Sturnopastor superciliaris, _Bl., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 683
bis.
Of the Burmese Pied Pastor, or Myna, Mr. Eugene Oates says that it is
common and resident throughout the plains of Pegu. Writing from Wau he
says:--
"On the 28th of April, having a spare morning, I took a very large
number of nests and eggs. The eggs were in various stages of
incubation, but the majority were freshly laid. On May 7th I took
another nest with two eggs. These were quite fresh.
"The nest is a huge cylindrical structure, about 18 inches long and
a foot in diameter, composed of straw, leaves, and feathers. It is
placed at a height of from 10 to 25 feet from the ground, in a most
conspicuous situation, generally at the end of a branch, which has
been broken off and where a few leaves are struggling to come out. A
bamboo-bush is also a favourite site. This Myna will, by preference,
build near houses, but in no case _in_ a house; it must have a tree."
The eggs, which I owe to Mr. Oates, are, as might be expected, very
similar indeed to those of our Common Pied Pastor, but they seem to
average somewhat smaller.
They are moderately broad ovals, a good deal pointed towards one
end, and in some cases more or less compressed there, and slightly
pyriform.
The specimens sent are only moderately glossy. In colour they vary
from _very_ pale bluish green to a moderately dark greenish blue, but
the great majority are pale.
In length they vary from 1·0 to 1·1, and in breadth from 0·73 to 0·82;
but the average of fifteen eggs is 1·04 by 0·77.