ed 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 que