white eyebrow. It frequently
emits a characteristic soft, melancholy, whistling note, which Eha
describes as "Be thee cheery." How impracticable are all efforts to
"chain by syllables airy sounds"! The cup-like nest of this species is
always carefully concealed in a tree.

Minivets are aerial exquisites. In descriptions of them superlative
follows upon superlative. The cocks of most species are arrayed in
scarlet and black; the hens are not a whit less brilliantly attired in
yellow and sable. One species lives entirely in the plains, others
visit them in the cold weather; the majority are permanent residents
of the hills. The solitary denizen of the plains--the little minivet
(_Pericrocotus peregrinus_)--is the least resplendent of them all. Its
prevailing hue is slaty grey, but the cock has a red breast and some
red on the back. The nest is a cup so small as either to be invisible
from below or to present the appearance of a knot or thickening in the
branch on which it is placed. Sometimes two broods are reared in the
course of the year--one in March, April or May and the other during
the rainy season.

The cuckoo-shrike (_Grauculus macii_) is not nearly related to the
cuckoo, nor has it the parasitic habits of the latter. Its grey
plumage is barred like that of the common cuckoo, hence the adjective.
The cuckoo-shrike is nearly as big as a dove. It utters constantly a
curious harsh call. It keeps much to the higher branches of trees in
which it conceals, with great care, its saucer-like nest.

As we have seen, some coppersmiths and pied woodpeckers began nesting
operations in February, but the great majority do not lay eggs until
March.

The green barbet (_Thereoceryx zeylonicus_) and the golden-backed
woodpecker (_Brachypternus aurantius_) are now busy excavating their
nests, which are so similar to those of their respective cousins--the
coppersmith and the pied woodpecker--as to require no description. It
is not necessary to state that the harsh laugh, followed by the
_kutur_, _kutur_, _kuturuk_, of the green barbet and the eternal
_tonk_, _tonk_, _tonk_ of the coppersmith are now more vehement than
ever, and will continue with unabated vigour until the rains have
fairly set in.

By the end of the month many of the noisy rollers have found holes in
decayed trees in which the hens can lay their eggs. The vociferous
nightjars likewise have laid upon the bare ground their salmon-pink
eggs with strawberry-colour