CAMPUS COSMOS

The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter. The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over the water. The short, rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.

This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey underwater. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.

Other Names: Eurasian kingfisher, River kingfisher,

The white-breasted kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to the Philippines. This kingfisher is a resident over much of its range, although some populations may make short-distance movements. It can often be found well away from water where it feeds on a wide range of prey that includes small reptiles, amphibians, crabs, small rodents and even birds. The adult has a bright blue back, wings and tail. Its head, shoulders, flanks and lower belly are chestnut, and the throat and breast are white. The large bill and legs are bright red. The flight of the white-throated kingfisher is rapid and direct, the short rounded wings whirring. In-flight, large white patches are visible on the blue and black wings.

The white-throated kingfisher is a common species in a variety of habitats, mostly open country in the plains with trees, wires or other perches. The range of the species is expanding. This species mainly hunts large crustaceans, insects, earthworms, rodents, snakes, fish and frogs.

Other Names: White-throated kingfisher

The pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a species of water kingfisher widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Its black and white plumage and crest, as well as its habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish, make it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast, while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family groups. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail. It calls often with sharp chirruk chirruk notes.^[ Unlike some kingfishers, it is quite gregarious and forms large roosts at night.

This kingfisher feeds mainly on fish, although it will take crustaceans and large aquatic insects such as dragonfly larvae. It usually hunts by hovering over the water to detect prey and diving vertically bill-first to capture fish. It can deal with prey without returning to a perch, often swallowing small prey in flight, and so can hunt over large water bodies or in estuaries that lack perches that are required by other kingfishers.

The white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. They are somewhat bolder than most other rails and are often seen stepping slowly with their tail cocked upright in open marshes or even drains near busy roads. They are largely crepuscular in activity and during the breeding season, just after the first rains, make loud and repetitive croaking calls. These birds are usually seen singly or in pairs as they forage slowly along the edge of a waterbody mainly on the ground but sometimes clambering up low vegetation. They mainly eat insects (large numbers of beetles have been recorded), small fish (which are often carefully washed in water), aquatic invertebrates and grains or seeds.

These birds can be seen and heard in and around our campus during the monsoons.

Snow Flake Plant (Euphorbia leucocephala), with many common names including little Christmas flower, white lace euphorbia, snow bush, snows of Kilimanjaro and white Christmas bush is a species of plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is endemic to Mexico and Mesoamerica. It is a spreading shrub up to about 2 m tall. In winter it produces a mass of creamy white bracts which make the flower-heads appear like white poinsettias. Actual flowers are small, greenish-yellow, fragrant and attract butterflies. Leaves are elliptic to lance-shaped, 3-8 cm long, and appear on long stalks in whorls of 4-12.

We have these plants on our school campus. It turns completely white in winters.

Terminalia bellirica, known as baheda, bahera, or beleric, Sanskrit: Bibhitaka बिभीतक, Aksha अक्ष, is a large deciduous tree common on plains and lower hills in Southeast Asia, where it is also grown as an avenue tree.

The leaves are about 15 cm long and crowded toward the ends of the branches. It is considered a good fodder for cattle. Its fruit is used in the popular Indian herbal Rasayana treatment Triphala. As a constituent of the Triphala (three fruits), i.e., emblic, beleric and chebulic myrobalans, it is employed in a great number of diseases, and the kernel is sometimes used as an external application to inflamed parts.

This tree stands tall near the school's amphitheatre.