56 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



At least I judge this to be the case from having 

 seen a Mynah pecked by his spouse for showing off, and 

 also the lady become suddenly kind for the same 

 reason apparently. The gentler sex in Mynahs have 

 no particular reason to make themselves too cheap, 

 for I have observed no less than three cocks bowing 

 and scraping after one hen, and doubtless amatory 

 rivalry will often account for the savage contests in 

 which one sometimes sees Mynahs indulge. In 

 other cases the possession of an eligible nesting site 

 will furnish a reason, for, like other birds that nest 

 in holes, the Mynah is sometimes hard put to it for 

 house-room. I remember once seeing a mynah- 

 fight in which two, no doubt the heads of families, 

 lay clenched as to their feet upon the ground, while 

 what were no doubt their wives looked on together 

 with certain crows, who had evidently been attracted, 

 like" Mark Twain and his friends in Italy on a similar 

 occasion, by a disinterested desire to be allowed 

 ■"to help cord up the dead." The crows, however, 

 were not officious beyond a nervous twitch at a com- 

 batant's tail, for the Mynah is a good bird of his 

 hands, so to speak, and can make himself respected 

 even by a crow ; indeed, the Market Sergeant told 

 me that he had once seen a crow nearly pecked to 

 death by a pair of these birds. The Mynah is indeed 

 ■a, truly respectable character ; / while offering a 



