THE BANK MYNA 229 



together in Indian file, a few yards separating them. 

 The mynas hke to place themselves between two 

 ploughs, and so fearless are they that they some- 

 times allow themselves almost to be trodden on by 

 the team behind them. Although the progress of 

 the ploughing oxen is not rapid, it is too fast for 

 the mynas, who find themselves continually dropping 

 behind, and have every now and again to use their 

 wings to keep pace with them. At intervals, the 

 whole following, or a portion of it, takes to its wings 

 and indulges in a Uttle flight purely for the fun of 

 the thing. The flock sometimes returns to the original 

 plough, at others transfers its attentions to another. 

 Thus the flocks are continually changing in number 

 and personnel, and in this respect are very different 

 from the companies of seven sisters. The latter appear 

 to be definite clubs or societies, the former mere 

 chance collections of individuals, or probably pairs 

 of individuals. 



Bank mynas are so called because they invariably 

 nest in sandbanks, in the sides of a well, or some 

 such locality, they themselves excavating the nest 

 hole. Like sand martins, bank mynas breed in 

 considerable companies, but they are not so obliging 

 as regards the season of their nidification. They 

 usually select sites which are not only at a distance 

 from human habitations, but difficult of access, and, 

 as the birds do not begin to nest until well on in May, 

 when the weather in Upper India is too hot to be 

 described in literary language, one does not often 

 have a chance of seeing the birds at work. Their 



