ll off. The rollers, which are feeding their young, are
far less noisy than they were at the time of courtship. The barbets
and coppersmiths, although not so vociferous as formerly, cannot, even
in the monsoon, be charged with hiding their lights under a bushel.
Towards the end of June the _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_, _chuk_ of
Horsfield's nightjar is not often heard, but the bird continues to
utter its soft churring note. The iora's cheerful calls still resound
through the shady mango tope. The sunbirds, the fantail flycatchers,
the orioles, the golden-backed woodpeckers, the white-breasted
kingfishers and the black partridges call as lustily as ever, and the
bulbuls continue to twitter to one another "stick to it!" With the
first fall of rain the tunes of the paradise flycatchers and the
king-crows change. The former now cry "Witty-ready wit," softly and
gently, while the calls of the latter suddenly become sweet and
mellow.

Speaking generally, the monsoon seems to exercise a sobering, a
softening influence on the voices of the birds. The pied myna forms
the one exception; he does not come into his full voice until the
rains have set in.

The monsoon transfigures the earth. The brown, dry, hard countryside,
with its dust-covered trees, becomes for the time being a shallow lake
in which are studded emerald islets innumerable. Stimulated by the
rain many trees put forth fresh crops of leaves. At the first break in
the downpour the cultivators rush forth with their ploughs and oxen to
prepare the soil for the autumn crops with all the speed they may.

There is much to interest the ornithologist in June.

Of the birds whose nests have been previously described the following
are likely to have eggs or young: white-eyes, ioras, tailor-birds,
king-crows, robins, sparrows, tree-pies, seven sisters,
cuckoo-shrikes, Indian wren-warblers (second brood), sunbirds (second
brood), swifts, fantail flycatchers (second brood), orioles, paradise
flycatchers, grey horn-bills, and the various mynas, bulbuls,
butcher-birds, doves, pigeons and lapwings. The following species have
young which either are in the nest or have only recently left it:
roller, hoopoe, brown rock-chat, magpie-robin, coppersmith, green
barbet, nightjar, white-eyed buzzard, pipit, wire-tailed swallow,
white-breasted kingfisher, grey partridge, kite, golden-backed
woodpecker (second brood), and the several species of bee-eater and
lark.

With June the breed