202 A HAND-BOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 



and proper treatment adopted; the eyes and the surrounding parts 

 become swollen, the eyelids tumefied and closed, and the conjunctiva 

 completely covered with thickened and hardened discharge. As it 

 cannot but be very painful to the patient, before any attempt at cleaning 

 the eyes and surrounding parts is made, poppy-head fomentation should 

 be applied with a sponge for about a quarter of an hour ; the eye-lids 

 should then be gently opened, the thickened and hardened matter 

 adhering thereto and to the conjunctiva removed, and the solution of 

 sulphate of zinc applied with the tip of a feather ; on the second day the 

 discharge will be less and the swelling much reduced, and in two or three 

 days the patient will probably recover ; a dose of castor-oil, twenty to 

 thirty drops, in a little milk, should be given internally at the beginning ; 

 the diet should be light and nourishing, such as bread and milk, satoo 

 prepared with ghi and eggs, &c. ; no fruits, especially plantains and 

 papya, are to be allowed. Mynas also suffer from other ailments inci- 

 dental to a captive life. Another disease to which only the young birds 

 become subject appears to have some close connection with the growth 

 of their wattles and the lappets, as it commonly shows itself during the 

 period while those processes are in the act of growing. It consists of 

 a tumour or an abscess near to or on some part of the wattles ; by way 

 of treatment a poultice made of burnt turmeric {Curcuma longa) is 

 generally applied by the bird-fanciers of Lower Bengal, and almost 

 invariably with good results ; as the young bird shows great aversion to 

 food while suffering from this malady, it requires to be hand-fed ; it is 

 needless to say that the bird should be kept warm, and the cleanliness of 

 the cage thoroughly attended to. It may be mentioned here that 

 when a tumour or an abscess is well pronounced, it is by far the best to 

 lance it. 



Observations on the habits of Hill Mynas. 



Besides being hardy and bearing captivity well when once acclima- 

 tized, hill mynas generally have many taking qualities, and it is no 

 wonder that they are so largely caged, tamed and made pets of in India; 

 they, especially the Nepal hill mynas, are, when tamed, intelligent and 

 knowing, and learn to talk easily and with remarkable fluency and 

 accuracy. On the occasion of a bird-show held in the garden, a hill 

 myna owned and exhibited by a commander of one of the river steamers 

 very much amused the visitors by its idiomatic expressions, and such 

 words of command as " heave up," " go aft " or with ejaculations such 

 as, " not a drop to save my soul," concluding the speech with character- 

 istic abuse, " 0, you soor." In this garden hill mynas soon learn to 

 imitate the notes of other birds, notably those of cockatoos ; they are 

 thoroughly arboreal, seldom coming to the ground. 



(45) THE GLOSSY OALOENIS. 

 (CALOENIS CHALYBEIUS-(Hor5/.) ) 

 Description.— Externally black with a brilliant green gloss; length 

 about eight inches ; irides crimson-scarlet. 



Hub. — Eastern Bengal, Khasia Hills, Tipperah, Arracan, the 

 southern part of Tenasserim extending to the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, 





