India, east of Umballa.  This creature has two calls.  One is the eternal “brain-fever, brain-fever, BRAIN-FEVER,” each “brain-fever” being louder and pitched in a higher key than the previous one, until the bird reaches its top note.  The other call consists of a volley of descending notes, uttered as if the bird were unwinding its voice after the screams of “brain-fever.”  The next cuckoo is not one whit less vociferous than the last.  It is known as the Indian koel (Eudynamis honorata).  This noble fowl has three calls, and it would puzzle anyone to say which is the most powerful.  The usual cry is a crescendo ku-il, ku-il, ku-il, which to Indian ears is very sweet-sounding.  Most Europeans are agreed that it is a sound of which one can have too much.  The second note is a mighty avalanche of yells and screams, which Cunningham has syllabised as Kuk, kuu, kuu, kuu, kuu, kuu.  The third cry, which is uttered only occasionally, is a number of shrill shrieks:  Hekaree, karee, karee, karee.

The voice of the koel is heard throughout the hours of light and darkness in May, so that one wonders whether this bird ever sleeps.  The second call is usually reserved for dawn, when the bird is most vociferous.  This cry is particularly exasperating to Europeans, since it often awakens them rudely from the only refreshing sleep they have enjoyed, namely, that obtained at the time when the temperature is comparatively low.  The koel extends into the Punjab and is heard throughout Northern India.

The third of the cuckoos which enlivens the hot weather in the plains is the Indian cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus).  This species dwells chiefly in the Himalayas, but late in April or early in May certain individuals seek the hot plains and remain there for some months.  They do not extend very far into the peninsula, being numerous only in the sub-Himalayan tracts as far south as Fyzabad.  The call of this cuckoo is melodious and easily recognised.  Indians represent it as Bouto-taku, while some Englishmen maintain that the bird says “I’ve lost my love.”  To the writer’s mind the cry is best represented by the words wherefore, wherefore, repeated with musical cadence.  This bird does not usually call much during the day.  It uplifts its voice about two hours before sunset and continues calling intermittently until some time after sunrise.  The note is often uttered while the bird is on the wing.

Scarcely less vociferous than the cuckoos are the owls.  Needless to state that the tiny spotted owlets make a great noise in May.  They are loquacious throughout the year, especially on moonlight nights.  Nor do they wait for the setting of the sun until they commence to pour forth what Eha terms a “torrent of squeak and chatter and gibberish.”

Almost as abundant as the spotted owlet is the jungle owlet (Glaucidium radiatum).  This species, like the last-mentioned, does not confine its vocal efforts to the hot weather.  It is vociferous throughout the year; however, special mention must be made of it in connection with the month of May, because it is not until a human being sleeps out of doors that he takes much notice of the bird.