48 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



it to change its quarters in order to obtain a suitable 

 nesting-site. It also breeds in the sides of wells, and I 

 believe in Calcutta affects the Fort Buildings ; I have 

 seen it often on the Maidan. 



THE JUNGLE MYNAH (Aethiopsarfuscus), distinguished 

 as Pahari or Jhonti maina in Hindustani and Jhont salik 

 in Bengali, is somewhat intermediate between the last 

 two species. It can, however, be easily distinguished 

 from both by having the face feathered all over, and not 

 showing any bare skin ; moreover, the feathers stick 

 up in a small ragged crest at the root of the bill, whence 

 the native names, which mean " Crested Mynah." The 

 light markings on wing and tail are white as in the Common 

 Mynah, and the bill and legs are orange ; the body-colour 

 is grey, but much darker and browner than in the Bank 

 Mynah, so that on the whole this bird resembles the House- 

 Mynah most, of its two relatives. It is found all over our 

 Empire, ascending the hills up to eight thousand feet, but 

 it affects jungle and builds in holes in trees though often 

 associating with the House-Mynah and sometimes seen 

 in towns. 



It is a curious fact that the birds of this species, which 

 inhabit Northern India and Burma, have bright yellow 

 eyes, while those from Southern India have pale blue ones. 

 There is, however, some tendency to variation in the 

 colour of the eyes in other Starlings. More than once I 

 have seen the Common Starling in India with whitish 

 eyes instead of brown ones, and I once saw a Bank Mynah 

 with yellow eyes in a cage with several of the ordinary 

 red-eyed ones. If such a variation proved strongly 



