THE PIED STARLING 199 



bay. Unfortunately, the species is not found in South 

 India, and is almost unknown in the Punjab. Agra is 

 the most westerly place in which I have seen pied 

 mynas. In Burma the species is replaced by an allied 

 form, 5. superciliaris, readily distinguished by the 

 possession of a white eyebrow. By the way, I should 

 be very glad if our Wallaceian friends would tell us 

 why it is necessary to its existence that the Burmese 

 species should possess a white eyebrow, while the 

 Indian birds seem to fare excellently without that 

 ornament. 



Except at the nesting season, the habits of pied 

 starlings are very like those of the other species of 

 myna. They feed largely on the ground, over which 

 they strut with myna-like gait — no myna would dream 

 of losing its dignity to the extent of hopping. They 

 feed largely on insects, but will also eat fruit. They 

 do not, as a rule, gather together in such large com- 

 panies as most kinds of starling, but in places where 

 pied mynas exist two of them, at least, usually attach 

 themselves to each flock of the common species. 



I am inclined to think that Sturnopastors pair for 

 life, but that does not prevent them from performing 

 the antics of courtship at the nesting season. This is 

 a fact of some importance, for if birds that are mated 

 for life indulge every year in what we call courtship, 

 it is obvious that the commonly accepted explanation 

 of the meanings of the antics of birds at the breeding 

 season is a mistaken one. The accepted interpretation 

 of these facts is that the cocks deliberately set them- 

 selves to ** kill the girls," and to this end cut mad 



