THE BLACK-NECKED MYNAH. 
377 
webs of the quills, and to have no rufous on the outer webs of the 
primaries. I do not find these characters to hold good. On the whole, 
I am inclined to look upon this Burmese race as inseparable from the 
Indian M. affinis. 
The Madras Bash-Lark is very abundant at Thayetmyo and in its 
immediate neighbourhood ; but I have not observed it anywhere else. 
It occurs in the southern half of the Indian peninsula and in Ceylon, 
and ranges up the eastern coast to Bengal. It probably occurs in the 
Indo-Burmese countries. Dr. Tiraud procured it in Cochin China. 
This Lark is found in gardens and compounds, as w^ell as on roadsides 
and patches of jungle. It takes short flights into the air, singing all the 
while, and generally alights on a bush previously to gaining the ground. 
When observed, it squats closely and after a short interval takes flight. 
I found the nest at Boulay in July. It was made of grass, partially 
domed, and was placed in a hoof-mark under a tuft of grass and overhung 
by a small bush. It contained two eggs and a young bird ; the former 
were white, thickly spotted with rusty brown. 
Section OS CINE S CULTEIEOSTBES. 
Family STURNID^. 
Genus GEACUPICA, Less. 
352. GEACUPICA NIGEICOLLIS. 
THE BLACK-NECKED MYNAH. 
Gracula nigricoUis, Payk. Act. Holm, xxviii. t. ix. (1766). Sturnopastor nigri- 
coUis, Bl. B. Burm. p. 90 ; Anders. Yunnan Exjjed. p. 595. Gracupica nigri- 
coUis, David et Oust. Ois. Chine., p. 364; Hume., S. F. ix. p. 288. 
Description. — Male and female. The whole head above and below white^ 
encircled by a black collar about an inch deep^ but varying in extent in 
different individuals ; below this collar there is a band^ confined to the 
back, of black feathers broadly margined with white ; back, scapulars, 
upper rump and the longer tail-coverts dark brown, each feather edged 
paler ; lower rump and the shorter tail-coverts white ; tail dai k brown, 
very broadly tipped with white; lower plumage, with the exception of 
the collar, white ; under wing-coverts black, tipped with white ; primary- 
