difference between a Myna and a canary. A canary cannot learn that it is safe inside a cage. The name of the common Myna, given it by Linnæus himself, is Acridotheres tristis, which means the sad grasshopper-hunter. Grasshopper-hunter is admirable, but why it should be called sad is a puzzle, for no bird seems to be more uniformly in good spirits. Jerdon suggests an explanation in its sober suit of quaker brown, the "sad colour" of our forefathers. The whole of its body is of this colour, getting gradually paler on the underparts. Its head and throat and breast are glossy black, but the black passes into the brown without striking contrast. All is sober and unobtrusive, yet the Myna never looks otherwise than well-dressed. When it flies a white bar opens out on the wing, and its tail is also bordered with white. Its beak and legs are yellow, and there is a small patch of bare yellow skin behind each eye. No bird is a more characteristic feature of Indian life than the Myna. It is everywhere, in town or village, held or garden, sometimes walking after cattle and catching the grasshoppers they startle, sometimes patrolling a field on its own account, nodding its head at every step. It is always among the scarlet flowers of the Coral Tree when they are in bloom. Mynas are eminently sociable. They go in pairs, or small parties, talking a great deal. They sleep in company like Crows, and jabber incredibly while getting to bed. In the heat of the day a Myna likes to retire to some cool, dark nook, in a shady tree, and enjoy a siesta, or carry on a gentle soliloquy. Keeky, keeky, keeky, it says to itself, then churr, churr, kok, kok, kok. Each time it says kok it points to the
