BY R. B. WILLIAMS. 
97 
has a curiously, unwieldy, stumpy shape, and has a trick of 
twisting its head, neck, and body into many different atti¬ 
tudes. Iris dark brown and very soft. Mynahs are often 
seen flying in pairs overhead, when their black and white 
wings may be seen from underneath. Each primary has 
a bright white band across it, which is seen above and 
below. The bill is large and unwieldy, but finely coloured 
in orange and yellow. Their whistling plaintive cry is very 
common, and the birds are very good mimics. 
The nest is built in a high, dead tree, in a hole like that 
of a Woodpecker, possibly in old Woodpecker holes. The 
eggs are pale blue, sparingly spotted with pale brown, 
1*55 by 1*10, two in a nest. 
Mynahs are often kept as pets by natives, and in a 
Sultan’s palace in Java, at Djocjakarta, I saw several kept 
in cages, and his wives apparently took great interest in 
them; some had been taught to speak and whistle. In 
Samarahan, December 5th, I often saw flocks of ten to 
twenty-five in the rice fields, after the crop had been 
gathered. 
Lamprocorax chalybea, Horsf. 
{The Glossy Starling.) 
This bird is very common; it frequents coco-nut palms 
chiefly, and is seen every day flying to or from these with 
its swift, straight flight, while it utters a curious metallic 
note. The Malays call it “ Burong piling.” The bill is 
black and very strong ; feet and tarsus black and strong; 
iris deep red. The nest is generally in the hole of a tree, 
eggs pale blue. It exactly takes the place of the English 
starling, and has the same flight and actions. 
Oriolus xanthonotus, Horsf. 
{The Black-headed Oriole.) 
Not very common, but it keeps to old jungle and seems 
to be solitary. I shot two on February 20th, 1913, and 
another on December 2nd; both of these were in old jungle, 
whistling in their rather curious way. Bill a curious 
brick-red; iris crimson; oil-gland bare; feet and tarsus 
blue-grey. Malay name, ‘‘Burong mati bujang.” 
Chaptia malayensis, Blyth. 
{The Malayan Drongo.) 
Common in open spaces in old jungle, and very com¬ 
monly seen on rivers, where it skims the water, catching 
H 
