5A GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
There is a good deal of difference in adult Hill My-. 
nahs, some having much larger bills and better-developed 
head-lappets than others. 
This bird, so widely celebrated as a talker, and known 
to the natives as Pahari Mynah, is found on the lower 
slopes of the Himalayas, throughout Burma and the 
Malay Peninsula, in the south-eastern part of the Central 
Provinces, and the Andamans and Nicobars. I have only 
seen it wild in the former islands, where I noticed 
it had a direct heavy flight; but I only saw one pair- 
It is a great deal better known as a captive, and 
the speaking powers of a really good specimen must be 
heard to be appreciated. At the same time, really per- 
fect talkers seem to be rare; I have only met with few, 
although accomplished coughers, spitters, &c., are only 
toocommon! My friend, the late Mr W. Rutledge, of 
Calcutta, had a most admirable specimen, whose favourite 
‘ 
remark was ** Not a drop to save my soul !’’ uttered with 
an unctuous fervour which ought to have been worth 
pounds to a Home for Inebriates. And there was 
another at the home Zoo one year, on deposit, which 
frequently enquired, ‘‘What are you talking about’’ in 
a very peremptory, not to say vulgar, manner. But 
these appeared to me to be brilliant exceptions, and un- 
less this Mynah learns Hindustani much more easily than 
English, I do not quite understand the foundation for 
his reputation. There is, however, a better bird than 
either of the above at the London Zoo at present. 
People who would keep this species as a cage-bird 
should remember, first, to get a young one, which may be 
