ae 
( tt *) 
appearance to the wings, caused by tips of the feathers, which appear 
to view, horizontally barred ; tail tipped with black and white, feathers 
of which are bright green. The Green Jay is easily tamed when 
caught young and brought up by the hand. I have seen it 
on more than one occasion, in Lepcha and Nepalese, solitary home- 
steads, on the hill sides about 3,000 feet elevation, where it had 
discarded the old, home-made bamboo cage and hopped about the 
house, or perched on rafters of the hut, giving a knowing caw like 
sound, when the family meal was about to be prepared, and gave a 
rare old fashioned look when a bit of meat was being chopped up. 
Iam not quite sure if it had taken to such luxuries, but I rather 
think it had, from past experience of different species of Corvide. 
This bird is said to live to a good old age if no accidents befall it. 
Sup-Famity DENDROCITTIN AE (Magpies) 
Also called, Tree-crows, owing to their arboreal habits. 
They have short and curved bills ; nares covered with short feathers 
wings rounded ; tail long and graduated ; tarsus short and_ strong. 
These birds spend most of their time in dense forests. 
GENUS DENbRocITTA, bill is short, compressed and well curved, 
wings short and rounded, 5th and 6th quills the longest, secondaries 
slightly shorter than primaries; tail longish and wedge shaped ; 
feet short ; hind toe and claw longish. 
(674) DENpDROCITTA RUFA, Common Indian Magpie, never. as- 
cends to any great altitude, in the district. It is rarely seen in 
Darjeeling. | It frequents more wooded portions. This magpie 
usually prefers low elevations, where it may be seen in bigger num- 
bers. In the Terai it is fairly common. This bird goes by the name 
of Handichacha in Bengal, partly owing to its propensity for sam- 
pling food meant for the household. Others again state that the 
name refers to its metallic call or ruminating with the bill, which 
sounds like the scouring or scraping of country made cooking uten- 
sils. Both explanations have a substrata of truth. Second name 
applied to this magpie is Takka-chor, a name gotten on account of 
the peculiar noise it sometimes makes, resembling counting of rupees. 
Sounds not infrequently heard, issuing, from mysterious nooks 
and crannies of a Bengal back yard. Which noise usually sounds the 
mister of th: house palting after his little store of silver, which he 
