us is able, as she sits, to see what is going on in the great world
without. She displays little fear of man and takes no pains to conceal
her nest, which is often built in the verandah of an inhabited
bungalow.

As the month nears its end the big black crows (_Corvus
macrorhynchus_) begin to construct their nests. The site selected is
usually a forked branch of a large tree. The nest is a clumsy platform
of sticks with a slight depression, lined by human or horse hair or
other soft material, for the reception of the eggs. Both sexes take
part in incubation. From the time the first egg is laid until the
young are big enough to leave the nest this is very rarely left
unguarded. When one parent is away the other remains sitting on the
eggs, or, after the young have hatched out, on the edge of the nest.
Crows are confirmed egg-stealers and nestling-lifters, and, knowing
the guile that is in their own hearts, keep a careful watch over their
offspring.

The kites (_Milvus govinda_) are likewise busy at their nurseries. At
this season of the year they are noisier than usual, which is saying a
great deal. They not only utter unceasingly their shrill
_chee-hee-hee-hee_, but engage in many a squabble with the crows.

The nest of the kite, like that of the corby, is an untidy mass of
sticks and twigs placed conspicuously in a lofty tree. Dozens of these
nests are to be seen in every Indian cantonment in February and March.
Why the crows and the kites should prefer the trees in a cantonment to
those in the town or surrounding country has yet to be discovered.

Mention has already been made of the fact that January is the month in
which the majority of the tawny eagles nest; not a few, however, defer
operations till February. Hume states that, of the 159 eggs of this
species of which he has a record, 38 were taken in December, 83 in
January and 28 in February.

The nesting season of the white-backed vulture is drawing to a close.
On the other hand, that of the black or Pondicherry vulture (_Otogyps
calvus_) is beginning. This species may be readily distinguished from
the other vultures, by its large size, its white thighs and the red
wattles that hang down from the sides of the head like drooping ears.

The nest of this bird is a massive platform of sticks, large enough to
accommodate two or three men. Hume once demolished one of these
vulturine nurseries and found that it weighed over eight maunds, that
is to say about six