buzzards, kites, shikras and other of the lesser birds of prey. The
_modus operandi_ of the league is for two or more of its members to
hie themselves to the tree in which the victim is building its nest,
take up positions near that structure and begin to caw derisively.
This invariably provokes the owners of the nest to attack the black
villains, who do not resist, but take to their wings. The angry,
swearing builders follow in hot pursuit for a short distance and then
fly back to the nest. After a few minutes the crows return. Then the
performance is repeated; and so on, almost _ad infinitum_. The result
is that many pairs of birds of prey take three weeks or longer to
construct a nest which they could have completed within a week had
they been unmolested.

Most of the larger owls are now building nests or sitting on eggs; a
few are seeking food for their offspring. As owls work on silent wing
at night, they escape the attentions of the crows and the notice of
the average human being. The nocturnal birds of prey of which nests
are likely to be found in January are the brown fish-owl (_Ketupa
ceylonensis_) and the rock and the dusky horned-owls (_Bubo
bengalensis_ and _B. coromandus_). The dusky horned-owl builds a stick
nest in a tree, the rock horned-owl lays its eggs on the bare ground
or on the ledge of a cliff, while the brown fish-owl makes a nest
among the branches or in a hollow in the trunk of a tree or on the
ledge of a cliff.

In the Punjab the ravens, which in many respects ape the manners of
birds of prey, are now nesting. A raven's nest is a compact collection
of twigs. It is usually placed in an isolated tree of no great size.

The Indian raven has not the austere habits of its English brother. It