raptores spread over the whole of India.

The various species of harrier make their appearance in September.
These are birds that cannot fail to attract attention. They usually
fly slowly a few feet above the surface of the earth so that they can
drop suddenly on their quarry. They squat on the ground when resting,
but their wings are long and their bodies light, so that they do not
need much rest. Those who shoot duck have occasion often to say hard
things of the marsh-harrier and the peregrine falcon, because these
birds are apt to come as unbidden guests to the shoot and carry off
wounded duck and teal before the _shikari_ has time to retrieve them.

Of the migratory birds of prey the kestrel is perhaps the first to
arrive; the osprey and the peregrine falcon are among the last.

Very few observations of the comings and the goings of the various
raptorial birds have been recorded; in the present state of our
knowledge it is not possible to compile an accurate table showing the
usual order in which the various species appear. This is a subject to
which those persons who dwell permanently in one place might with
advantage direct their attention.

As regards nesting operations September is not a month of activity.

On the 15th the close season for game birds ends in the Government
forests; and by that date the great majority of them have reared up
their broods. Grey partridge's eggs, it is true, have been taken in
September; but as we have seen, grey partridges, like doves and kites,
can scarcely be said to have a breeding season; they lay eggs whenever
it seemeth good to them.

A few belated peafowl may still be found with eggs, but these are
exceptions. Most of the hens are strutting about proudly, accompanied
by their chicks, while the cocks are shedding their trains. Other
species of which the eggs may be found in the present month are the
white-throated munia, the common and the large grey babblers, and, of
course, the various species of dove.

Before the last day of August all the young mynas have emerged from
the egg, and throughout the first half of September numbers of them
are to be seen following their parents and clamouring for food. Most
of the koels have departed, but some individuals belonging to the
rising generation remind us that they are still with us by emitting
sounds which are very fair imitations of the "sqwaking" of young
crows.

Baby koels are as importunate as professional beggars and