GRACULA. 373 



Sub-Family- LAMPROTORNIN^E.GRAKLES OR HILL MYNAHS. 



Bill stouter than in the Sturnina ; culmen more or less curved and hooked, 

 tip notched ; nostrils more or less hidden by the frontal plumes ; wings long 

 or moderate and pointed ; tarsi short and stout ; plumage glossy. Like the 

 SturnincE, all the species live on fruit and insects, and nidificate in holes of 

 trees t>r in rocks, and like them associate with cattle. 



Gen. Gracula. Linn. 



General characters of the sub-family ; head with naked wattles ; habits 

 frugivorous ; the species hop instead of walk on the ground. 



926. Gracula intermedia, A. Hay, Madras Journ. xiii. pt. ii. 

 p. 157. Eulabes intermedia, Jerd., B. Ind. ii. p. 339; Ball, Sir. F. i. p. 77 ; 

 Blyth and Wald., B. Burnt, p. 89; War dlaw- Ramsay , Ibis, 1877, p. 460; 

 Gates, Str. F. x. p. 230 ; 'Oates, B. Br. Burm. i. pp. 392-393. Eulabes Andaman- 

 ensis (Tytler}, Beavan,Ibis, 1867, p. 331 ; Wald., Ibis, 1871, p. 176. Eulabes 

 Javanensis (OsbJ), Hume, Sir. F.ii.p. 254; id., Nests and Eggs Ind. B. 

 p. 436; id., Sir. F. iii. p. 153; Armstrong, Sir. F. iv. p. 335; Bingham, 

 Sir. F. v. p. 86; Hume and Dav., Sir. F. vi. p. 396; Hume, Sir. F. viii. 

 p. 106. Corvus Javanensis, Osb., Voy. to China, i.p. 157. Eulabes Javanensis, 



Wald., Ibis, 1871, p. 176. The MALAYAN TALKING MYNAH. 



Whole plumage black, the feathers broadly edged with shining metallic 

 lilac and green ; head, mantle and breast lilac : rump and upper tail coverts 

 green ; chin green, tinged with blue ; wings and tail unglossed blackish brown ; 

 1st six primaries with a white patch on the inner webs, the 2nd to the 7th with 

 the same on the inner ; wattles and naked skin of the head yellow, tinged with 

 orange ; corner of the eye tinged with blue ; legs yellow. 



Length. I r6 to 12 inches ; wing 6- 5 to6'8 ;tail 3*3 ; bill from gape 1*5 to r6. 



Hab.-~ British Burmah, the hill tracts of Bengal as far as Kumaon, the Central 

 Provinces, and the Andaman Islands. Extends to the Malay Peninsula, and is 

 met with in Sumatra, Java, Bangka, Borneo and Palawan. According to 

 Blyth it inhabits Siam, and Dr. Tiraud says Cochin-China. This species 

 frequents jungles in small companies, and feeds entirely on fruit. On account 

 of their varied notes, they are favourite cage birds, and are said to excel the 

 best of parrots in the repetition of long sentences. According to Oates, 

 Captain Bingham found the nest of this species in Tenasserim in April in the 

 hollow of a stump of a broken branch. The nest consisted of a little grass 

 and a few twigs. The single egg found, with three young birds, was light 

 blue, spotted with purplish brown. 



927. Gracula religiosa(fra.), Jerd., B. Ind. ii. p. 337, NO. 692. 



The SOUTHERN HILL MYNAH. 



Whole plumage glossy purplish black, with green reflections on the lower 

 back and upper tail coverts ; under surface less bright ; wings and tail deep 



