TYPICAL MYNAHS. 



47 



second which he subsequently turned loose in the same 

 aviary, I am not inclined to endorse Dr. Russ's state- 

 ment as to the malice of the Crested Mynah. If he 

 was reckless enough to associate so powerful a bird, 

 and one 10 in. in length, with tiny Finches he had 

 nobody to blame but himself. A big bird may kill a 

 small one in play rather than from wanton cruelty, 

 and I should judge this Mynah ae tolerably peaceable 

 when associated with birds of its own size. 



Mr. Housden secured me a specimen about 1896, for 

 which I paid 30s., and although it has since been 

 offered in the London market for about half that price, 

 I was well content. It was a most amusing bird, and 

 very fond of me, showing its affection, however, exactly 

 in the opposite manner from my Blue-bearded Jay ; 

 for, whereas the Jay would always attack any stranger 

 who put a finger near his flight, the Mynah would only 

 attack me and utterly ignore a stranger. He whistled 

 clearly and tunefully and occasionally trumpeted, after 

 which he invariably bowed in a ludicrous fashion, 

 making the most extraordinary rasping sound with 



CRESTED MYNAH. 

 (From a living specimen.} 



each bow ; he rarely attempted to talk, but sometimes 

 said "Joey" once or twice in a low, harsh voice, so 

 that we adopted that as his name. I fed him upon 

 the usual soft food with grapes, banana, apple, or 

 orange, cockroaches, mealworms, smooth caterpillars, 

 or spiders. He died on November 28, 1906, a very old 

 bird (for he was old when I bought him), and regretted 

 by all who had had the pleasure of making his 

 acqnaintance. 



BALD-HEADED STARLING (Sarcops calvus). 



Dark glossy cinereous, blacker at base of feathers, 

 the back sometimes mostly brown or black ; a white 

 patch on upper part of scapulars ; wings and tail 

 black ; head naked, dull pinky-white or flesh-red, 

 excepting the lores, forehead, a line down centre of 

 crown, joining a collar which passes round the ear- 

 coverts, which are also of the same colour, the cheeks 

 and the under surface, all of which are black ; sides 

 and flanks silver-grey ; under tail-coverts washed with 

 dark cinereous ; flights below browner than above ; bill 

 and feet black, toes and claws brown ; irides rufous- 

 brown or chestnut. Female similar, but said to have 

 a longer wing. Hab., Philippines and Sulu Islaoids. 



Mr. J. Whitehead (The Ibis, 1899, p. 241) says : 

 " Quite one of the ornithological features of the 

 Philippines. Like the Great Hornbill, this species has 

 also been noticed by the Spaniards, and is known to 

 them as the ' Collate.' It is supposed to learn to 



imitate the human voice, and for that reason it is 

 often kept in a cage. The Collate is a busy, lively 

 bird, being found in numbers in the forests when 

 its favourite food is ripe. It is also very 

 partial to dead tree-trunks, nesting and roosting 

 in the' numerous Woodpeckers' borings. The 

 noise made by the wings during flight is very audible. 

 In Samar a pair were very busy prospecting some old 

 posts within a few feet of our house, but we left before- 

 they had commenced to build. The note is a peculiar 

 click, metallic but not displeasing. The species reaches- 

 an elevation of 3,000 ft. in Benguet." 



In 1905 Mr. Walter Goodfellow brought home three 

 specimens of this species for Mrs. Johnstone, who pub- 

 lished an illustrated account of them in The Avicultural 

 Magazine, New Series, Vol. IV., pp. 191, 192. She- 

 says : " I feed them on an ordinary insectivorous mix- 

 ture, soaked water biscuit squeezed very dry, with a 

 few sultana raisins. They are exceedingly fond of the 1 

 latter dainty, also oranges, which they will absolutely 

 finish with the exception of the peel. They love meal- 

 worms, but seemed rather afraid of some cockroaches 

 I introduced into the aviary, killing them with sharp 

 pecks, given them as they dart down and back from an. 

 upper perch (much as I have seen my Grackles kill a 

 mouse), but they never attempted to eat them." These 

 birds were subsequently sent to the London Zoological 1 

 Gardens. 



Typical Mynahs or Grackles (Eulabetidce).. 



This family is based upon the genus Eulabex = 

 Mainatus. The former name takes precedence, having, 

 been published by Cuvier in 1817, otherwise it would; 

 be a question whether, if these birds are to be separated, 

 ae a distinct famdlv from the Old World Starlings, it 

 should not be called Mainatidoe.* I first illustrated the- 

 sexual differences in the bill in my little book, " How 

 to Sex Cage-Birds," p. 79. These birds have a bare 

 sort of wattle suspended from the back of the eye and 

 passing into an almost horseshoe-like lappet running, 

 from the back of the eye to the nape, and back again 

 towards the crown. 



These birds are nearly related and very much alike,, 

 both in plumage and habits ; they are talented mimics,, 

 and some of them (when taken young and carefully 

 trained) become excellent talkers ; but they are quite 

 unsuitable for cage culture, requiring an aviary, in order 

 not only to do them justice, but to render them pleasant 

 pets. They are, however, extremely nervous, easily 

 startled, and from their excessive greed are apt to get 

 too fat one of the most frequent causes of death with 

 these birds. The Hill Mynahs are hopping birds, not 

 progressing by walking like the more typical Mynahs. 



SOUTHERN HILL MYNAH (Eulabes religiosa). 



Glossy purplish-black ; the lower back and upper tail- 

 coverts with green reflections; wings and tail black r 

 the latter slightly greenish; a white patch on the 

 primaries; head glossed with green excepting on the 

 ear-coverts, the green extending on to the throat and 

 front of neck ; the chest purplish ; remainder of under 

 surface black with the edges of the feathers green; 

 bill orange-yellow: wattle and lappet bright yellow, 

 bluish at upper edge ; feet lemon-yellow ; irides brown 

 with dark-mottled white outer edge. Female smaller 

 than male, with shorter wing and much weaker bill. 

 Hab., Ceylon and South India. 



Col. Legpe I" Birds of Ceylon," Vol. II., pp. 683, 684 > 

 gives the following account of its habits : " This 



The Editors of The IMs did not see why Gracula sh.ould> 

 not be retained, but then what should we do with Graculusf 



