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 is fond of the society of its fellows.  The range of this fine bird in the plains of India is confined to the North-West Frontier Province Sind, and the Punjab.

An occasional pair of kites may be seen at work nest-building during the present month.

Some of the sand-martins (Cotyle sinensis), likewise, are engaged in family duties.  The river bank in which a colony of these birds is nesting is the scene of much animation.  The bank is riddled with holes, each of which, being the entrance to a martin’s nest, is visited a score of times an hour by the parent birds, bringing insects captured while flying over the water.

Some species of munia breed at this time of the year.  The red munia, or amadavat, or lal (Estrelda amandava) is, next to the paroquet, the bird most commonly caged in India.  This little exquisite is considerably smaller than a sparrow.  Its bill is bright crimson, and there is some red or crimson in the plumage—­more in the cock than in the hen, and most in both sexes at the breeding season.  The remainder of the plumage is brown, but is everywhere heavily spotted with white.  In a state of nature these birds affect long grass, for they feed largely, if not entirely, on grass seed.  The cock has a sweet voice, which, although feeble, is sufficiently loud to be heard at some distance and is frequently uttered.

The nest of the amadavat is large for the size of the bird, being a loosely-woven cup, which is egg-shaped and has a hole at or near the narrow end.  It is composed of fine grass stems and is often lined with soft material.  It is usually placed in the middle of a bush, sometimes in a tussock of grass.  From six to fourteen eggs are laid.  These are white in colour.  This species appears to breed twice in the year—­from October to February and again from June to August.