510 EULABETID^E. 



In Eulabes the plumage is very glossy ; the head is furnished 

 with fleshy wattles, and there are frequently some bare patches of 

 skin on the side of the head ; the bill is thick, high, and curved, 

 shorter than the head ; the rictal bristles are weak ; the feathers 

 of the crown are very short and curled inwards, with a sort of 

 parting down the middle of the crown ; the wing is rather blunt, 

 and the tail short and nearly square ; the feet are strong. 



All the Grackles are resident species or very locally migratory. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Some bare skin on sides of head. 



a. Two elongate bare patches of skin on the 



nape E. religiosa, p. 510. 



b'. No bare patches of skin on the nape. 



a". Bare patch under eye joined to patch 



over ear-coverts E. intermedia, p. 511. 



b' '. Bare patch under eye not connected with 



patch over ear-coverts E.javanensis, p. 512. 



b. No bare skin on sides of head E. ptilogenys, p. 513. 



523. Eulabes religiosa. The Southern Grackle. 



Gracula religiosa, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 164 (1766) ; Blyth, Cat. 

 p. 108. 



Eulabes religiosa (Linn.}, Horsf. fy M. Cat. ii, p. 522; Jerd. B. I. 

 ii, p. 337 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 435 ; id. S. F. iv, p. 402 ; Fairbank, 

 S. F. v, p. 407 ; Ball, S. F. vii, p. 221 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 682 ; 

 Hume, Cat. no. 692 ; Damson, S. F. x, p. 401 ; Barnes, Birds 

 Bom. p. 258 ; Gates in Hume's N. 8f E. 2nd ed. i, p. 363. 



Mainatus religiosa (Linn.}, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 99. 



The Southern Hill Myna, Jerd. : Kohni maina Hind. ; Konda aorinka, 

 Tel. 



Coloration. The whole plumage glossy black, most of the pri- 

 maries with a patch of white at their base ; portions of the head 

 bare as shown (fig. 148) ; the coronal and auricular nude patches 

 joined posteriorly and produced into wattles. 



The young are dull black and have no wattles. 



Iris brown, the outer edge white, darkly mottled ; bill orange- 

 yellow ; legs and feet citron-yellow ; lappets and cheek-spot rich 

 yellow, the latter tinged with blue at the upper edge (Legge). 



Length about 10; tail 2*8; wing 5*8; tarsus 1*2; bill from 

 gape 1'4. 



Distribution. The hilly and well- wooded portions of the southern 

 part of India ; Ceylon. This species is rather local, and confined 

 chiefly to the large forests of the western coast of India as far 

 north as Coorg. It is, however, found on the east as far north as 

 Gi-oomsur and the Northern Oircars, according to Ball. On the 

 Palni hills it is found between 4000 and 5000 feet, and on the 

 Nilgiris from 4000 feet downwards. In Ceylon, according to 



