FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



A specimen of this bird was presented to the London 

 Zoological Society in May, 1865. 



Grey Ghow-Shbike (Strepera cuneicaudala). 



Above brow nieli -grey, clearer oai lower back and 

 rump ; wing-coYerits indistinctly tipped with white ; 

 flights (blackish4)rown, edged on outer weibs with ashy 

 white, purer white on secondjaraes, which also have 

 Wihite tips ; inneir webs of primariieis with, basal half 

 white ; t/ail-feat.hers blackish-brown with broad grey 

 margins, inner webs tipped with white; lores, orbital 

 region, cheeks, ear-covents and chin dark brown ; body 

 below ashy-lbrowii, the feathers witli ill-dciined paleV 

 central streaks; thighs dark brown; under tail-coverts 

 white ; under wing-coverts grey ; iflights below dark 

 brown, the primaries with the basal half white ; bill and 

 feet black; irides orange. Hab., South-west Australia. 



The female is not differeailt.iait©d, but probaWy has a 

 ehorter 'bill than the male. 



Dr. Shiai-pe separates ,S'. plumhea from Western 

 Australia as a distinct subspecies. Gould says (" Hand- 

 book," Vol. I., pp. 173, 174) :— "Gilbert states that in 

 Western Australia he mostly met with it in the thickly 

 wooded forests, singly or in pairs, feeding on the 

 ground with a gait and manners very much resembling 

 the Common Crow. Its flight is easy and long- 

 sustained, and it occasionally mounts to a considerable 

 height in the air. 



"Tlhe stomach is very museulaj, and the food con- 

 eists of coleoiptera and the larvffi of insecits of various 

 kinds. 



"It breeds in the latter part of Sepitemiher and the 

 •begiinning of Octdber, fonming a nest of dried sticks 

 in the thickeelt part of the foliage of a gum — or 

 mahogany — tree and laying three eggs, the ground 

 colour of which is either reddielli buff or wood-lbrown, 

 marked o\'eT nearly the whole of the surface with 

 blotches of a darker tint. Their medium length is one 

 inch and nine lines by one inch and two and a half 

 lines broad." 



Seven examples of this species reached the London 

 Zoological Gardens between the years 1864 and 1874. 



Sooty Crow-Shrike {Strepera juligmosa). 



iGlossy soot-black ; primaries slightly marked with 

 whilte at base of inner webs ; outer primaries ibroadly 

 tipped with white ; tail blackish ; the outer weibs 

 greyish, inner welbs with a large white spot at tips 

 slightly eStendang on to outer webs ; under surface a 

 tririe greyer than the upper ; bill and feet black ; 

 irides bright yellow. Female slightly smaller than 

 the male. Hab,, Tasmania. 



According to Gould ("Handbook," Vol. I., p. 1701, 

 this species frequents different localities from those 

 affected by others of the genus, "those preferred being 

 low swampy grounds in the neighbourhood of the sea and 

 woods bordering rivers. Like tlie other .'ipecies of the 

 genus, it sulbsists on insectis and grulbs of various kinds, 

 to which pulpy seeds and berries are freqiuemtly added. 



"It is very active on the ground, passing over the 

 surtaice with great rapidity, 



" It breeds in the low trees, con^ruoting a large and 

 deEip nest vei-y similar to that of the European Cax)w, 

 and lays three eggs, of a pale vinous brown, marked all 

 over with large irreigolar blotches of bixjwn, one inch 

 and five-eighths long by one inch and a quarter broad. 



"I have seen this bird in a staite of captivity, and it 

 apipeaired to 'bear confinement remarkably well." 



The Zoological Society of Ixindon purolvased a speci- 

 men in April, 1870. Russ 6a>i» tlia,t it has seldom 

 arrived alive in Europe. 



Moorish Magpie (Pica mauritanica). 



Glossy iMa-ck, the black glossed with green, the rump 

 and upper tail -coy entis with green or puiiple ; scapulars 

 pure white ; tail metallic green, glossed with purple 

 towards the tip ; wing-coverts meitadiic green edged 

 iwith blue ; primiai'ies blackish, the inner webs largely 

 white ; secondaries metallic ;2«irplish blue ; a bare 

 cobalt-lblue patch behind eye ; lower abdomen pure 

 iwhite ; bill and feet black ; irides dark brown. Female 

 slightly smaller than tlie male. Hab,, Algeria and 

 Morocco. (Shaipe.) 



J. I. S, Whitaker ("Birds of Tunisia," VoL II., 

 pp, 12, 13) says : — " On the plains between Feriana, and 

 Gafsa, in Central Tunisia, I have often met with the 

 ■Moorish Miagpie in small parties, frequenting pajtches 

 of cultivated land doltlted over wiUi thorn bushes, and 

 it'urtheo.' south I have found it near Ras-e'l^Aiioun, 

 among the tamarisk bushes bordering the Oued Seldja. 



" Like Grey Shi'ikes, Bueh-Bahblers, and oUier waiy 

 birds, this Magpie is fond of ojwn counitry, where the 

 monotony of tlie level plain is only broken by isolated 

 clumps of busihes. These afford "sutficienit aheltier to 

 the birds, and at the same time afford admirable poinits 

 of vantage from which to spy the surrounding country, 



"P, mauritanica closely reseonbles our European 

 ftlagpie in its general life and haibits ; its note, also, is 

 not dissimilai', 



" The Arab name for the Magpie, Agaz or Agog, 

 like many Arialb names for birds, is taken from its harsh 

 cry, and no doubt the name oit Agasse. used in some 

 ports of France, has a similar derivation. Like the 

 common Magipie, the Moorish bird will feed on aknosib 

 anything, and in the arid semi-desert, wastes of Tunieia 

 its diet consists largely of locusts and coleopbera, whidh 

 ajbound in those re'gions. 



" In South Tunisia it is an early breeder, and I have 

 found nests containing nearly fledged young birds as 

 early as the first weeik in April, Further north it no 

 douiUt breeds later, 



"The nest is neiarly always placed in the middle of 

 a thick and almost impenetrable thom-bnsh, and at a 

 height oif from si.^ to ten feet from t.he ground ; it is 

 of the usual domed shaipe, composed of stiicks and twigs, 

 and lined with a little wool and hair. The eggs, which 

 are generally six in numiber, although occasionally as 

 many as seven, or even eight, may be found, resemble 

 those of our European bird, bein.ij; of a greenish colour, 

 finely .<ipotted all over with brown. They measure from 

 3il to 35 mm, in length, by 23 to 25 mni, in breadth," 



The London Zoological Gardens finist recenved this 

 species in July, 1870, and, according to Russ, this is 

 the only instance in which it has been imported. 



The Himalayan Magpie {P. hollancnsis) is, accoiviing 

 to Sbarpe and Dresser, only a variety of the European 

 species. The London G«urd&ns acquired it in 1875. 



Chinese Blue Magpie (Cyanopolius cyamis.) 

 Pale ash-grey, more or less glossy above, especially 

 on the upper tail-coverts ; wings, excepting the least- 

 coverts, pale sky blue ; primaries black, edged with blue 

 towards the base, and with white towards the tip ; tail 

 pale sky blue ; two central feathers with broad white 

 tip, others very minutely white-tipped ; head and nape 

 black ; cheeks and throat white : centre of body below 

 whitish ; wings below pale greyish-brown, flights white 

 at base of inner webs ; bill and feet black ; irides red. 

 Female with a much shorter and less pointed bill, 

 Hab,, Eastern Siberia, Japan, and North China, 



Seebohm observes (" Birds of the Japanese Empire," 

 p, 99) : — "The Eastern Blue Jlagpie is a resident in 

 Southern Japan," He further points out that the 



