BLUE PIES. 



67 



Spanish Blue Magpie differs chiefly from this species 

 in its browner coluiir, and the fact that the white tips 

 to the central tail-feathers only occur accidentally. He 

 thinks it probable that this species was originally intro- 

 duced into Spain, as the Chinese Ringed Pheasant was 

 into England, and has since been modified in conse- 

 ijuence of the greater rainfall of Spain and for pro- 

 tective purposes ; if so, the Spanish bird can only be 

 regarded as, at most, a " subspecies," as it is now the 

 fashion to call locally varying types. 



.1. D. D. La Touche (The IbU, 1906, p. 433) says :— 

 '■ The Blue-winged -Magpie is very common in the 

 plains, while in winter parties frequent copses and 

 gardens about the villages, and are also to be met with 

 along the willow-bordered creeks and ponds. It breeds 

 in colonies on high trees around the villages of the plain. 

 The nest is generally difficult of access, being nearly 

 always placed high up in a tree, and as a rule in a thin 

 fork some distance from the trunk. I have not had an 

 opportunity of watching the building of the nest, but 

 it is generally completed about May 20. A number of 

 nests examined on May 29 were either empty or con 

 tained one egg, but on the same day I obtained from 

 a native a clutch of four eggs. The nests are built of 

 sticks outwardly, and within there is a thick lining, or, 

 more properly, an inner nest composed of moss, cows' 

 liair, wool, fibres, and twigs. A good deal of mud 

 is used as a base to the inner nest. The inner diameter 

 of one lining, which I measured, was 5^ in., and the 

 depth about Ij in. Besides the clutch mentioned above 

 I liave obtained fresh eggs on May 26, a few that were 

 fresh and a number that were incubated on June 14. 

 Two eggs brought to me on July 11 were, one incubated, 

 the other rotten. 



" Out of twenty-seven eggs taken, eight have the 

 ground colour of a light greenish grey, seventeen of a 

 tirownish yellow clay colour or pale olive-brown, and 

 one of an intermediate shade. The markings consist of 

 roundish spots and specks, or sometimes of short lines, 

 of brown and purplish grey, the latter often on the 

 surface as well as beneath it. As a rule, every egg has 

 also a few surface specks of very dark brown. The 

 shape is ovate or very rarely elongated ovate. The 

 twenty-seven eggs in my collection average 1.08 x 

 0.83 in. : the largest is 1.16 x 0.87 in., and the smallest 

 1.00 X 0.79 in." 



A specimen of the Chinese bird reached the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens of London in October, 1873, and one 

 of the Spanish race in August, 1878. Many others of 

 l)oth races were received later, the Chinese form being 

 bred in the Gardens in 1884 and 1888, and the Spanish 

 form in 1890. 



Occipital Blue Pie (Urocissa occipitalis). 



Above pale purplish brown ; a patch of white on nape 

 and hind neck ; wings much bluer ; flights with azure 

 blue outer and blackish inner webs ; secondaries with 

 white terminal bands : primaries edged externally with 

 ashy shading into blue at tips, and with a terminal white 

 spot ; upper tail-coverts blue tipped with black, and 

 subterminally greyish ; tail blue, with broad white 

 tip ; all the feathers excepting the two central ones with 

 a broad subterminal black hand, and in front of this, 

 on inner web of most of them, a white spot ; head 

 entirely black ; plumes of crown with white tips ; fore 

 neck black, slightly shaded with blue ; under surface 

 otherwise silky white ; flanks and thighs washed with 

 btaish grey : bill coral-red ; feet orange ; irides red. 

 Female with far more powerful bill than the male. 

 Hab. , Himalayas. 



Jerdon (" Birds of India," Vol. II., p. 310) says : — 

 " It breeds at about 5,000 feet, making, says Hutton, 



a loose nest of twigs, externally lined with roots. The 

 nest is built on trees, sometimes high up, at others 8 

 or 10 feet from the ground. The eggs are from three 

 to five, of a dull greenish ash-grey, blotched and spotted 

 with brown dashes, confluent at the larger end. It is 

 very terrene in its habits, feeding almost entirely on 

 the ground. Several of these Magpies will often follow 

 a leopard for more than a mile, perching on the trees 

 and bushes above it, and keeping up a continual screech- 

 ing (" Indian Sporting Review," 1856). It is some- 

 times caged, and bears confinement veiy well. It will 

 eat raw meat, young or small birds, insects, and, in- 

 deed, almost any kind of food." 



An example of this handsome Magpie reached the 

 London Zoological Gardens in June, 1858 ; in 1893 it 

 was imported by Miss Hagenbeck, and I believe others 

 have come to hand from time to time. 



Siamese Blue Pie (Urocissa maijniroslris). 



Darker than the preceding species, wings not so blue ; 

 white tips of primaries ill-defined or wanting ; bill and 

 tarsus much stouter. Hab., Burma and Siam. 



Colonel Bingham says [cf. Hume's " Nests and Eggs 

 of Indian Birds," Second Edition, Vol. I., pp. 15, 16) : — 

 " I have found three nests of this handsome Magpie — 

 two on the bank of the Miplay Choung on April 14, 

 1879, and March 5, 1880, respectively, and one near 

 Meeawuddy, on the Thoungyeen river, on March 19, 

 1880. 



" The first contained three, the second four, and fhe 

 third two eggs. 



" These are all of the same type, dead white, with 

 pale claret-coloured dashes and spots rather washed-out 

 looking, and lying chiefly at the large end. One egg 

 has the spots thicker at the small end. They are mode- 

 rately broad ovals, and vary from 1.19 to 1.35 in length, 

 and from 0.93 to 1.08 in breadth. 



" The nests were all alike, thick, solid structures of 

 twigs and branches, lined with finer twigs, about 8 or 9 

 inches in diameter, and placed invariably at the top 

 of tall, straight saplings of teak, pynkado (Xi/lia 

 (lolabriformis), and other trees at a height of about 

 15 feet from the ground." 



The London Zoological Society purchased examples 

 of this species in August, 1862, and Jlay, 1871, since 

 which date no less than four specimens have been pre- 

 sented to them by JNlr. C. Clifton, and as many more 

 by Mr. J. M. Cook. Dealers have probably confounded 

 it with {'. occipitalis. 



Chinese Blue Pie (Urocissa erythrorhyncha). 



Lilacine-brown w^ashed with purple ; wings dull blue, 

 brighter on outer webs of flights, inner webs dark 

 brown ; outer webs of primaries with white tips ; 

 secondaries with white terminal bar ; u])per tail-coverta 

 broadly tipped with black and subterminally pale grey; 

 tail azure blue, broadly wihite-tipped, excepting on 

 central feathers, with a broad subtenninal black band, 

 preceded on inner web by a more or less defined white 

 bar ; head and throat black ; frontal feathers tipped 

 with lavender-grey, which colour coveas the rest of the 

 crown and nape ; under-surface jiale blue-greyish, 

 greyer on flanks ; under wiiTg-coverts greyish-wiliite ; 

 under tail-coverts white ; bill and feet coral-red ; iridea 

 deep sienna-brown tinged with crimson. Female smaller 

 and with shorter and heavier bill. Hab. China. 



Mr. J. D. D. La Touche (The Ihix. 1900, pp. 40, 41) 

 says: — "A common bird all ovt-r Fohkien. On the 

 25th April, 1898, we took a clutch of five eggs from a 

 nest placed on a tree in the valley below Kuatun. 

 These were much incubated. The colour is a pale 

 yeJlowish or greenisli clay, with spots and longitudinal 



