24 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



same eager and dainty way of pacing and running 

 about over the grass, but the common mynas have 

 none of their mean and cheap look, and, though 

 they may be as self-satisfied as any starling ever 

 was, it must be allowed that they have much more 

 reason to be so. A starling in spring, sitting on a 

 bough in an ecstasy of self-content over the 

 strangely creaking torrent of noises that he fondly 

 believes to be a song, may make one feel as one 

 does whilst listening to an amateur recitation; but 

 this is never the case where a myna is concerned. 

 One has no sense of shame or sadness in listen- 

 ing to him as he nods his head and flutters his 

 wings to give point to his song. 



I can never cease to have a grateful memory of 

 the way in which a myna helped to while away the 

 weary and rather home-sick hours of my first hot- 

 weather in Calcutta. He and his wife had elected to 

 place their nest on the cornice beneath the beams in 

 one corner of the open roof of my room, and were 

 constantly coming in with fresh stores of building 

 materials. It was quite refreshing to see the supreme 

 satisfaction that they derived from the progress of 

 their work a satisfaction that every now and then 

 became so acute as to call for a short rest and 

 jubilant little song. Merely to watch the construc- 

 tion of a myna's nest is a liberal education ; it is like 

 watching the steps in the formation of a local museum. 

 Their taste in materials is so catholic that one never 



