Chapter 46

Major C.T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim:--"I saw several nest-holes of this bird, which was very common in the Reserve, but none of them were accessible; and it wasn't till the 18th April that I chanced on one in a low tree, the nest being in the hollow of a stump of a broken branch. It was composed and loosely put together of grass, leaves, and twigs, and contained three half-fledged young and one addled egg of a light blue colour, spotted, chiefly at the large end with purplish brown."

The eggs very similar to those of _E. religiosa_, but, what is very surprising, it is very considerably _smaller_.

Of _E. religiosa_ the eggs vary from 1·2 to 1·37 in length, and from 0·86 to 0·9 in breadth, and the average of eight is 1·31 by 0·88.

This present egg only measures 1·12 by 0·8, and it must, I should fancy, be abnormally small.

In shape it is an extremely regular oval. The ground is a pale greenish blue, and it is spotted and blotched pretty thickly at the large end (where all the larger markings are) and very thinly at the smaller end with purple and two shades (a darker and lighter one) of chocolate-brown, the latter colour much predominating. The shell is very fine and close, but has but little gloss.

And later on Major Bingham again wrote:--"One of the commonest and most widely spread birds in the province. The following is an account of its nidification:--

"This bird lays two distinct sizes of eggs, all, however, of the same type and coloration. Out of holes in neighbouring trees, on the bank of the Meplay, on the 13th March, 1880, I took two nests, one containing three, and the other two eggs. The first lot of eggs measured respectively 1·15 x 0·77, 1·15 x 0·80, and 1·16 x 0·79 inch; while those in the second nest 1·30 x 0·95, and 1·27 x 0·93 inch respectively. All the eggs, however, are a pale blue, spotted chiefly at the larger end with light chocolate. The nests were in natural hollows in the trees, and lined with grass and leaves loosely put together."

The eggs apparently vary extraordinarily in size; they are generally more or less elongated ovals, some slightly pyriform and slightly obtuse at both ends, some rather pointed towards the small end. The shell in all is very fine and compact and smooth, but some have scarcely any appreciable gloss, while others have a really fine gloss. The ground-colour is pretty uniform in all, a delicate pale greenish blue. The markings are always chiefly confined to one end, usually the broad end; even about the large end they are never very dense, and elsewhere they are commonly very sparse or almost or altogether wanting. In some eggs the markings are pretty large irregular blotches mingled with small spots and specks, but in many eggs again the largest spot does not exceed one twelfth of an inch in diameter. In colour these markings are normally a chocolate, often with more or less of a brown tinge, in some of the small spots so thickly laid on as to be almost black, in many of the larger blotches becoming only a pale reddish purple, or here and there a pale purplish grey. In some eggs all the markings are pale and washed out, in others all are sharply defined and intense in colour. Occasionally some of the smaller spots become almost a yellowish brown.

526. Eulabes ptilogenys (Blyth). _The Ceylon Grackle_.

Eulabes ptilogenys (_Bl.), Hume, cat._ no. 693 bis.

Colonel Legge writes in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"This species breeds in June, July, and August, laying its eggs in a hole of a tree, or in one which has been previously excavated by the Yellow-fronted Barbet or Red Woodpecker. It often nests in the sugar- or kitool-palm, and in one of these trees in the Peak forest I took its eggs in the month of August. There was an absence of all nest or lining at the bottom of the hole, the eggs, which were two in number, being deposited on the bare wood. The female was sitting at the time, and was being brought fruit and berries by the male bird. While the eggs were being taken the birds flew round repeatedly, and settled on an adjacent tree, keeping up a loud whistling. The eggs are obtuse-ended ovals, of a pale greenish-blue ground-colour (one being much paler than the other), sparingly spotted with large and small spots of lilac-grey, and blotched over this with a few neutral-brown and sepia blots. They measure from 1·3 to 1·32 inch in length by 0·96 to 0·99 in breadth."

527. Calornis chalybeïus (Horsf.). _The Glossy Calornis_.

Calornis chalybaeus[A] (_Horsf.), Hume, cat._ no. 690 bis.

[Footnote A: Mr. Hume considers the Andaman _Calornis_ distinct from the _Calornis_ inhabiting Cachar, Tenasserim, &c. I have united them in the 'Birds of India.'--Ed.]

Of the Glossy Calornis Mr. Davison remarks that "it is a permanent resident at the Nicobars, breeding in holes in trees and in the decayed stumps of old cocoanut-palms, apparently from December to March. At the Andamans it is much less numerous, and is only met with in pairs or in small parties, frequenting the same situations as it does in the Nicobars."

Mr. J. Inglis writes from Cachar:--"This Tree-Stare is rather rare. It breeds about April in the holes of dead trees; when the young are able to fly it departs. It again returns about the middle of February."

In Tenasserim this species was observed nesting by Mr. J. Darling, junior, who says:--"22nd March. Noticed several pairs of _Calornis_, with nests, in the big wooden bridge over the Kyouk-tyne Creek about 1½ mile out of Tavoy, and also a great number of their nests in the old wooden posts of an old bridge further down the Creek."

Mr. W. Davison, when in the Malay peninsula, took the eggs of this bird. He remarks:--"I found a few pairs frequenting some areca-palms at Laugat, and breeding in them, but only one nest contained eggs, three in number. The nest was a loose structure almost globular, but open at the top, composed externally of very coarse dry grass (lallung or elephant-grass), and lined with green durian leaves cut into small bits. The nest was too lightly put together to preserve. This nest and several other empty ones were placed at the base of the leaves where they meet the trunk.

"The three eggs obtained were slightly set, so that three is probably the normal number laid.

"I noticed several other pairs breeding at the same time in holes of a huge dead tree on Jugra Hill at Laugat, but I was unable to get at the nests."

The eggs are quite of the _Eulabes_ type, moderately broad ovals, more or less compressed towards the small end, occasionally pyriform. The shell firm and strong, though fine, smooth to the touch in some cases, with but little, but generally with a fair amount of gloss. The ground is a very pale greenish blue. A number of fairly large spots and blotches, intermingled with smaller specks and spots, are scattered about the large end, often forming an imperfect irregular zone, and a few similar specks and spots are scattered thinly about the central portion of the egg, occasionally extending to the small end. The colour of these spots varies; they are generally a brownish-reddish purple and a paler greyer purple, but in some eggs the spots are so thick in colour that they seem almost black. In some they are almost purely reddish brown without any purplish tinge, and some again, lying deep in the shell, are pale grey.

Six eggs measure from 0·92 to 1·1 in length, and from 0·71 to 0·76 in breadth, but the average of six eggs is 1 by 0·74.

Family STURNIDAE.

528. Pastor roseus (Linn.). _The Rose-coloured Starling_.

Pastor roseus (_Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 333; _Hume, cat._ no. 690.

The Rose-coloured Starling has not yet been discovered breeding in India, but Mr. Doig has written the following note on the subject, which is one of great interest. He writes from the Eastern Narra, in Sind:--

"Though I have not as yet discovered the breeding-place of this bird, I think it as well to put on record what little I have noticed, in the hope that it may be of assistance in eventually finding out where it goes to breed. I began watching the birds in the middle of April, and every week shot one or two and dissected them, but did not perceive any decisive signs of their breeding until the 10th May, when I shot two males, both of which showed signs of being about to breed at an early date. Again, on the 15th May, out of seven that I shot in a flock, six were males with the generative organs fully developed; the seventh was a young female in immature plumage, the ovaries being quite undeveloped. The birds were feeding in the bed of a dried-up swamp, along with flocks of _Sturnus minor_, and were constantly flying in flocks, backwards and forwards, in one direction. Unfortunately, important work called me to another part of the district, and when I returned in a fortnight's time I could not see one. Where can they have gone? And they remain away such a short time! I have seen the old birds return as early as the 7th July, accompanied by young birds barely fledged, and I should not be at all surprised if these birds are found to breed in some of the Native States on the _east_ of Sind. That they could find time to migrate to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia to breed, and return again by the middle of July, I cannot believe, especially after having found them so thoroughly in breeding-time, while still in the east of Sind. Another suspicious circumstance is the absence of females in the flocks I met with. Perhaps some of my readers may have an opportunity of finding out whether _Pastor roseus_ occurs in the districts lying to the east of Sind in the month of June, as there is no doubt that the breeding-time lies between the 20th May and the commencement of July."

529. Sturnus humii, Brooks. _The Himalayan Starling_.

Sturnus unicolor, _Marm., apud Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 322. Sturnus nitens, _Hume; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 682.

The Himalayan Starling breeds in Candahar, Cashmere, and the extreme north-west of the Punjab. It is the bird which Dr. Jerdon includes in his work as _S. unicolor_ (a very different bird, which does not occur within our limits), and which Mr. Theobald referred to as breeding in Cashmere as _Sturnus vulgaris_, which bird does not, as far as I can learn, occur in the Valley of Cashmere, though it may in Yarkand.

This Starling lays towards the end of April at Peshawur, where I found it nesting in holes in willow-trees in the cantonment compounds. In Candahar it lays somewhat earlier, and in the Valley of Cashmere somewhat later, viz. in the month of May.

It builds in holes of trees, in river-banks, and in old buildings and bridges, constructing a loose nest of grass and grass-roots, with sometimes a few thin sticks; it is perhaps more of a lining to the hole than a true nest. It lays five or six eggs.

Mr. Brooks says:--"It is like _S. unicolor_, but smaller, with shorter wing and more beautiful reflections. It is excessively abundant in Cashmere, at moderate elevations, and in the Valley, and breeds in holes of trees and in river-banks. The eggs are like those of _S. vulgaris_, but rather smaller. The latter bird[A] occurs plentifully in the plains of India in the cold weather, and is as profusely spotted as English specimens. The bills vary in length, and are not longer, as a rule, than those of British birds. I did not meet with _S. vulgaris_ in Cashmere. It appears to migrate more to the west, for it is said to be common in Afghanistan. _S. nitens_ also occurs in the plains in the cold season. I have Etawah specimens. They are at that time slightly spotted, but can always be very easily distinguished from _S. vulgaris_."

[Footnote A: Mr. Brooks here refers to _S. menzbieri_.--ED.]

Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remark on its nidification in the Valley of Cashmere:--"Lays in the second and third weeks of May; eggs ovato-pyriform; size 1·15 by 0·85; colour, pale clear bluish green; valley generally, in holes of bridges, tall trees, &c., in company with _Corvus monedula_."

Captain Hutton records that "_S. vulgaris_ remains only during the coldest months, and departs as spring approaches: whereas the present species builds in the spring at Candahar, laying seven or eight blue eggs, and the young are fledged about the first week in May."

The eggs of this species are generally somewhat elongated ovals, a good deal compressed towards one end, and not uncommonly more or less pyriform. They are glossy, but in a good light have the surface a good deal pitted. They are entirely devoid of markings, and seem to have the ground one uniform very pale sea-greenish blue. They appear to vary very little in colour, and to average generally a good deal smaller than those of the Common Starling.

They vary in length from 1·02 to 1·19, and in breadth from 0·78 to 0·87; but the average of twenty eggs is 1·13 by 0·83.[A]

[Footnote A: STURNUS PORPHYRONOTUS, Sharpe. _The Central-Asian Starling_.

This species breeds in Kashgharia, and visits India in winter. Dr. Scully writes:--"This Starling breeds in May and June, making its nest in the holes of trees and walls, and in gourds and pots placed near houses by the Yarkandis for the purpose. It seems to make only a simple lining for its hole, composed of grass and fibres. The eggs vary in shape from a broadish oval to an elongated oval compressed at one end; they are glossy and, in a strong light, the surface looks pitted. The eggs are quite spotless, but the colour seems also to vary a good deal--from a deep greenish blue to a very pale light sea-blue. In size they vary from 1·1 to 1·22 in length, and from 0·80 to 0·86 in breadth; but the average of nine eggs is 1·19 by 0·83."]

531. Sturnus minor, Hume. _The Small Indian Starling_.

Sturnus minor, _Hume; Hume, cat._ no. 681 bis.

Mr. Scrope Doig furnishes us with the following interesting note on the breeding of _S. minor_ in Sindh:--

"Last year I mentioned to my friend, Captain Butler, that I had noticed Starlings going in and out of holes in trees along the 'Narra' in the month of March, and that I thought they must be breeding there; he said that I must be mistaken, as _S. vulgaris_ never bred so far south. As it happens we were both correct--he in saying _S. vulgaris_ did not breed here, and I in saying that _Starlings_ did. My Starling turns out to be the species originally described from Sindh as _Sturnus minor_ by Mr. Hume; and as I have now sent Mr. Hume a series of skins and eggs, I trust he will give us a note on the subject of our Indian Starlings. In February I shot one of these birds, and on dissection found that they were beginning to breed; later on, early in March, I again dissected one and found that there was no doubt on the subject, and so began to look for their nests; these I found in holes in kundy trees growing along the banks of the Narra, and also situated in the middle of swamps. The eggs were laid on a pad of feathers of _Platalea leucorodia_ and _Tantalus leucocephalus_, which were breeding on the same trees, the young birds being nearly fledged; the greatest number of eggs in any one nest was five. The first date on which I took eggs was the 13th March, and the last was on the 15th May.

"The eggs are oval, broad at one end and elongated at the other; the texture is rather waxy, with a fine gloss, and they are of a pale delicate sea-green colour.

"The birds during the breeding-time confine themselves closely to their breeding-ground, so much so, that except when close to their haunts none are ever seen.

"The size of the eggs varies from 1·00 to 1·10 in length, and from ·70 to ·80 in breadth. The average of twelve eggs is 1·03 in length and ·79 in breadth."

He subsequently wrote:--"I first noticed this bird breeding on the 11th March; on the 10th, while marching, I saw some on the side of the road and shot one, and on opening it found it was breeding. Accordingly on the 11th, on searching, I found their breeding-ground, which was in the middle of a Dhund thickly studded over with kundy trees, in the holes of which they had their nests. The nest lay at the bottom of the hole, which was generally some 18 inches deep, and consists of a few bits of coarse sedge-grass and feathers of _T. leucocephalus_ and _P. leucorodia_ (which were breeding close by). Five was the maximum number of eggs, but four was the normal number in each nest.

"I afterwards found these birds breeding in great numbers all along the Eastern Narra wherever there were suitable trees (kundy trees). At the place I first found them in, the young ones are now many of them fledged and flying about, while in other places they are just beginning to lay.

"The total length of their breeding-ground in any district must be close on 200 miles, but entirely confined to the banks of the river. If you looked four miles from, the river, one side or the other, you would not see one. Can _Pastor roseus_ breed in India in some similar secluded spot? I have been rather unlucky in getting their eggs, as at each place which I visited personally the birds had either young ones or were just going to lay."

The eggs of this species are moderately broad ovals, sometimes slightly elongated, always more or less appreciably pointed towards the small end. The shell is extremely smooth and has a fine gloss. The colour, which is extremely uniform in all the specimens, is an excessively delicate pale blue with a faint greenish tinge, a very beautiful colour. They vary from 1 to 1·18 in length, and from 0·71 to 0·82 in breadth.

537. Sturnia blythii (Jerdon). _Blyth's Myna_.

Temenuchus blythii (_Jerd._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 331. Sturnia blythii (_Jerd._), _Hume, cat._ no. 689.

Mr. Iver Macpherson sent me from Mysore three eggs and a skin of a Myna, which latter, although in very bad order, is undoubtedly _S. Blythii_. He says:--"It is very possible that the bird now sent is _S. malabarica_, and it is such a bad specimen that I fear it will not be of much use to you for the purpose of identification. I think it is _Sturnia blythii_, as Jerdon says that _S. malabarica_ is only a cold-weather visitant in the south of India.

"I will, however, try and procure you a good specimen of the bird. It is only found in our forests bordering the Wynaad, and as it is far from common, I am not well acquainted with it.

"I am also inclined to think that it is not a permanent resident with us, but that a few couples come to these forests only to breed.

"The only nest I have ever found was taken on the 24th April, 1880, and was in a hole of a dry standing tree in a clearing made for a teak plantation and contained three fresh eggs.

"A few days subsequently I saw a brood of young ones flying about a dry tree in the forest, so probably the breeding-season here extends through April and May."

The eggs are very similar to those of _Sturnia malabarica_ and _S. nemoricola_, but perhaps slightly larger. They are moderately elongated ovals, generally decidedly pointed towards the small end. The shell is very fine and smooth, and has a fair amount of gloss. In colour they are a very delicate pale greenish blue. They measure 0·99 and 1 in length by 0·71 in breadth.

538. Sturnia malabarica (Gm.). _The Grey-headed Myna_.

Temenuchus malabaricus (Gm.), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 330; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 688.

I have never met with the nest of the Grey-headed Myna myself, but am indebted to Mr. Gammie for its eggs and nest. That gentleman says:--"I obtained a nest of this species near Mongphoo (14 miles from Darjeeling), at an elevation of about 3400 feet. The nest was in the hollow of a tree, and was a shallow pad of fine twigs, with long strips of bark intermingled in the base of the structure, and thinly lined with very fine grass-stems. The nest was about 4 inches in diameter and less than 1½ inch in height exteriorly, and interiorly the depression was perhaps half an inch deep. It contained four hard-set eggs."

This year he writes to me:--"The Grey-headed Myna breeds about Mongphoo, laying in May and June. I have taken several nests now, and I found that they prefer cleared tracts where only a few trees have been left standing here and there, especially on low but breezy ridges, at elevations of from 2500 to 4000 feet. They always nest in natural holes of trees both dead and living, and at any height from 20 to 50 feet from the ground. The nest is shallow, principally composed of twigs put roughly together in the bottom of the hole. They lay four or five eggs.

"The Grey-headed Myna is not a winter resident in the hills. It arrives in early spring and leaves in autumn. It is very abundant on the outer ranges of the Teesta Valley, and is generally found in those places frequented by _Artamus fuscus_. It feeds about equally on trees and on the ground, and a flock of 40 or 50 feeding on the ground in the early morning is no unusual sight."

Mr. J.R. Cripps, writing from Fureedpore, Eastern Bengal, says:--"Very common from the end of April to October, after which a few birds may be seen at times. I cannot call to mind ever having seen these birds descend to the ground. They must nest here, though I failed to find one. In front of my verandah was a large _Poinciana regia_, in the trunk of which, and at about seven feet from the ground, was an old nest-hole of _Xantholaema_ which a pair of these birds widened out. During all May and June I watched these birds pecking away at the rotten wood and throwing the bits out. They generally used to engage in this work during the heat of the day; and, although I several times searched the hole, no eggs were found; the pair were not pecking at the decayed wood for insects, for I watched them through a glass. Had I remained another month at the factory most likely they would have laid during that time; it was on this account their lives were spared. This species associates with its congeners on the peepul trees when they are in fruit, which they eat greedily."

Subsequently detailing his experiences at Dibrugarh in Assam, he adds:--"On the 27th May I found a nest with three callow young and one fresh egg. The birds had excavated a hole in a rotten and dead tree about 18 feet from the ground, and had placed a pad of leaves only at the bottom of the hole. They build both in forest as well as the open cultivated parts of the country."

Mr. Oates remarks:--"This Myna lays in Pegu in holes of trees at all heights above 20 feet. It selects a hole which is difficult of access, and I have only been able to take one nest. This was on the 13th May. This nest, a small pad of grass and leaves, contained three eggs, which were slightly incubated. They measured 0·86 by 0·7, 0·8 by 0·7, and 0·83 by 0·72."

Major C.T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim:--"I shot a Myna as she flew out of a hole in a zimbun tree (_Dillenia pentagyna_). I had nearly a fortnight before seen the birds; there was a pair of them, busy taking straw and grass-roots into the hole; and so on the 18th April, when I shot the birds, I made sure of finding the full complement of eggs, but to my regret on opening the hollow, I only found one egg resting in a loose and irregularly formed nest of roots and leaves. This solitary egg is of a pale blue colour."

The eggs vary a good deal in shape: some are broad and some are elongated ovals, but all are more or less pointed towards the small end; the shell is very fine and delicate, and rather glossy; the colour is a very delicate pale sea-green, without any markings of any kind. They vary from 0·89 to 1·0 in length, and from 0·69 to 0·72 in breadth; but the average of ten eggs is 0·93 by 0·7.

539. Sturnia nemoricola, Jerdon. _The White-winged Myna_.

Sturnia nemoricola, _Jerd., Hume, cat._ no. 688 bis.