678 
STUENIA PAGODAEUM. 
-S urma rmlaharim, Gmelm (the Grey-headed Myna), inhabits the peninsula o£ India from the north to the southern 
portion and might perhaps some day occur in Ceylon. It may be well, therefore, to note, for the information 
f lavender-grey on the back, with the head grey and the feathers 
ot that part and the hind neck attenuated ; primaries blackish, tipped with grey ; lower parts in the male chestnut, 
Md the terminal portions of the four outer tail-feathers deeper in hue than the belly; wing 3-9o to 4-1 inches 
The female is paler beneath. jo 
SturHiammorieola Jerdon, from Burmah and Tenasserim, is allied to the last-named species; the under surface in the 
male is as pale as that of the female in S. malaharica, and the winglet and primary-coverts are more or loss white. 
Distribution .— pretty bird is not very well known in Ceylon, being confined to the dry parts of the 
island, in which it is somewhat local. Layard found it at Point Pedro, and remarks that it is not uncommon in 
the north ; from that part southwards as far as Chilaw it occurs at various localities ; on the east coast it is not 
uncommon. Kelaart mentions it as being found at Trincomalie, and in that district I have met with consi- 
derable flocks in localities between Tirai and the port; to the south of the Bay of Kottiar it occurs about the 
Virgel, and in the Batticaloa district is not uncommon, frequenting the lowlands around the Kalmuni Lake. 
1 hence southwards I have no doubt it is found where the sca-board tract of country is favourable to its habits • 
and in the Ilambantota district I can speak from experience as to its being numerous, although even there it 
appears to restrict Eself to particular places. I found large flocks of it between Kirinde and Yala. I am not 
aware that it inhabits the interior, as I have never met with it many miles from the sea-shore. 
On the mainland it is by no means restricted to maritime districts, occurring throughout the Indian 
peninsula, particularly where there are temples and other large buildings. It is, however, found in Kamis- 
serum Island and on the coast of the Carnatic, in parts of which territory it is abundant; but Jerdon remarks 
that it is rare on the Malabar sea-board. The Eev. Dr. Fairhank records it from the base and well up the 
sides'^ of the Palanis, and remarks that it is everywhere found in the Khandala district; Messrs. Dandsonand 
Wender likewise record it from the Deccan, and say that it breeds at Satara. Its range extends far towards 
the north-west, for it m found in the Mount Aboo, Guzerat, and Sambhur-Lake districts, and has lately been 
procured at Trainhee in Sindh ; in Kattiawar and about Kutch it is scarce. Turning, however, towards the east 
we find that, according to Mr. Ball, it is sparingly though universally distributed throughout Chota Nagpur 
eing more plentiful in Sirguja than elsewhere. In his list of the birds found between the Ganges and Godaveri 
rivers he cites the Eajmehal hills, Manbhum, Lohardugga, Sambalpur, Orissa north and south of the 
Mahanatli river, Nowagarh, and Karial as places in which he found it; to which Mr. Hume adds Eaipur. In 
the N.W. ProGnees it is a common resident, and to Lower Bengal it is a casual visitor at the end of the hot 
season, being, as Blyth says, often procurable from Calcutta bird-catchers. In the lower regions of Nepal 
and Cashmere, and also in the lesser ranges of the latter province, it is likewise, according to Jerdon found 
In Burmah it is replaced by S. burmamca and S. nemoricola-, but Jerdon states that it is found in AsLm and 
Arrakan, whether correctly or not I am unable to say, as the above-mentioned species, together with 
S. malabarica, are the only members of the genus recorded in ^ Stray Feathers^ from that side of the bay. 
— The Brahminy Myna frequents open bushy plains, bare fields, low scrubs, clearings in the iungle 
&c. It feeds on the ground, associating in moderately sized flocks, which alight on the tops of bushes or small 
rees when disturbed. They are wary birds and difficult to approach, flying on before their pumuers from 
bush to bush In Ceylon I never saw it in company with the Acridotheres about cattle ; but in India it is 
m* frequents the dry arid portions of the countrv, where the Common 
Reld-Myna IS not very common. I have found its food to consist chiefly of insects and Coleoptera of various 
unds; but it also feeds on seeds, buds, and small fruits. Its ordinary note is a rather mellow whistlino- call 
wEich It utters both on the wing and when feeding in company. It has a strong straight flight and flies in 
closely packed little flocks, which, when going home to roost, settle on the tops of trees, rest awhile and then 
take wing again. It roosts in the foliage of low shady trees, retiring early. ^ 
In Lower Bengal Blyth says that at the end of the cold season it frequents the arboreal cotton-trees, 
ceding on the insects which arc attracted to their flowers; in Cashmere it is said by Adams to eat the seeds 
buds of pines; while in Madras, as above noticed, it has the habit of feeding on the ground among cattle 
