solicit food
of every crow that passes by, to the great disgust of all but their
foster-parents.

The majority of the seven sisters have done with nursery duties for a
season. Some flocks, however, are still accompanied by impedimenta in
the shape of young babblers or pied crested-cuckoos. The impedimenta
make far more noise than the adult birds. They are always hungry, or
at any rate always demanding food in squeaky tones. With each squeak
the wings are flapped violently, as if to emphasise the demand. Every
member of a flock appears to help to feed the young birds irrespective
of whose nests these have been reared in.

Throughout September bayas are to be seen at their nests, but, before
the month draws to its close, nearly all the broods have come out into
the great world. The nests will remain until next monsoon, or even
longer, as monuments of sound workmanship.

In September numbers of curious brown birds, heavily barred with
black, make their appearance. These are crow-pheasants that have
emerged from nests hidden away in dense thickets. In a few weeks these
birds will lose their barred feathers and assume the black plumage and
red wings of the adult. By the end of August most of the night-herons
and those of the various species of egrets that have not been killed
by the plume-hunters are able to congratulate themselves on having
successfully reared up their broods. In September they lose their
nuptial plumes.

OCTOBER

Ye strangers, banished from your native glades,
Where tyrant frost with famine leag'd proclaims
"Who lingers dies"; with many a risk ye win
The privilege to breathe our softer air
And glean our sylvan berries.
GISBORNE'S _Walks in a Forest_.

October in India differs from the English month in almost every
respect. The one point of resemblance is that both are periods of
falling temperature.

In England autumn is the season for the departure of the migratory
birds; in India it is the time of their arrival.

The chief feature of the English October--the falling of the
leaves--is altogether wanting in the Indian autumn.

Spring is the season in which the pulse of life beats most vigorously
both in Europe and in Asia; it is therefore at that time of year that
the trees renew their garments.

In England leaves are short-lived. After an existence of about six
months they "curl up, become brown, and flutter from their sprays." In
India they enj