Occasionally in January a pair of hoopoes (_Upupa indica_) steals a march on its brethren by selecting a nesting site and laying eggs. Hoopoes nest in holes in trees or buildings. The aperture to the nest cavity is invariably small. The hen hoopoe alone incubates, and as, when once she has begun to sit, she rarely, if ever, leaves the nest till the eggs are hatched, the cock has to bring food to her. But, to describe the nesting operations of the hoopoe in January is like talking of cricket in April. It is in February and March that the hoopoes nest in their millions, and call softly, from morn till eve, _uk-uk-uk_. Of the other birds which nest later in the season mention must be made in the calendar for the present month of the Indian cliff-swallow (_Hirundo fluvicola_) and the blue rock-pigeon (_Columba intermedia_), because their nests are sometimes seen in January. FEBRUARY There's perfume upon every wind, Music in every tree, Dews for the moisture-loving flowers, Sweets for the sucking-bee. N. P. WILLIS. Even as January in northern India may be compared to a month made up of English May days and March nights, so may the Indian February be likened to a halcyon month composed of sparkling, sun-steeped June days and cool starlit April nights. February is the most pleasant month of the whole year in both the Punjab and the United Provinces; even November must yield the palm to it. The climate is perfect. The nights and early mornings are cool and invigorating; the remainder of each day is pleasantly warm; the sun's rays, although gaining strength day by day, do not become uncomfortably hot save in the extreme south of the United Provinces. The night mists, so characteristic of December and January, are almost unknown in February, and the light dews that form during the hours of darkness disappear shortly after sunrise. The Indian countryside is now good to look upon; it possesses all the beauties of the landscape of July; save the sunsets. The soft emerald hue of the young wheat and barley is rendered more vivid by contrast with the deep rich green of the mango trees. Into the earth's verdant carpet is worked a gay pattern of white poppies, purple linseed blooms, blue and pink gram flowers, and yellow blossoms of mimosa, mustard and _arhar_. Towards the end of the month the silk-cotton trees (_Bombax malabarica_) begin to put forth their great red flowers, but not until March does each look like a great scarlet nosegay. The patches of sugar-cane grow smaller day by day, and in nearly every village the little presses are at work from morn till eve.