DENDEOCITTA. 23 



18. Dendrocitta Mmalayensis, Bl. The Himalayan Tree-pie. 



Dendrocitta sinensis (Lath.}, Jerd. B. 2nd. ii, p. 316. 



Dendrocitta liimalayensis, Bl., Hume, Rough Draft N. fy E. no. 676. 



Common as is the Himalayan Tree-pie throughout the lower 

 ranges of those mountains from which it derives its name, I per- 

 sonally have never taken a nest. 



It breeds, I know, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet, 

 during the latter half of May, June, July, and probably the first 

 half of August. 



A nest in my museum taken by Mr. Gammie in Sikhim, at an 

 elevation of about 2500 feet, out of a small tree, on the 30th of 

 July, contained two fresh eggs. It was a very shallow cup, com- 

 posed entirely of fine stems, apparently of some kind of creeper, 

 strongly but not at all compactly interwoven ; in fact, though the 

 nest holds together firmly, you can see through it everywhere. It 

 is about 6 inches in external diameter, and has an egg-cavity of 

 about 4 inches wide and 1*5 deep. It has no pretence for lining 

 of any kind. 



Of another nest which he took Mr. Gammie says : " I found a 

 nest containing three fresh eggs in a bush, at a height of about 10 

 feet from the ground. The nest was a very loose, shallow, saucer- 

 like affair, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and an inch or so in 

 thickness, composed entirely of the dry stems and tendrils of 

 creepers. This was at Labdah, in Sikhim, at an elevation of 

 about 3000 feet, and the date the 14th May, 1873." Later he 

 writes : 



" This Magpie breeds in the Darjeeling District in May, June, 

 and July, most commonly at elevations between 2000 and 4000 

 feet. It affects clear cultivated tracts interspersed with a few 

 standing shrubs and bamboos, in which it builds. The nest is 

 generally placed from 6 to 12 feet from the ground in the inner 

 part of the shrubs, and is made of pieces of creeper stems inter- 

 mixed with a few small twigs loosely put together without any 

 lining. There is scarcely any cup, merely a depression towards the 

 centre for the eggs to rest in. Internally it measures about 4*8 in 

 breadth by 1*5 in depth. The eggs are three or four in number. 



" This is a very common and abundant bird between 2000 and 

 4000 feet, but is rarely found far from cultivated fields. It seems 

 to be exceedingly fond of chestnuts, and, in autumn, when they 

 are ripe, lives almost entirely on them ; but at other times is a 

 great pest in the grain-fields, devouring large quantities of the 

 grain and being held in detestation by the natives in consequence. 

 Jerdon says ' it usually feeds on trees/ but I have seen it quite as 

 frequently feeding on the ground as on trees." 



Mr. Hodgson has two notes on the nidification of this species in 

 Nepal : " May 18th. Xest, two eggs and two young ; nest on the 

 fork of a small tree, saucer-shaped, made of slender twigs twisted 

 circularly and without lining ; cavity 3'5 in diameter by 0-5 deep; 



