STUKNIN^l. 335 



unknown to the Natives. Burgess also states that in 1850, 

 towards the end of August, he saw a large flock of the Rose-color- 

 ed Starlings feeding on insects in an open field. These intances of 

 their appearing so early are very unusual, and more especially their 

 occurrence in Ceylon in July, by which time the young could only 

 have "been just fairly fledged. Most of the birds met with in 

 India are, of course, young birds in imperfect plumage. 



Sub-fam. Lampkotornin^e, Grakles or Hill Mynas. 



Syn. Ptilinorhynchince, Gray and Horsfield — Eulabetince, Horsf. 

 — Graculince, apud Gray. 



Bill somewhat stout, the ridge more or less curved and hooked, 

 and the tip notched ; nostrils more or less hidden by the close set 

 frontal plumes ; wings long or moderate, and pointed ; tarsus short 

 and stout. 



The Grakles are birds of usually glossy plumage, found in the 

 warm regions of the Old Continent. Many are found in Africa, 

 a few in India and Malayana. They are more or less gregarious, 

 live chiefly on fruit, and nestle, in general, in holes of trees or in 

 rocks. Many feed habitually on the ground, associating with 

 cattle ; others are more arboreal. 



The glossy Mynas of India comprise two very distinct forms, 

 one with rather slender bill, of delicate conformation, consisting of 

 a single species ; the other of robust make, with strong beaks, and 

 furnished with prominent wattles, the Hill Mynas. They are both 

 strictly arboreal in their habits, living, in forests, on fruit, and nidifi- 

 cating in holes of trees. In his List of Genera, Gray places these 

 birds respectively under Jiddince and Eulabetince, the first including 

 Saraglossa, Calornis, and some other Eastern forms, and all the 

 African Mynas ; the second our Hill Mynas and one or two allied 

 genera. G. R. Gray in his Genera included the former (together 

 with the Bower birds of Australia), under his Ptilinorhyncldncc, and 

 the latter under Eulabetince. The Indian members of this group do 

 not appear to associate very well with the African ones, in spite of 

 some resemblance of plumage, and perhaps ought to form a distinct 

 division. They evidently grade to the true Mynas through 

 Calornis. 



