their labours. While thus resting one of the pair will sometimes
spread its wings for an instant and display the white patch; then it
will close them and make a neat bow, as if to say "Is not that nice?"
Its companion may remain motionless and unresponsive, or may return
the compliment.
In the first days of March the bulbuls begin to breed. In 1912 the
writer saw a pair of bulbuls (_Otocompsa emeria_) building a nest on
the 3rd March. By the 10th the structure was complete and held the
full clutch of three eggs. On that date a second nest was found
containing three eggs.
In 1913 the writer first saw a bulbul's nest on the 5th March. This
belonged to _Molpastes bengalensis_ and contained two eggs. On the
following day the full clutch of three was in the nest.
The nesting season for these birds terminates in the rains.
The common bulbuls of the plains belong to two genera--_Molpastes_ and
_Otocompsa_. The former is split up into a number of local species
which display only small differences in appearance and interbreed
freely at the places where they meet. They are known as the Madras,
the Bengal, the Punjab, etc., red-vented bulbul. They are somewhat
larger than sparrows. The head, which bears a short crest, and the
face are black; the rest of the body, except a patch of bright red
under the tail, is brown, each feather having a pale margin.
In _Otocompsa_ the crest is long and rises to a sharp point which
curves forward a little over the beak. The breast is white, set off by
a black gorget. There is the usual red patch under the tail and a
patch of the same hue on each side of the face, whence the English
name for the bird--the red-whiskered bulbul.
_Molpastes_ and _Otocompsa_ have similar habits. They are feckless
little birds that build cup-shaped nests in all manner of queer and
exposed situations. Those that live near the habitations of Europeans
nestle in low bushes in the garden, or in pot plants in the verandah.
Small crotons are often selected, preferably those that do not bear a
score of leaves. The sitting bulbul does not appear to mind the daily
shower-bath it receives when the _mali_ waters the plant. Sometimes as
many as three or four pairs of bulbuls attempt to rear up families in
one verandah. The word "attempt" is used advisedly, because, owing to
the exposed situations in which nests are built, large numbers of eggs
and young bulbuls are destroyed by boys, cats, snakes and other
predaceous creatures. The average bulbul loses six broods for every
one it succeeds in rearing. The eggs are pink with reddish markings.
March is the month in which to look for the nest of the Indian
wren-warbler (_Prinia inornata_). _Inornata_ is a very appropriate
specific name for this tiny earth-brown bird, which is devoid of all
kind of ornamentation. Its voice is as homely as its appearance--a
harsh but plaintive _twee_, _twee_, _twee_. It weaves a nest which
looks like a ragged loofah with a hole in the side. The nest is
usually placed low down in a bush or in long grass. Sometimes it is
attached to two or more stalks of corn. In such cases the corn is
often cut before the young birds have had time to leave the nest, and
then the brood perishes. This species brings up a second family in the
rainy season.
The barn-owls (_Strix flammea_) are now breeding. They lay their eggs
in cavities in trees, buildings or walls. In northern India the
nesting season lasts from February to June. Eggs are most likely to be
found in the United Provinces during the present month.
The various species of babblers or seven sisters begin to nest in
March. Unlike bulbuls these birds are careful to conceal the nest.
This is a slenderly-built, somewhat untidy cup, placed in a bush or
tree. The eggs are a beautiful rich blue, without any markings.
The hawk-cuckoo, or brain-fever bird (_Hierococcyx varius_), to which
allusion has already been made, deposits its eggs in the nests of
various species of babblers. The eggs of this cuckoo are blue, but are
distinguishable from those of the babbler by their larger size. It may
be noted, in passing, that this cuckoo does not extend far into the
Punjab.
As stated above, most of the shrikes go a-courting in March.
Nest-building follows hard on courtship. In this month and in April
most of the shrikes lay their eggs, but nests containing eggs or young
are to be seen in May, June, July and August. Shrikes are birds of
prey in miniature. Although not much larger than sparrows they are as
fierce as falcons.
Their habit is to seize the quarry on the ground, after having pounced
upon it from a bush or tree. Grasshoppers constitute their usual food,
but they are not afraid to tackle mice or small birds.
The largest shrike is the grey species (_Lanius lahtora_). This is
clothed mainly in grey; however, it has a broad black band running
through the eye--the escutcheon of the butcher-bird clan. It begins
nesting before the other species, and its eggs are often taken in
February.
The other common species are the bay-backed (_L. vittatus_) and the
rufous-backed shrike (_L. erythronotus_). These are smaller birds and
have the back red. The former is distinguishable from the latter by
having in the wings and tail much white, which is very conspicuous
during flight.
The nest of each species is a massive cup, composed of twigs, thorns,
grasses, feathers, and, usually, some pieces of rag; these last often
hang down in a most untidy manner. The nest is, as a rule, placed in a
babool or other thorny tree, close up against the trunk.
Three allies of the shrikes are likewise busy with their nests at this
season. These are the wood-shrike, the minivet and the cuckoo-shrike.
The wood-shrike (_Tephrodornis pondicerianus_) is an ashy-brown bird
of the size of a sparrow with a broad white eyebrow. It frequently
emits a characteristic soft, melancholy, whistling note, which Eha
describes as "Be thee cheery." How impracticable are all efforts to
"chain by syllables airy sounds"! The cup-like nest of this species is
always carefully concealed in a tree.
Minivets are aerial exquisites. In descriptions of them superlative
follows upon superlative. The cocks of most species are arrayed in
scarlet and black; the hens are not a whit less brilliantly attired in
yellow and sable. One species lives entirely in the plains, others
visit them in the cold weather; the majority are permanent residents
of the hills. The solitary denizen of the plains--the little minivet
(_Pericrocotus peregrinus_)--is the least resplendent of them all. Its
prevailing hue is slaty grey, but the cock has a red breast and some
red on the back. The nest is a cup so small as either to be invisible
from below or to present the appearance of a knot or thickening in the
branch on which it is placed. Sometimes two broods are reared in the
course of the year--one in March, April or May and the other during
the rainy season.
The cuckoo-shrike (_Grauculus macii_) is not nearly related to the
cuckoo, nor has it the parasitic habits of the latter. Its grey
plumage is barred like that of the common cuckoo, hence the adjective.
The cuckoo-shrike is nearly as big as a dove. It utters constantly a
curious harsh call. It keeps much to the higher branches of trees in
which it conceals, with great care, its saucer-like nest.
As we have seen, some coppersmiths and pied woodpeckers began nesting
operations in February, but the great majority do not lay eggs until
March.
The green barbet (_Thereoceryx zeylonicus_) and the golden-backed
woodpecker (_Brachypternus aurantius_) are now busy excavating their
nests, which are so similar to those of their respective cousins--the
coppersmith and the pied woodpecker--as to require no description. It
is not necessary to state that the harsh laugh, followed by the
_kutur_, _kutur_, _kuturuk_, of the green barbet and the eternal
_tonk_, _tonk_, _tonk_ of the coppersmith are now more vehement than
ever, and will continue with unabated vigour until the rains have
fairly set in.
By the end of the month many of the noisy rollers have found holes in
decayed trees in which the hens can lay their eggs. The vociferous
nightjars likewise have laid upon the bare ground their salmon-pink
eggs with strawberry-coloured markings.
The noisy spotted owlets (_Athene brama_) and the rose-ringed
paroquets (_Palaeornis torquatus_) are already the happy possessors of
clutches of white eggs hidden away in cavities of decayed trees or
buildings.
The swifts (_Cypselus indicus_) also are busy with their nests. These
are saucer-shaped structures, composed of feathers, straw and other
materials made to adhere together, and to the beam or stone to which
the nest is attached, by the glutinous saliva of the swifts. Deserted
buildings, outhouses and verandahs of bungalows are the usual nesting
sites of these birds. At this season swifts are very noisy. Throughout
the day and at frequent intervals during the night they emit loud
shivering screams. At sunset they hold high carnival, playing, at
breakneck speed and to the accompaniment of much screaming, a game of
"follow the man from Cook's."
The swifts are not the only birds engaged in rearing up young in our
verandahs. Sparrows and doves are so employed, as are the wire-tailed
swallows (_Hirundo smithii_). These last are steel-blue birds with red
heads and white under plumage. They derive the name "wire-tailed" from
the fact that the thin shafts of the outer pair of tail feathers are
prolonged five inches beyond the others and look like wires.
Wire-tailed swallows occasionally build in verandahs, but they prefer
to attach their saucer-shaped mud nests to the arches of bridges and
culverts.
With a nest in such a situation the parent birds are not obliged to go
far for the mud with which the nest is made, or for the insects,
caught over the surface of water, on which the offspring are fed.
The nesting season of wire-tailed swallows is a long one. According to
Hume these beautiful birds breed chiefly in February and March and
again in July, August and September. However, he states that he has
seen eggs as early as January and as late as November. In the
Himalayas he has obtained the eggs in April, May and June.
The present writer's experience does not agree with that of Hume. In
Lahore, Saharanpur and Pilibhit, May and June are the months in which
most nests of this species are likely to be seen. The writer has found
nests with eggs or young on the following dates in the above-mentioned
places: May 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th; June 6th and 28th.
The nest of June 28th was attached to a rafter of the front verandah
of a bungalow at Lahore. The owner of the house stated that the
swallows in question had already reared one brood that year, and that
the birds in question had nested in his verandah for some years. There
is no doubt that some wire-tailed swallows bring up two broods. Such
would seem to breed, as Hume says, in February and March and again in
July and August. But, as many nests containing eggs are found in May,
some individuals appear to have one brood only, which hatches out in
May or June.
Those useful but ugly fowls, the white scavenger vultures (_Neophron
ginginianus_), depart from the ways of their brethren in that they
nidificate in March and April instead of in January and February. The
nest is an evil-smelling pile of sticks, rags and rubbish. It is
placed on some building or in a tree.
The handsome brahminy kites (_Haliastur indicus_), attired in chestnut
and white, are now busily occupied, either in seeking for sites or in
actually building their nests, which resemble those of the common
kite.
In the open plains the pipits (_Anthus rufulus_) and the crested larks
(_Galerita cristata_) are keeping the nesting finch-larks company.
All three species build the same kind of nest--a cup of grass or
fibres (often a deep cup in the case of the crested lark) placed on
the ground in a hole or a depression, or protected by a tussock of
grass or a small bush.
On the churs and sand islets in the large Indian rivers the terns are
busy with their eggs, which are deposited on the bare sand. They breed
in colonies. On the same islet are to be seen the eggs of the Indian
river tern, the black-bellied tern, the swallow-plover, the
spur-winged plover and the Indian skimmer.
The eggs of all the above species are of similar appearance, the
ground colour being greenish, or buff, or the hue of stone or cream,
with reddish or brownish blotches. Three is the full complement of
eggs. The bare white glittering sands on which these eggs are
deposited are often at noon so hot as to be painful to touch;
accordingly during the daytime there is no need for the birds to sit
on the eggs in order to keep them warm. Indeed, it has always been a
mystery to the writer why terns' eggs laid in March in northern India
do not get cooked. Mr. A. J. Currie recently came across some eggs of
the black-bellied tern that had had water sprinkled over them. He is
of opinion that the incubating birds treat the eggs thus in order to
prevent their getting sun-baked. This theory should be borne in mind
by those who visit sandbanks in March. Whether it be true or not,
there is certainly no need for the adult birds to keep the eggs warm
in the daytime, and they spend much of their time in wheeling
gracefully overhead or in sleeping on the sand. By nightfall all the
eggs are covered by parent birds, which are said to sit so closely
that it is possible to catch them by means of a butterfly net. The
terns, although they do not sit much on their eggs during the day,
ever keep a close watch on them, so that, when a human being lands on
a nest-laden sandbank, the parent birds fly round his head, uttering
loud screams.
The swallow-plovers go farther. They become so excited that they
flutter about on the sand, with dragging wings and limping legs, as if
badly wounded. Sometimes they perform somersaults in their intense
excitement. The nearer the intruder approaches their eggs the more
vigorous do their antics become.
Every lover of the winged folk should make a point of visiting, late
in March or early in April, an islet on which these birds nest. He
will find much to interest him there. In April many of the young birds
will be hatched out. A baby tern is an amusing object. It is covered
with soft sand-coloured down. When a human being approaches it
crouches on the sand, half burying its head in its shoulders, and
remains thus perfectly motionless. If picked up it usually remains
limply in the hand, so that, but for its warmth, it might be deemed
lifeless. After it has been set down again on the sand, it will remain
motionless until the intruder's back is turned, when it will run to
the water as fast as its little legs can carry it. It swims as easily
as a duck. Needless to state, the parent birds make a great noise
while their young are being handled.
Birds decline to be fettered by the calendar. Many of the species
which do not ordinarily nest until April or May occasionally begin
operations in March, hence nests of the following species, which are
dealt with next month, may occur in the present one:--the tree-pie,
tailor-bird, common myna, bank-myna, brown rock-chat, brown-backed
robin, pied wagtail, red-winged bush-lark, shikra, red-wattled
lapwing, yellow-throated sparrow, bee-eater, blue rock-pigeon, green
pigeon and grey partridge.
March the 15th marks the beginning of the close season for game birds
in all the reserved forests of Northern India. This is none too soon,
as some individuals begin breeding at the end of the month.
APRIL
The breeze moves slow with thick perfume
From every mango grove;
From coral tree to parrot bloom
The black bees questing rove,
The koil wakes the early dawn.
WATERFIELD, _Indian Ballads_.
The fifteenth of April marks the beginning of the "official" hot
weather in the United Provinces; but the elements decline to conform
to the rules of man. In the eastern and southern districts hot-weather
conditions are established long before mid-April, while in the
sub-Himalayan belt the temperature remains sufficiently low throughout
the month to permit human beings to derive some physical enjoyment
from existence. In that favoured tract the nights are usually clear
and cool, so that it is very pleasant to sleep outside beneath the
starry canopy of the heavens.
It requires an optimist to say good things of April days, even in the
sub-Himalayan tract. Fierce scorching west winds sweep over the earth,
covering everything with dust. Sometimes the flying sand is so thick
as to obscure the landscape, and often, after the wind has dropped,
the particles remain suspended for days as a dust haze. The dust is a
scourge. It is all-pervading. It enters eyes, ears, nose and mouth. To
escape it is impossible. Closed doors and windows fail to keep it from
entering the bungalow. The only creatures which appear to be
indifferent to it are the fowls of the air. As to the heat, the
non-migratory species positively revel in it. The crows and a few
other birds certainly do gasp and pant when the sun is at its height,
but even they, save for a short siesta at midday, are as active in
April and May as schoolboys set free from a class-room. April is the
month in which the spring crops are harvested. As soon as the _Holi_
festival is over the cultivators issue forth in thousands, armed with
sickles, and begin to reap. They are almost as active as the birds,
but their activity is forced and not spontaneous; like most
Anglo-Indian officials they literally earn their bread by the sweat of
the brow. Thanks to their unceasing labours the countryside becomes
transformed during the month; that which was a sea of smiling
golden-brown wheat and barley becomes a waste of short stubble.
Nature gives some compensation for the heat and the dust in the shape
of mulberries, loquats, lichis and cool luscious papitas and melons
which ripen in March or April. The mango blossom becomes transfigured
into fruit, which, by the end of the month, is as large as an egg, and
will be ready for gathering in the latter half of May.
Many trees are in flower. The coral, the silk-cotton and the _dhak_
are resplendent with red foliage. The _jhaman_, the _siris_ and the
_mohwa_ are likewise in bloom and, ere the close of the month, the
_amaltas_ or Indian laburnum will put forth its bright yellow flowers
in great profusion. Throughout April the air is heavy with the scent
of blossoms. The _shesham_, the _sal_, the _pipal_ and the _nim_ are
vivid with fresh foliage. But notwithstanding all this galaxy of
colour, notwithstanding the brightness of the sun and the blueness of
the sky, the countryside lacks the sweetness that Englishmen associate
with springtime, because the majority of the trees, being evergreen,
do not renew their clothing completely at this season, and the foliage
is everywhere more or less obscured by the all-pervading dust.
The great avian emigration, which began in March, now reaches its
height. During the warm April nights millions of birds leave the
plains of India. The few geese remaining at the close of March, depart
in the first days of April.
The brahminy ducks, which during the winter months were scattered in
twos and threes over the lakes and rivers of Northern India, collect
into flocks that migrate, one by one, to cooler climes, so that, by
the end of the first week in May, the _a-onk_ of these birds is no
longer heard. The mallard, gadwall, widgeon, pintail, the various
species of pochard and the common teal are rapidly disappearing. With
April duck-shooting ends. Of the migratory species only a few
shovellers and garganey teal tarry till May.
The snipe and the quail are likewise flighting towards their breeding
grounds. Thus on the 1st of May the avian population of India is less
by many millions than it was at the beginning of April. But the birds
that remain behind more than compensate us, by their great activity,
for the loss of those that have departed. There is more to interest
the ornithologist in April than there was in January.
The bird chorus is now at its best. The magpie-robin is in full song.
At earliest dawn he takes up a position on the topmost bough of a tree
and pours forth his melody in a continuous stream. His varied notes
are bright and joyous. Its voice is of wide compass and very powerful;
were it a little softer in tone it would rival that of the
nightingale. The magpie-robin is comparatively silent at noonday, but
from sunset until dusk he sings continuously.