94 A BIRD CALENDAR 



At Peshawar Mr. A. J. Currie once found four 

 myna's eggs in a deserted crows' nest in a tree. 



As has already been stated, the nest of the 

 bank-myna (A. ginginianus) is built in a hole 

 in a well, a sandbank, or a cliff. The birds 

 breed in colonies ; each pair excavates its own 

 nest by means of beak and claw. Into the 

 holes dug out in this manner the miscellaneous 

 nesting materials are dropped pell-mell after 

 the manner of all mynas. The breeding season 

 of this species lasts from April to July, May 

 being the month in which most eggs are laid. 



The black-headed or brahminy myna (Te- 

 menuchus pagodarum) usually begins nesting 

 operations about a month later than the bank- 

 myna ; its eggs are most often taken in June. 

 The nest, which is an untidy, odoriferous 

 collection of rubbish, is always in a cavity. 

 In Northern India a hole in a tree is usually 

 selected ; in the South buildings are largely 

 patronised. Some years ago the writer observed 

 a pair of these birds building a nest in a hole 

 made in the masonry for the passage of the 

 lightning conductor of the Church in Fort 

 St. George, Madras. 



May marks the commencement of the breed- 

 ing season of the pied starlings (Sturnofastor 



