100 THE FOOD OF BIRDS IN INDIA. 



Stomachs examined contd. 



15-5-08. 1 Small beetle. 



Ficus fruit. 

 24-5-08. 1 Gryllid. 



14 Myllocerus sp. 



Ficus fruit, 

 22-6-08. 1 Monomma brunneum. 



Ficus fruit. 



20-7-08. 6 Coleopterous elytra. 



1 Elaterid. 



9 Geometric! caterpillars. 

 3 Ocinara varians larvae. 



There was a moth's cocoon in this bird's beak when shot. 

 23-8-08. 1 Astycua loteralis. 



1 Hemipteron sp.? 

 Ficus fruit. 



Summary. Of 64 insects taken by 7 birds, 6 are beneficial, 47 

 injurious, and 11 neutral. 1 bird took beneficial insects, 5 injurious, 

 and 5 neutral. 6 contained Ficus fruit, one of these also containing 

 other vegetable matter. 



This bird chiefly haunts Bombax malalaricum when in flower 

 and also Sissoo. It occasionally comes to the ground to feed on insects 

 though it is, for the most part, frugivorous. It is far more numerous 

 at Pusa during the rairs than at other times. It breeds in holes 

 in trees, and feeds the young mostly if not entirely on lepidopterous 

 larvae and grubs. I have seanMelolonthid, Geometrid and Noctuid 

 larvae fed to the young. 



540. Sturnia andamanensis. Andaman Mynah. Leaf-rolling 

 caterpillars on bamboo, general insect feeder. B. N. H. S. J., XII, 

 397. These caterpillars are, in all probability, the larvae of the com- 

 mon Pyralid Pyrausta codesalis. 



541. Sturnia erythropygia. Nicobar Mynah. Berries and 

 fruits : occasionally insects on wing. B. N. H. S. J., XII, 398. 



544. Temenuchus pagodarum. Black-headed Mynah. Brah- 

 miny Mynahs do not seem to be particular what they eat. Numbers 

 will usually be seen in the neighbourhood of the conservancy trenches. 

 B. N. H. S. J., XVI, 488. At Madras it feeds chiefly on the ground 

 among cattle, in company with A, tristis, picking up grasshoppers 

 and other insects. It also feeds on trees, on various fruits, berries 



