n and, say, 35 feet from the ground,
and was composed of dry leaves and a few feathers. It contained three
fresh eggs."

The eggs of this Myna are, of course, glossy and spotless, and the
colour varies from very pale bluish white to pale blue or greenish
blue. I have never seen an egg of this species of the full clear
sky-blue often exhibited by those of _A. tristis, S. contra_, and _A.
giuginianus_.

The eggs vary in length from 0.86 to 1.15, and in breadth from 0.66 to
0.8; but the average of fifty-four eggs is 0.97 by 0.75.

546. Graculipica nigricollis (Payk.). _The Black-necked Myna_.

All that we know of the nidification of this species is contained in
the following brief note by Dr. John Anderson:--

"It has much the same habits as _Sturnopastor contra_ var.
_superciliaris_. I found it breeding in the month of May in one of the
few clumps of trees at Muangla."

Muangla lies to the east of Bhamo.

549. Acridotheres tristis (Linn.). _The Common Myna_.

Acridotheres tristis (_Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 325; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 684.

The Common Myna breeds throughout the Indian Empire, alike in the
plains and in the hills. A pair breed yearly in the roof of my
verandah at Simla, at an elevation of 7800 feet.

They are very domestic birds, and greatly affect the habitations of
man and their immediate neighbourhood. They build in roofs of houses,
holes in walls, trees, and even old wells, in the earthen chatties
that in some parts the natives hang out for their use (as the
Americans hang boxes for the Purple Martin), and, though _very_
rarely, once in a way _on_ the branches of trees.

Captain Hutton says:--"This is a summer visitor in the hills, and
arrives at Mussoorie with the _A. fuscus_, Wagl. It builds in the
hole of a tree, which is lined with dry grass and feathers, and on
no occasion have I _ever_ seen a nest made on the branches of a tree
composed of twigs and grass as stated by Captain Tickell."

But in this instance Captain Tickell may have been right, for I
have once seen such a nest myself, and Mr. H.M. Adam writes:--"Near
Sambhur, on the 7th July, I saw a pair of this species building a
large cup-shaped nest in a babool tree;" while Colonel G.F.L. Marshall
affirms that this species "_frequently_ lays in cup-shaped nests of
sticks placed in trees, like small Crows' nests." And he subsequently
writes:--"I can distinctly reaffirm, what I said as to this species
building a