STFBXIA. 373 



nest here, though I failed to find one. In front of my verandah 

 was a large Poinciana reyia, in the trunk of which, and at about 

 seven feet from the ground, was an old nest-hole of Xantholcema 

 which a pair of these birds widened out. During all May and 

 June I watched these birds pecking away at the rotten wood and 

 throwing the bits out. They generally used to engage in this 

 work during the heat of the day ; and, although I several times 

 searched the hole, no eggs were found ; the pair were not pecking 

 at the decayed wood for insects, for I watched them through 

 a glass. Had I remained another month at the factory most 

 likely they would have laid during that time ; it was on this 

 account their lives were spared. This species associates with its 

 congeners on the peepul trees when they are in fruit, which they 

 eat greedily." 



Subsequently detailing his experiences at Dibrugarh in Assam, 

 he adds : " On the 27th May I found a nest with three callow 

 young and one fresh egg. The birds had excavated a hole in a 

 rotten and dead tree about 18 feet from the ground, and had 

 placed a pad of leaves only at the bottom of the hole. They build 

 both in forest as well as the open cultivated parts of the country." 



Mr. Gates remarks : " This Myna lays in Pegu in holes of 

 trees at all heights above 20 feet. It selects a hole which is diffi- 

 cult of access, and I have only been able to take one nest. This 

 was on the 13th May. This nest, a small pad of grass and leaves, 

 contained three eggs, which were slightly incubated. They 

 measured 0-86 by 07, 0-8 by 0-7, and 0-83 by 0-72." 



Major C. T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim : " I shot a 

 Myna as she fle\v out of a hole in a zimbun tree (Dillenia penta- 

 gyna). I had nearly a fortnight before seen the birds ; there was 

 a pair of them, busy taking straw and grass-roots into the hole ; and 

 so on the 18th April, when I shot the birds, I made sure of finding 

 the full complement of eggs, but to my regret on opening the 

 hollow, I only found one egg resting in a loose and irregularly 

 formed nest of roots and leaves. This solitary egg is of a pale 

 blue colour." 



The eggs vary a good deal in shape : some are broad and some 

 are elongated ovals, but all are more or less pointed towards the 

 small end ; the shell is very fine and delicate, and rather glossy ; 

 the colour is a very delicate pale sea-green, without any markings 

 of any kind. They vary from 0*89 to 1*0 in length, and from 0'69 

 to 0-72 in breadth ; but the average of ten eggs is 0-93 by 0'7. 



539. Sturnia nemoricola, Jerdon. The White-winged Myna. 

 Sturnia nemoricola, Jerd.j Hume, Cat. no. 688 bis. 



Mr. Gates writes from Lower Pegu : " Of S. nemoricola I have 

 taken two sets of eggs : one set of two eggs fresh, and one of 

 three on the point of being hatched ; the former on 12th May, the 

 latter on 6th June. In size the two clutches vary extraordinarily. 



