LO GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
commit it, they cannot get through the same amount of 
mischief, while they are singularly ornamental. 
THe Common Inpian Macpre on WANDERING TREEPIE 
(Dendrocitta rufa) is well known as Handichancha or 
Kotree to the natives of Bengal. This pretty bird is a 
familiar garden visitor, and his short wings and long tail 
make him conspicuous in his easy dipping flight. His 
colour is also unmistakeable, being buff or cinnamon with 
a sooty head and grey, black-tipped wings and tail. He 
is an omnivorous feeder, and has been accused of des- 
tructiveness to garden produce, but as he certainly 
devours large numbers of insects, and also acts as a check 
on the undue increase of small birds, he probably does 
more good than harm. His notes are often very pretty, 
and when taken young, he can be taught to speak,—a 
common accomplishment in the Crow family. 
Hardly ever you will see him n the ground, and when 
there he can only hop, not walking like the pied Magpie 
at home. 
The nest is built high up in a tree, and is open or cup- 
shaped, as usual in this family ; the eggs, which are spot- 
ted, vary from pinkish to greenish in ground colour. 
This bird is one of our commonest Indian species, being 
found throughout India and Burma in the plains, and 
ascending the hills up to 7,000 feet. The hill climate ap- 
pears to agree with it, as hill birds are the largest in size. 
The bird ordinarily measures about a foot anda half, 
of which a foot is taken up by the tail. 
THe Rep-BittED Biue Maerre (Urocissa occipitalis) 
is a splendid creature possessing a tail half-a-yard long, — 
