542 STURNID.E. 



the feathers of the vent and under tail-coverts tipped with white ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries black, the latter very narrowly 

 tipped with white. 



Fig. 1G2. Head of JE. albicinctus. 



Legs and feet full, sometimes rather deep, wax-yellow ; claws 

 a paler or darker brown, whitish horny at tips ; bill pale wax- 

 yellow, with a touch of red or orange on the sides of the lower 

 mandible just at its base ; iris yellowish or bluish white to pale 

 caerulean blue (Hume). 



Length about 10 ; tail 3*2 ; wing 5-2 ; tarsus 1'4 ; bill from 

 gape 1-2. 



Distribution. Manipur ; Bhamo and neighbourhood. 



Habits, $c. Hume e tates that this species is found in pairs or in 

 parties up to 80 in number, feeding on the ground or on the insects 

 and nectar in the huge flowers of the cotton-tree. It is said to be 

 locally migratory in Manipur. 



Genus STURNOPASTOR, Hodgs., 1844. 



The genus Sturnopastor contains two very common Mynas, one 

 of which is found in India proper and the other in the Burmese 

 countries. They are almost entirely ground feeders, and they 

 differ from the majority of Starlings in constructing nests on trees 

 and not depositing their eggs in holes in buildings and tree-trunks. 



In Sturnopastor the sexes are quite alike. The bill is as long as 

 the head, straight, broad, and blunt; the nasal membrane is com- 

 pletely feathered ; the feathers of the crown are lengthened and 

 pointed, and the eyelids are perfectly bare. The wing is very 

 blunt, the secondaries reaching nearly to the tip. 



Key to the Species. 



a. No supercilium ; feathers of forehead and 



crown not streaked S. contra, p. 542. 



b. A supercilium ; feathers of forehead and 



crown streaked S. supercilmris, p. 543. 



555. Sturnopastor contra. The Pied Myna. 



Sturnus contra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 290 (17C6) ; Myth, Cat. p. 1C9. 



Stmnopastor contra (Linn.}, Horsf. $ M. Cat, ii, p. 520 ; Jerri. B. I. 



ii, p. 323 ; Hume, N. Sf E. p. 426 ; Guclw.-Amt. J. A. S. B. xxxix, 



