CRESTED MYNAH 215 



AETHIOPSAR CRISTATELLUS CRISTATELLUS (Linnaens) 

 CRESTED MYNAH 

 HABITS 



Another foreign bird of questionable value has established a foot- 

 hold in North America, much to the regret of the bird lovers of this 

 country and causing much apprehension as to its spread and as to its 

 effect on our native avifauna. If it proves to be as aggressive and as 

 dominant as that other member of the starling family tliat has overrun 

 our country, its coming will indeed be a calamity. But perhaps we 

 are too apprehensive. Perhaps our climate may not suit it or some 

 of our natural barriers may hinder its spread. And perhaj^s it may 

 not prove to be so undesirable as we fear. In its native home in China 

 it does not seem to be too unpopular. J. D. D. La Touche (1926) 

 writes: "The Chinese Crested Mynah is the characteristic bird of the 

 plains and lowlands of cultivated South China, ascending in Yunnan 

 to the plateaux of that province. It is the faithful companion of the 

 husbandman, following the plough in winter to gather the insects and 

 worms brought to the surface, often in the fields using the back of the 

 cattle as a perch, and doubless ridding them of many an unpleasant 

 parasite. * * * On the whole it is a useful bird, being in great 

 part insectivorous and granivorous, but not a devourer of field crops. 

 In gardens, however, it probably levies toll on the vegetables and 

 fruit." 



Most of what follows is taken from a comprehensive paper on the 

 species by Scheffer and Cottam (1935) , to which the reader is referred 

 for many interesting details and references and which can only be 

 partially condensed in this account. They summarize its present 

 status and prospects in North America as follows : 



The crested myna, or Chinese sturliug, was introduced into British Columbia 

 about 1897 by persons unknown, possibly by an oriental resident of the Vancouver 

 district. The first specimens taken by a naturalist were collected in 1904. The 

 increase of the bird in its new home was slow, peak numbers having been reached 

 about 1925 to 1927, and there appears to have been no increase during the next 

 few years. Apparently only one brood a year is raised in the Vancouver district. 



Climatic conditions do not appear to favor the crested myna in British tlolum- 

 bia, as regards either increase in abundance or extension of range. Its further 

 dispersal to the north seems barred by high mountains and forested interior; 

 to the west and south are ocean straits; hence any further spread would 

 apparently have to be to the east or southeast. 



J. A. Munro (1922) writes : 



Nothing definite is known regarding the introduction of this species to 

 Vancouver. One story has it that a large wicker cage containing a number 

 of these birds, consigned to a Japanese resident, was broken open in transit 

 from one of the Oriental liners and the birds escaped. Other stories are to the 



