218 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tells me that a set of five eggs in his collection are elliptical-oval and 

 very slightly glossy; they were collected by R. A. Gumming in South 

 Vancouver, British Columbia. Their color is uniform "light Niagara 

 green." Vaiighan and Jones (1913) state that eggs pure white in 

 color have been taken, and that "eggs wdth a few spots have occurred 

 later on in the season." 



The measurements of 19 American eggs average 80.6 by 21.7 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 33.2 by 21.4, 31.5 

 by 23.0, and 28.5 by 19.0 millimeters. 



Young. — Eeferring to the nest observed by Scheffer and Gumming, 

 Scheffer and Gottam (1935) say: 



On the evening of May in, the first egg was found to be hatched, and all 

 the eggs were pipped, an incubation period of 14 days. The young birds left 

 the nest and perched on a branch 27 days after hatching. After that they were fed 

 or were aided in feeding by the parent birds for about 7 days, when, on June 

 19, they were able to shift for themselves. The actual lapsed time, therefore, 

 from the first appearance of the mynas at their nesting site until the fledglings 

 were able to care for themselves was G6 days, a surprisingly long period and 

 one that would seem to preclude the habitual rearing of a second brood in this 

 locality and latitude. Accurate observations by Gumming through several 

 years of intimate field acquaintance with the species seem to strengthen con- 

 clusions reached by Scheffer. * * * a nesting pair has been observed to feed 

 its young as late as the first week in August, but most of the broods are out 

 much earlier. Whether the species is commonly two-brooded is a matter difficult 

 to determine without banding studies. 



Plumages. — Young birds in juvenal plumage in June are dull, sooty, 

 dark brown above and below, without any gloss; the crest is only 

 rudimentary, barely discernible; the wings and tail are like those of 

 the adult, nearly black, but the white tips on the lateral rectrices are 

 lacking ; the under tail lacks the white tips. I have seen young birds 

 in full juvenal plumage up to August 25, indicating that the post- 

 juvenal molt comes later. Adults have a complete j)ostnuptial molt 

 from August to October; some birds complete this molt before the 

 end of August, others not until late in October. 



Food. — Scheffer and Gottam (1935) give the following summary 

 of the food of this species : 



In the laboratory study of tlie food habits of the crested myna, which was 

 undertaken after the field studies of 1931-32, 117 adult and 20 juvenile stomachs 

 were examined. These were collected over tlie 8-raonth period from May to 

 December. Stomach analyses and field observations show that the bird is 

 decidedly omnivorous, with a partiality for fruits and for foods from such 

 unsavory sources as garbage dumps and manure piles. Availability seems to 

 be the chief factor in its choice of food. The average monthly diet of adults was 

 38.89 percent animal and 61.11 percent vegetable matter, with fruits of various 

 species aggregating 32.49 percent, insects 22.44 percent, garbage 14.6 percent, 

 and leafy vegetable material 8.57 percent. The nestlings are predominantly 

 insectivorous. During the latter part of summer self-feeding juveniles and 

 adults are highly frugivorous. 



