THE INDIAN PARIAH KITE (MILVUS GOVINDA):
A RECORD OF OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING
THE NESTING PERIOD.
By J.S. Costello.
An unique opportunity having presented itself for watching the habits of this bird during nesting, it was suggested that I should take notes of all the observations I made. The spot selected for the nest was the corner of a narrow abutting wall just below a window casement, so that I could without any difficulty have a close view of it at all times.
The nest I found was a heterogeneous medley of branches, bones, twigs, old pieces of cloth, leaves, and a few bones. This is curious in the light that the nests of most birds, with perhaps the exception of the Indian Crow, are usually composed of the branches and twigs of trees. I am unable to say definitely how long the process of completing the nest took, but it must have been over a week, as I had for many days noticed a gradual increase of the above-mentioned refuse, though at the beginning I had no idea as to how it originated. The event occurred in January, from which I infer that it is during the spring months of the year that this species of Indian Kite lays its eggs.
Unfortunately, in the present case I have not been able to determine the exact day on which the eggs were laid. I found two in the nest. To all appearance they resemble a large-sized fowl's egg. I noticed that the female did not incubate continuously all day. Occasionally I have seen it perched on the terrace of the building, occupying a position whence it could plainly see its nest, and when I opened the window it would come sweeping down, or, if in the nest, fluttered away, shrieking all the time, and circling about in front of its nest. This it would continue to do until the window was closed, when it settled down peacefully in its nest. On two or three occasions I went on the terrace to ascertain how it would
