330 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



pale streaks ; wings blackish, with a white edge near the shoulder ; 

 tail dull black. 



Bill blue at the base, then greenish, yellow at the tip ; irides 

 greenish white ; legs bright yellow. Length 8^ inches ; wing 4 T 2 n ; 

 tail 3 ; bill at front —^ ; tarsus ly^. 



The Brahminy Myna is found more or less throughout all India, 

 but much more abundant in some localities than in others. It is 

 most numerous in the Carnatic, as about Madras and Trichinopoly, 

 and in the Southern portion of the Northern Circars ; rare on the 

 Malabar Coast, only seen in the Deccan at the end of the cold 

 weather, and a casual visitant in lower Bengal at the same time. 

 It is found in the lower regions of Nepal, in Cashmere, and also 

 in the lesser ranges of Cashmere, and, it is stated, more or less 

 throughout the North-western Provinces, though only for a short 

 time. Dr. Adams, however, who saw it in Cashmere, says that 

 he never saw it on the plains in the North-western Provinces. It 

 occurs also, though rarely, in Assam, and Arracan, and, in Ceylon, 

 only towards the North. 



At Madras it feeds chiefly on the ground, among cattle, in 

 company with Acridotheres tristis, picking up grasshoppers and 

 other insects. It also feeds on trees on various fruits, berries, 

 and flower-buds, and occasionally insects. Adams says that in 

 Cashmere, it feeds on the seeds and buds of Pines. When 

 the silk cotton tree comes into bloom, is always to be found 

 feeding on the insects that harbour in the flowers. I observed 

 this at Jalna, and Blyth remarked the same at Calcutta. At 

 Madras, it breeds about large buildings, pagodas, houses, &c, and 

 lays three or four greenish-blue eggs. Mr. Philipps records it as 

 building in holes of trees. It has a variety of calls, and a rather 

 pleasing song. It is frequently caged and domesticated, is docile 

 and hardy, and will imitate any other bird placed near it. Like 

 the others of its tribe, it is lively in its manners and actions, and 

 has a steady swift flight. 



688. Temenuchus malabaricus, Gmelin. 



Turdus, apud Gmelin— -Blyth, Cat. 587— Horsf., Cat. 804— 

 Pastor cinereus, apud Jekdon, sub. No. 166 — Jerdon, 2nd 

 Suppl. Cat. 160, bis — P. caniceps, P. Blythii, and Maina affinis, 



