Part 107

It builds exclusively, so far as my experience goes, in earthen banks and cliffs, in holes which it excavates for itself, always, I think, in close proximity to water, and by preference in places overhanging or overlooking running water.

The breeding-season lasts from the middle of April to the middle of July, but I have found more eggs in May than in any other month.

Four is the usual number of the eggs; I have found five, but never more. If Theobald got seven or eight, they belonged to two pairs; and the nests so run into each other that this is a mistake that might easily be made, even where coolies were digging into the bank before one.

There is really no variety in their nesting arrangements, and a note I recorded in regard to one colony that I robbed will, I think, sufficiently illustrate the subject. All that can be said is that very commonly they nest low down in earthy cliffs, where it is next to impossible to explore thoroughly their workings, while in the instance referred to these were very accessible:--

"One morning, driving out near Bareilly, we found that a colony of the Bank Myna had taken possession of some fresh excavations on the banks of a small stream. The excavation was about 10 feet deep, and in its face, in a band of softer and sandier earth than the rest of the bank, about a foot below the surface of the ground, these Mynas had bored innumerable holes. They had taken no notice of the workman who had been continuously employed within a few yards of them, and who informed us that the Mynas had first made their appearance there only a month previously. On digging into the bank we found the holes all connected with each other, in one place or another, so that apparently every Myna could get into or out from its nest by any one of the hundred odd holes in the face of the excavation. The holes averaged about 3 inches in diameter, and twisted and turned up and down, right and left, in a wonderful manner; each hole terminated in a more or less well-marked bulb (if I may use the term), or egg-chamber, situated from 4 to 7 feet from the face of the bank. The egg-chamber was floored with a loose nest of grass, a few feathers, and, in many instances, scraps of snake-skins.

"Are birds superstitious, I wonder? Do they believe in charms? If not what induces so many birds that build in holes in banks to select out of the infinite variety of things, organic or inorganic, pieces of snake-skin for their nests? They are at best harsh, unmanageable things, neither so warm as feathers, which are ten times more numerous, nor so soft as cotton or old rags, which lie about broadcast, nor so cleanly as dry twigs and grass. Can it be that snakes have any repugnance to their 'worn out weeds,' that they dislike these mementos of their fall, and that birds which breed in holes into which snakes are likely to come by instinct select these exuviae as scare-snakes?

"In some of the nests we found three or four callow young ones, but in the majority of the terminal chambers were four, more or less, incubated eggs.

"I noticed that the tops of all the mud-pillars (which had been left standing to measure the work by) had been drilled through, and through by the Mynas, obviously not for nesting-purposes, as not one of them contained the vestige of a nest, but either for amusement or to afford pleasant sitting-places for the birds not engaged in incubation. Whilst we were robbing the nests, the whole colony kept screaming and flying in and out of these holes in the various pillar-tops in a very remarkable manner, and it may be that, after the fashion of Lapwings, they thought to lead us away from their eggs and induce a belief that their real homes were in the pillar tops."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall remarks:--"This species breeds in the Bolundshahr District in June and July. It makes its nest in a hole in a bank, but more often in the side of a kucha or earthen well. A number of birds generally breed in company. The nest is formed by lining the cavity with a little grass and roots and a few feathers. On the 8th July I found a colony breeding in a well near Khoorjah, and took a dozen fresh eggs."

Writing from Lucknow, Mr. G. Reid says:--"During the breeding season it associates in large flocks along the banks of the Groomti, where it nidificates in colonies in holes in the banks of the river. From some of these holes I took a few fresh eggs on the 15th May, and again on the 30th June on revisiting the spot. In the district it breeds in old irrigation-wells and occasionally in ravines with good steep banks."

Major C.T. Bingham, writing from Allahabad, says:--"Breeds in June, July, and August in holes in sandy banks of rivers and nullahs. Eggs, five in number, laid on a lining of straw and feathers."

Colonel E.A. Butler notes:--"The Bank Myna lays about Deesa in June and July. On the 26th June I lowered a man down several wells, finding nests containing eggs and nests containing young ones, some nearly fledged. The nests are generally in holes in the brickwork, often further in than a man can reach, and several pairs of birds usually occupy the same well. The eggs vary much in shape and number. In some nests I found as many as five, in others only two or three. In colour they closely resemble the eggs of A. tristis, but they are slightly smaller, the tint is of a decidedly deeper shade, and the shell more glossy. July 5th, several nests, some containing eggs, others young ones. July 13th, numerous nests in wells and banks, some containing fresh, others incubated eggs, and others young birds of all sizes. The eggs varied in number from two to five. I took twenty-six fresh eggs and then discontinued."

Lieut. H.E. Barnes informs us that in Rajputana this Myna breeds about May.

The eggs are typically, I think, shorter and proportionally broader than those of other kindred species already described; very pyriform varieties are, however, common. They are as usual spotless, very glossy, and of different shades of very pale sky- and greenish blue. Although, when a large series of the eggs of this and each of the preceding species are grouped together, a certain difference is observable, individual eggs can by no means be discriminated, and it is only by taking the eggs with one's own hand that one can feel certain of their authenticity.

In length they vary from 0·95 to 1·16, and in breadth from 0·72 to 0·87; but the average of forty-seven eggs is 1·05 by 0·82.

552. Aethiopsar fuscus (Wagl.). The Jungle Myna.

Acridotheres fuscus (Wagl.) Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 327; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 686.

The Jungle Myna eschews the open cultivated plains of Upper, Central, and Western India. It breeds throughout the Himalayas, at any elevations up to 7000 feet, where the hills are not bare, and in some places in the sub-Himalayan jungles. It breeds in the plains country of Lower Bengal, and in both plains and hills of Assam, Cachar, and Burma, and also in great numbers in the Nilgiris and all the wooded ranges and hilly country of the Peninsula. The breeding-season lasts from March to July, but the majority lay everywhere, I think, in April, except in the extreme north-west, where they are later.

Normally, they build in holes of trees, and are more or less social in their nidification. As a rule, if you find one nest you will find a dozen within a radius of 100 yards, and not unfrequently within one of ten yards. But, besides trees, they readily build in holes in temples and old ruins, in any large stone wall, in the thatch of old houses, and even in their chimneys.

The nest is a mere lining for the hole they select, and varies in size and shape with this latter; fine twigs, dry grass, and feathers are the materials most commonly used, the feathers being chiefly gathered together to form a bed for the eggs; but moss, moss and fern roots, flocks of wool, lichen, and down may often be found in greater or less quantities intermingled with the grass and straw which forms the main body, or with the feathers that constitute the lining, of the nest. I have never found more than five eggs, but Miss Cockburn says that they sometimes lay six.

From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall writes:--"This Myna, which takes the place of A. tristis in the higher hills, breeds always in holes in trees. We found five or six nests in June and early in July."

They breed near Solan, below Kussowlee, and close to Jerripani, Captain Hutton's place below Mussoorie, in both which localities I have taken their nests myself.

Captain Hutton remarks:--"This is a summer visitant in the hills, and is common at Mussoorie during that season; but it does not appear to visit Simla, although it is to be found in some of the valleys below it to the south. It breeds at Mussoorie in May and June, selecting holes in the forest trees, generally large oaks, which it lines with dry grass and feathers. The eggs are from three to five, of a pale greenish blue, shape ordinary, but somewhat inclined to taper to the smaller end. This species usually arrives from the valleys of the Dhoon about the middle of March; and, until they begin to sit on their eggs, they congregate every morning and evening into small flocks, and roost together in trees near houses; in the morning they separate for the day into pairs, and proceed with the building of nests or laying of eggs. After the young are hatched and well able to fly, all betake themselves to the Dhoon in July."

In Kumaon I found them breeding near the Ramghur Ironworks, and, writing from Nynee Tal, Colonel G.F.L. Marshall says that they "breed very commonly at Bheem Tal (4000 feet), but I have not noticed them at Nynee Tal. I took a great many eggs; they were all laid in holes in rotten trees at a height of 2 to 8 feet from the ground; they average much smaller than the eggs of A. tristis, but are similar in colour."

Writing from Nepal, Dr. Scully says:--"This species is common and a permanent resident in the Valley of Nepal, but does not occur in such great numbers as A. tristis. It is also found in tolerable abundance in the Nawakot district and the Hetoura Dun in winter. It breeds in the Valley in May and June, laying in holes in trees or walls; the eggs are very like those of A. tristis, but smaller--not so broad. I noticed on two or three occasions an albino of this species, which was greatly persecuted by the Crows."

Mr. G. Vidal remarks of this bird in the South Konkan:--"Exceedingly common. Breeds in May. The irides of all I have seen were pale slate-blue."

"In the Nilgiris," writes Mr. Wait, "the Jungle Myna's eggs may be found at any time from the end of February to the beginning of July. They nest in chimneys, hollow trees, holes in stone walls, &c., filling in the hole with hay, straw, moss, and twigs, and lining the cavity with feathers. They lay from three to five long, oval, greenish-blue eggs, a shade darker than those of the English Starling."

From Kotagherry Miss Cockburn tells us that "these Mynas breed in the months of March and April, and construct their nests (which consist of a few straws, sticks, and feathers put carelessly together) in the holes of trees and old thatched houses. They lay five or six eggs of a beautiful light blue, and are extremely careful of their young. The nests of these birds are so common in the months above mentioned that herd-boys have brought me more than fifty eggs at a time.