AIYNAS, STARLINGS, ETC. 85 



with a delightful climate comparable in many ways with that 

 of Penang, birds are natLirally clad in tropic robes, and the 

 myna is no exception. His beauty, however, does not seem 

 to have caused his persecution, for I found him hardly less 

 accustomed to the presence of man that is the myna of 

 Shanghai. It is to be hoped that bird-hunting for millinery 

 purposes may soon be suppressed by international law. 



Another genus allied to the starlings and the mynas is 

 ioundinthe gvackles (FiimWy , E iilabetidac ) . Only one specimen 

 pair of these is to be seen in the Shanghai xMuseum, the 

 black-necked grackle ( Graiiciipica Nigricollis), a handsome 

 bird brought, I think, from Fukien, the home of so many varied 

 species of beautiful birds. It has a mixed black, Vv^hite, and 

 grey covering, of which the most noticeable portion is that 

 which gives the descriptive title, "black-necked," there being 

 a handsome velvety collar right round. In India and other 

 tropic regions some of these glossy starlings, as they are 

 also called, shine with all the tints of the spectrum. One is 

 a beautiful emerald green almost all over. Another is a 

 rich golden chestnut above with black markings, the lower 

 parts being a creamy white. Still another has a most glorious 

 livery of blues and greens of varied shades, making it a 

 veritable gem of beaut3\ Some, too, have tails so long as to 

 give them anything but a starling look'. Some have wattles, 

 some are without. Altogether, our humble local representative 

 of the great starling tribe has no occasion to be ashamed of 

 his family. 



