44 CORVID#. 
Distribution. Bhutan, Sikkim and hills N. of the Brahma- 
putra, probably Eastern Nepal. Chin Hills. 
Nidification. I have one egg of this race from Chambi, north 
of Sikkim, taken from the usual twig nest at an elevation of some 
9,000 or 10,000 feet. The egg is erythristic and almost certainly 
abnormal. The ground-colour is a very pale cream and the 
markings are bright reddish brown with others underlying of 
pale neutral tint. It measures 32-0 x 22-9 mm. and was taken 
on the 7th May. 
Habits. These probably do not differ from those of the better 
known Western form but it may be a bird of higher elevations, as 
my collectors assured me they met with it in Chambi in Tibet at 
about 11,000 feet. It is found at 6,000 to 8,000 feet round about 
Darjeeling and keeps much to the evergreen forests. 
A form of this Magpie extends well into Burma, but the only 
skin I have seen thence differed in many respects from the normal 
type, and further material may prove it to be a new subspecies. 
(23) Urocissa flavirostris cucullata. 
THE WESTERN YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE. 
Uroeissa cucullata Gould, B. of A., v, pl. 51 (1861) (Kulu Valley). 
Vernacular names. None recorded. 
Description. Similar to the last but altogether a paler bird, 
and more especially so in the lower parts, which are almost pure 
white with scarce a tinge of lilac. 
Distribution. N.W. Himalayas and W. Nepal. 
Nidification. This Magpie breeds wherever found above 
5,000 feet. It is common at Simla and again in the galis in the 
Murree Hills, where Rattray, Buchanan and others have taken 
many nests. The breeding season appears to be May but 
Major Lindsay Smith took one nest as late as the 15th July. 
It lays three or four eggs and both these and the nests are much 
like those of the Red-billed Magpie. As a whole, however, the 
eggs are duller and not so boldly marked. They measure 33:8 x 
23:1 mm, (60 eggs) and do not differ in shape or texture from 
those of occipitalis. 
Habits. This Magpie, like the red-billed bird, haunts prin- 
cipally evergreen forests and heavy jungle. It is equally 
omnivorous and equally an enemy to small mammals, unfledged 
young of other birds, and to insects of all kinds. It eats fruit 
greedily in captivity and probably also in a wild state. It is a 
shy and rather retiring bird and is never found in the vicinity 
of villages and cultivation. The call is very harsh and penetrating, 
and during the breeding season is freely indulged in. 
