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.
"About a year ago a pair took up their abode in my pigeon-cot, and
although the eggs were often destroyed they would not leave the place,
but continued to lay in the same nest. At last one of them was caught;
the other went away, but returned the next day accompanied by a
new mate. At length the hole was shut up, as they committed great
depredations in the garden, and were useful only in giving a sudden
sharp cry of alarm when the Mhorunghee Hawk-Eagle, a terrible enemy to
Pigeons, made its appearance, thus enabling the gardeners to balk him
of his intended victim."
Dr. Jerdon states that "it is most abundant on the Nilgiris, where it
is a permanent resident, breeding in holes in trees, making a large
nest of moss and feathers, and laying three to five eggs of a pale
greenish-blue colour."
Mr. C.J.W. Taylor informs us that at Manzeerabad, in Mysore, this Myna
is common everywhere, and breeds in April and May.
Captain Horace Terry notes that in the Pulney hills the Jungle Myna
nests in April.
Mr. Rhodes W. Morgan, writing from South India, says in 'The
Ibis':--"It breeds on the Neilgherries in holes of trees. The hole is
filled up with sticks to within about a foot of the entrance, and a
smooth lining of paper, rags, feathers, &c. laid down, on which are
deposited from two to six light blue eggs. The young are fed on small
frogs, grasshoppers, and fruit. An egg measured 1·2 inch by ·88.
Breeds in May."
At Dacca Colonel Tytler found them nesting in temples and houses about
the sepoy lines.
Mr. J.R. Cripps tells us that at Furreedpore, in Bengal, this species
is "pretty common, and a permanent resident. This species associates
with _A. tristis_, but is seen on trees away from villages, which the
latter never is. Prefers well-wooded country, whereas _A. tristis_
never goes into jungle. On the 29th of June, 1877, I found a nest in
a hole of a tree, about 12 feet off the ground. The diameter of the
entrance-hole was two and a half inches, and inside it widened to six
inches and about twenty inches in depth. The nest was a mere pad of
grass and feathers, and contained four very slightly incubated eggs.
And again on the 17th July, seeing the hole occupied, I again sent up
a boy, who found another four fresh eggs. The tree formed one of an
avenue leading from the house to the vats, and as men were always
going along the road it surprised me to find these birds laying there;
the hole had been caused by the heart of the tree rotting,"
Mr. Gates remarks of this Myna in Pegu:--"This bird does not appear to
lay till about the 15th April. I have taken the eggs, and I have seen
numerous nests with young ones of various ages in the middle of May.
They breed by preference in holes of trees and occasionally in the
high roofs of monastic buildings."
The eggs of this species, which I have from Mussoorie, Dacca, Kumaon,
and the Nilgiris, approximate closer to those of _Acridotheres
tristis_ than to those of _A. ginginianus_. They are rather long
ovals, somewhat pointed usually, but often pyriform. They are perhaps,
as a rule, somewhat paler than those of either of the above-named
species, and are of the usual spotless glossy type, varying in colour
from that of skimmed milk to pale blue or greenish, blue. Typically,
I think, they are proportionally more elongated and attenuated than
those either of _A. tristis, A. ginginianus_ or _S. contra_.
In length they vary from 1·03 to 1·31, and in breadth from 0·78 to
0·9; but the average of forty eggs is 1·19 by 0·83.