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.