42 CORVIDE. 
Distribution. N.W. Himalayas through Nepal and Sikkim to 
Tibet. 
Nidification. This bird breeds commonly over a great portion 
of the Himalayas in the north-west at elevations between 5,000 
and 10,000 feet. The nest is a roughly made cup of twigs and 
coarse roots lined with finer roots and fern rachides, and generally 
placed some 10 to 20 feet from the ground in a small tree in 
evergreen forest. The eggs, which number three to six, vary 
very much in colour. The ground ranges from a very pale 
yellowish stone-colour to a darkish, rather reddish stone-colour ; 
rarely there is a faint green tinge but this is quite exceptional. 
The markings consist of small specks and blotches, or all small 
irregular blotches, of various shades of brown, sienna or reddish 
brown, with a few underlying ones of pale sienna and purple. As 
2 rule they are richly marked handsome eges but are not, as they 
have often been described, like those of Magpies except in general 
character. They measure about 33-9 x 23-9 mm. 
Habits. This Blue Magpie is found in small parties, probably 
consisting of the parent birds and their last brood. They keep 
much to evergreen forest at elevations between 5,000 and 12,000 
feet, descending lower in the winter but never to the plains as 
does the next bird. Their flight is slow and undulating and they 
are rather noisy birds, especially during the breeding season. 
According to Col. Rattray, they are much given to feeding on the 
eround. “Like all Magpies they are said to be addicted to ‘stealing 
eggs and young of other birds. 
(<1) Urocissa melanocephala magnirostris. 
Tur BurMESE Rep-BILLED BLuE Maaprer. 
Psilorhinus magnirostris Blyth, J. A. 8. B., xv, p. 27 (1846) (Ya Ma 
Ding Mt.). 
Urocissa oecipitalis. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 26. 
Vernacular name. Hnet-daw-pya (Burmese). 
Description. Diifers from occipitalis in having a darker back, 
more suffused with purple-blue, and it also differs both trom that 
bird and from melanocephala in having no white tips to the 
primaries. 
Colours of soft parts as in melanocephala. 
Measurements. This is a slightly larger bird than occipitalis, 
with a wing of about 200 to 210 mm. and a much larger bill, 
36 to 37 mm. 
Distribution. Hills south of the Brahmaputra, Manipur and 
Burma to Siam. It is very rare in the Khasia, N. Cachar and 
Manipur Hills, but more common in the Naga Hills and compara- 
tively common in the Chin and Kachin Hills, West Shan States 
and North Siam. 
