126 THE MYNAS. 



difference between a Myna and a canary. A canary 

 cannot learn that it is safe inside a cage. The 

 name of the common Myna, given it by Linnasus 

 himself, is Acridotheres tristis, which means the sad 

 grasshopper-hunter. Grasshopper-hunter is admir- 

 able, but why it should be called sad is a puzzle, for 

 no bird seems to be more uniformly in good spirits. 

 Jerdon suggests an explanation in its sober suit of 

 quaker brown, the " sad colour " of our forefathers. 

 The whole of its body is of this colour, getting grad- 

 ually paler on the underparts. Its head and throat 

 and breast are glossy black, but the black passes into 

 the brown without striking contrast. All is sober 

 and unobtrusive, yet the Myna never looks other- 

 wise than well-dressed. When it flies a white bar 

 opens out on the wing, and its tail is also bordered 

 with white. Its beak and legs are yellow, and there 

 is a small patch of bare yellow skin behind each eye. 

 No bird is a more characteristic feature of Indian life 

 than the Myna. It is everywhere, in town or village, 

 held or garden, sometimes walking after cattle and 

 catching the grasshoppers they startle, sometimes 

 patrolling a field on its own account, nodding its 

 head at every step. It is always among the scarlet 

 flowers of the Coral Tree when they are in bloom. 

 Mynas are eminently sociable. They go in pairs, or 

 small parties, talking a great deal. They sleep in 

 company like Crows, and jabber incredibly while 

 getting to bed. In the heat of the day a Myna likes 

 to retire to some cool, dark nook, in a shady tree, and 

 enjoy a siesta, or carry on a gentle soliloquy. Keeky^ 

 keeky, keeky, it says to itself, then chitrr^ churr, kok, 

 kok, kok. Each time it says kok it points to the 



