46 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



nally ; primary-coverte pale reddish-buff ; primaries 

 huffish at base ; tail greenish-black, increasingly reddish- 

 buff at tips, the outer web of the outside feather being 

 almost wholly of that colour ; crown and nape greenish- 

 black ; sides of head mostly black ; under surface pale 

 ashy, pale pinky-huffish down the centre ; sides, flanks, 

 and thighs slate'-grey ; tinder whig-coverts and axillaries 

 reddish-buff ; flights below black, white near the base ; 

 bill reddish-orange with pale tip ; feet dull orange or 

 yellow, paler on toes ; irides red ; naked orbital skin, 

 dull red or reddish ; inside of mouth fleshy. Female 

 said to be larger; wing shorter. Hab., Afghanistan 

 and Northern and Central India. 



According to Blyth (" Jerdon's Birds of India," Vol. 

 II., p. 327) "abounds as goon as the banks of the 

 river become of sufficient height for it to burrow in with 

 tolerable security. It has the usual habits of the group, 

 feeding much with cattle, and' partaking alike of insects, 

 grain, "and fruit. It breeds in holes in river banks, 

 usually in large societies ; also in holes in wells, as I 

 saw commonly in Ghazeepore and neighbouring country, 

 and lays, according to Theobald, as many as seven or 

 eight eggs of the usual greenish-blue colour." 



Russ "observes that this bird arrives extremely rarely 

 and singlv in the German market, but Schlechtendal 

 and Prince Ferdinand possessed it ; he seems not to 

 have been aware that the London Zoological Society had 

 it in 1860, 1862, 1865, and 1885. 



BROWN MYNAH (Acridotheres fuscus). 

 Above dull slate-grey, clearer on hind neck and 

 mantle ; lesser and median coverts bronze brown with 

 greyish margins ; greater coverts and inner secondaries 

 with black margins ; primary-coverts white ; remaining 

 wing-feathers black, the primaries white at base and 

 bronze brown at end of inner web ; outer secondaries 

 bronzy externally; tail black, tipped with white, 

 greenish on outer webs of feathers ; crown and sides of 

 head greenish black ; throat and chest dark slate-grey, 

 shading into ashy huffish on breast, sides and flanks ; 

 abdomen clear huffish ; under tail-coverts creamy white ; 

 thighs dark slate-grey ; under wing-coverts blackish, 

 tipped with grey ; axillaries ashy buffish ; flights below 

 blackish ; a white patch at base of primaries ; bill blue- 

 black at base, orange-yellow at tip ; mouth bluish ; feet 

 orange-yellow ; claws greenish horn ; irides bright 

 yellow. Female similar, but with shorter wings. 



SOUTHERN BROWN MYNAH (Acridotheres mahrattensis). 



Larger ; bill orange-yellow, dusky on sides at base ; 

 feet yellow ; irides bluish grey. 



The typical form inhabits the Sub-Himalayan region 

 to the Central Provinces of India and eastwards to 

 Assam, Burma and Tenasserin ; and its southern race, 

 Southern India, as high as the Godavery Valley on the 

 east and the neighbourhood of Ahmedabad on the west. 

 (Sharpe.) 



Jerdon observes (" Birds of India," Vol. II., pp. 328, 

 329) : " This bird has almost the same habits as the 

 common Mynah, like it often attending cattle, but also 

 frequently seen in gardens, as at Ootacamund, eating 

 seeds and fruit of various kinds ; and it is very often 

 seen clinging to the tall stem of the large Lobelia, so 

 common on the Neilgherry hills, feeding on the small 

 insects (bugs chiefly) that infest the capsules of that 

 plant. It is most abundant on the Neilgherries. where 

 it is a permanent resident, breeding in holes in trees, 

 making a large nest of moss and feathers, and laying 

 three to five eggs of a pale greenish-blue colour. From 

 what Hodgson says, it is probably also a permanent 

 resident in Nepal, where, he says, ' perpetually asso- 



ciating with A. tristis, every large flock of which lias- 

 many individuals of this bird among them.' " " Captain 

 Tytler says that at Dacca this bird builds in the old 

 temples and houses about the Sepoys' huts." 



Russ says that this species is extremely rarely im- 

 ported into Germany ; it was, however, present in the- 

 Amsterdam Zoological Gardens in 1854 and the London 

 Gardens in 1868. In 1893 it was bred in the Berlin 

 Gardens, laying three eggs of a bluish colour in an. 

 ordinary Starling's nest-box ; both sexes incubated 

 alternately for fifteen days, but only one youngster was 

 hatched and reared. 



In addition to Russ' record, our Zoological Gardens 

 purchased it again in 1873 and 1878, and a specimen 

 was presented to them in 1889. Of the race A'. 

 mahrattensis they also purchased an example in 1872' 

 and a, second in 1873. One or two examples that I 

 have seen from time to time have been of this grey- 

 eyed race, which I believe is more frequently imported 1 

 than the northern type. 



CRESTKD MYNAH {Acridotheres cristalellus). 



The adult bird is silky blue-black, with a somewhat 

 irregular crest of recurved feathers from the middle to- 

 the base of the bill (but no crest on. the crown, as- 

 represented in some scientific works). The upper parts 

 of the body are less glossy than the upper parts ; one 

 bastard wing-feather is white towards the end of the 

 outer web ; the outer half of the primary coverts, the 

 basal half of the primaries, and the base of the inner 

 web of the secondaries are white ; the tail-feathers are 

 tipped with white. Bill pale yellow, the base of the' 

 lower mandible pink, feet orange, iris deep amber 

 yellow. Young birds are brown and have no crest, 

 the bill and feet are browner, and the iris pale greenish- 

 yellow. Hab., Central and Southern China, and the- 

 Island of Luzon (Philippines), supposed to have been 

 introduced. 



Messrs. La Touche and Rickett (The Ibis, 1905. p- 

 40) observe: "This common resident breeds in holes$. 

 in trees and walls, as well as under the eaves of 

 houses. The nest is a regular rubbish-heap of dry 

 grass, straw, leaves, feathers, etc. The wing and tail 

 feathers of pigeons, kites, Crows and Magpies are 

 largely used. In every nest examined by Rickett there- 

 was a snake's slough or part of one, and our men were 1 

 once told by a native that every Mynah's nest was thus 

 provided. 



" The eggs are pale greenish blue. These birds are 

 very noisy and pugnacious in spring." 



According to Dr. Russ, this is " one of the most 

 abundant and most charming Starlings in the trade ; 

 is nevertheless unsociable, as well as spiteful, violent, 

 and easily excited. A female belonging to Schlech- 

 tendal laid eggs on several occasions. Song copious- 

 and pleasing ; it also imitates the notes of other birds> 

 learns to speak excellently ; is unusually tame. It is 

 fond of berries and other fruits, as well as grain."' 

 RUPS also states that Wiener bred the* species success- 

 fully in 1875 ; but if he did he has not mentioned the- 

 fact anywhere that I am aware of. It is a favourite 

 Chinese cage-bird, and not infrequently imported; but 

 it is never very cheap. 



For many years my friend Mr. James Housden. of 

 Sydenham. had a most entertaining specimen of this 

 Mynah, which trumpeted, whistled most melodiously, 

 and talked Hisdostani. I was so much attracted by 

 the bird that I asked him, if he ever chanced to meet 

 with a specimen at not too exorbitant a price, to 

 secure it for me. 



From what I saw of Mr. Housden's old bird and a 



