ch dignity as
a stout raja. In the spring the mynas make free with our bungalows,
seizing on any convenient holes or ledges as sites for their nests.
The nest is a conglomeration of straw, rags, paper, and any rubbish
that comes to beak. The eggs are a beautiful blue.

The only other myna commonly seen in Himalayan hill stations is the
jungle myna (_AEthiopsar fuscus_). This is so like the species just
described, that nine out of ten people fail to differentiate between
the two birds. Close inspection shows that this species has a little
tuft of feathers on the forehead, which the common myna lacks. On
the other hand, the yellow patch of skin round the eyes is wanting
in the jungle myna.

THE MUSCICAPIDAE OR FLYCATCHER FAMILY

The family of the flycatchers is well represented in the hills, for
its members love trees. The great majority of them seem never to
descend to the ground at all. Flycatchers are birds that feed
exclusively on insects, which they catch on the wing. Their habit
is to make from some perch little sallies into the air after their
quarry. But, we must bear in mind that a bird that behaves thus is
not necessarily a flycatcher. Other birds, as, for example,
king-crows and bee-eaters, have discovered how excellent a way this
is of securing a good supply of food. The beautiful verditer
flycatcher (_Stoparola melanops_) must be familiar to everyone who
has visited the Himalayas. The plumage of this flycatcher is pale
blue--blue of that peculiar shade known as verditer blue. There is
a little black on the head. The plumage of the hen is distinctly duller
than that of the cock. This species loves to sit on a telegraph wire
or at the very summit of a tree and pour forth its song, which consists
of a pleasant, if somewhat harsh, trill or warble of a dozen or more
notes. The next flycatcher that demands notice is the white-browed
blue flycatcher (_Cyornis superciliaris_). In this species the hen
differs considerably from the cock in appearance. The upper plumage
of the latter is a dull blue, set off by a white eyebrow. The lower
plumage is white save for a blue collaret, which is interrupted in
the middle. The upper plumage of the hen is olive brown, washed with
blue in parts. Beneath she is pale buff. This species, like the last,
nests in a hole.

There are yet four other species of flycatcher which, although less
frequently seen than the two just mentioned, deserve place among the
common birds of the H