found about oxen. Each field has its little party of half a dozen or nore, 
which pass their time between the pastures and the surrounding; ooooanut trees 
and in the evening fly away towards the common roosting place, where the My¬ 
nas, for many miles round, resort with common consent to pass the night. 
Such a colony as this I once discovered on the shores of the Bolgodae 
lake; here a large reed bed was the nightly rendezvous, and from all points 
of the compass were to be seen little flocks flying low and swiftly across 
the broad expanse of water, and settling down with much chattering, fighting 
and squabbling, in the tall and sheltering reeds. On my firing a gun, the 
whole rose en masse, like a dark olond, and filled the air for a moment with 
a booming sound. 
Another but smaller colony, I found taking up its quarters in an isolated 
knoll in a paddy field in the Pasdun Korale* in the Central Province it 
frequents open patinas, where the cattle of the Cingalese villagers are to 
be found grazing, and roosts in the areca and sugar palms near the villages. 
It feeds on caterpillars and worms as much as on anythin;; else, and scrat¬ 
ches in the ordure of cattle for grubs; it may often be seen perched on the 
backs of cattle, scrutinizing their skins with as much audacity as the crow. 
Its walk is erect, and its general deportment rather stately. its flight 
is steady and straight, being performed with regular'beatings of the wings. 
It lives well in confinement, and is a favourite caged bird with the na¬ 
tives, who teach it to speak, but it is not so proficient a talker as the 
Crackles, nor are its ordinary notes and whistles to be compared in point of 
clearness or power, with those of the Glossy'Myna. It is noteworthy that 
in Ceylon it has not the same familiar habits in dwelling about houses and 
in towns as its Indian ally, whose domestic propensities are particularly 
noticeable in Australia, where it has been acclimatized. 
Blyth remarks that this latter spdcles mingles in Calcutta frequently wit 
the crows, and that a pair not unfrequently entered his sitting roam, and 
treated him to a loud screeching song. Another writer says that it is tt a 
brisk lively bird, apt to learn words and to whistle, and becomes much att¬ 
ached to its master, so much so that instances are known of its being allow¬ 
ed tp range abroad during the day with a confidence of its return at nignt". 
Concerning the Ceylon race Layard writes - "They frequent meadows In sea¬ 
rch of worms and grubs of insects, not refusing ’ perfect coleoptera wiien they 
come in their way; they scratch among the ordure of cattle, (whence their na 
tive appellation), and-scatter it" far and wide over the fields, thus assist¬ 
ing the lazy native husbandman". 
* 0 7 
