up gradually, and its surface once more becomes dusty. The
dust is carried to the foliage, on which it settles, subduing the
natural greenery of the leaves. No sooner do the rains cease than the
rivers begin to fall. By November most of them will be sandy wastes in
which the insignificant stream is almost lost to view.

The mimosas flower in September. Their yellow spherical blossoms are
rendered pale by contrast with the deep gold hue of the blooms of the
_san_ (hemp) which now form a conspicuous feature of the landscape in
many districts. The cork trees (_Millingtonia hortensis_) become
bespangled with hanging clusters of white, long-tubed, star-like
flowers that give out fragrant perfume at night.

The first-fruits of the autumn harvest are being gathered in. Acre
upon acre of the early-sown rice falls before the sickle. The
threshing-floors once again become the scene of animation. The fallow
fields are being prepared for the spring crops and the sowing of the
grain is beginning.

Throughout the month insect life is as rich and varied as it was in
July and August.

The brain-fever bird and the koel call so seldom in September that
their cries, when heard, cause surprise. The voice of the pied
crested-cuckoo no longer falls upon the ear, nor does the song of the
magpie-robin. The green barbets lift up their voices fairly
frequently, but it is only on rare occasions that their cousins--the
coppersmiths--hammer on their anvils. The pied mynas are far less
vociferous than they were in July and August.

By the end of September the bird chorus has assumed its winter form,
except that the grey-headed flycatchers have not joined it in numbers.

Apart from the sharp notes of the warblers, the cooing of the doves,
the hooting of the crow-pheasants, the wailing of the kites, the
cawing of the crows, the screaming of the green parrots, the
chattering of the mynas and the seven sisters, the trumpeting of the
sarus cranes and the clamouring of the lapwings, almost the only bird
voices commonly heard are those of the fantail flycatcher, the
amadavat, the wagtail, the oriole, the roller and the sunbird.

The cock sunbirds are singing brilliantly although they are still
wearing their workaday garments, which are quaker brown save for one
purple streak along the median line of the breast and abdomen.

Many birds are beginning to moult. They are casting off worn feathers
and assuming the new ones that will keep them warm duri