BIRD,<^ OF BAJSGTWK, 203 



nous ; quills black, the tertiaries and tips of the other feathers suffused 

 with metallic blue and lilac ; tail black with metallic blue gloss, the 

 middle pair of feathers narrowl}', the others more broadly, tipped 

 sullied ferruginous white. 



Iris grej'ish white to white. Bill slafeey blue. Legs plumbeous. 



Immature birds are darker grey on the body, and lack the conr 

 spicuous patch formed by the white wing-coverts of adults. 



Ilahits, etc. A common cold weather visitor, occurring here in 

 great numbers from September to February, after which the majority 

 of the birds depart, though some linger on until April. They invariably 

 go about in flocks numbering from three or four up to thirty or fort}'', 

 and are a familiar and striking object, with their distinctive grey and 

 white plumage, as they fl}' past rapidly in company, or settle on some 

 tree to search for their food. This consists of insects and the nectar 

 from flowers. 



Gates states that the few specimens of this bird which he pro- 

 cured in Pegu were feeding on the ground, but in Bangkok, where 

 they occur in large numbers, I have always found them strictly arbore- 

 al, and while searching for their food thej^ move along the branches 

 and twigs with a peculiar creeping motion. Tiie note of this bird is 

 a harsh, but not loud, double chich-chich. 



I have been unable to get any satisfactory Siamese name for 

 this bird, though it appears to bear several. 



Distrihniion. Also recorded from the Monthons of Ratburi and 

 Petchaburi (Gairdner). 



-4- *29 (539). Sturnia memoricola. The White-ioinged 

 Myna. 



Description. Length about 203 mm. (8 in.) Upper plumage 

 grey, darker on the back— the feathers of the head and neck having 

 whitish shafts and those of the rump and upper tail-coverts being 

 tinged with ferruginous ; quills blackish, all the featliers being tipped 

 and edged with grey, the edging becoming broader on the secondaries 

 and tertiaries ; edge of wing white ; middle pair of tail-feathers grey 

 with black shafts, the others dark brown at the base and tipped with 

 ferruginous. Chin, throat and upper breast greyish white to ferrugin- 

 ous grey, the breast feathers with white shafts ; remainder of lower 

 plumage ferruginous white to deep ferruginous. 



