FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



A specimen of this bird was presented to the London 

 Zoological Society in May, 1865. 



GREY CROW-SHHIKE (Sireix-ra cundcaudata). 



Above biwwnVa-grey. clearer en lower back and 

 rump; wing -coverts indistinctly tipped with wli 

 flights iblajk:sh-l>L\,wii. edged on outer webs with ashy 

 white, purer white en .seconcLaiues. which, also have 

 white tips; inner webs of primaries wiih ha.-al half 

 while ; tail-feathers blackish-brown with 'broad grey 

 margins, inner webs tipped with white; lores, orbital 

 region, cheeks. s and chin dark brown ; body 



below ashy-brown, the feathers with ill-defined paler 

 central streaks ; thighs dark brown ; under tail-coverts 

 white; under wing-coverts grey; flights below dark 

 brown, the primaries with the basal half white; bill and 

 feet black; iricles orange. Hab., South-west Australia. 



The female is not differentiated, but probably has a 

 shorter 'bill than the male. 



Dr. Sharp e sepa.rates S. /iJu/nlicfi from Western 

 Australia as a distinct subspecies. Gould says (" Hand- 

 book," Vol. I., pp. 173, 174) : "Gilbert states that in 

 Western Australia he mostly met with it in the thickly- 

 wooded forests, singly or in pairs, feeding on the 

 ground with a gait and manners very much resembling 

 the Common Crow. Its flight is easy and long- 

 sustained, and it occasionally mounts to a considerable 

 height in the air. 



"The stomach is very muscular, and the food con- 

 sists of coleoptera and the larvje of insects of various 

 kinds. 



"It breeds in the latter part of 'September and the 

 (beginning of October, forming a nest otf dried sticks 

 in the thickest part of the foliage of a gum or 

 mahogany tree and laying three eggs, the ground 

 colour of which is either reddish buff or wood-brown, 

 marked over nearly the whole of the surface with 

 blotches of a darker tint. Their medium length is one 

 inch and nine lines by one inch and two and a half 

 lines broad." 



Seven examples of this species reached the London 

 Zoological Gardens between the years 1864 and 1874. 



SOOTY CROW-SHRIKE (Sf /<>},< /-a fuliginosa). 



'Glossy soot-black; primaries >lightly marked with 

 while at base of inner webs; outer primaries broadly 

 tippel with white; tail blackish; the outer 



sli. inner we '.is wiih a large white spot at tips 

 slightly extending <;n to outer webs ; under stir';ii';> a 

 trirle greyer than the upper; bill and feet black; 

 irides bright yellow. Female slightly smaller than 

 the male. Hab., Tasmania. 



According to Gould ("Handbook," Vol. I., p. 170), 

 this species frequents different localities from those 

 affected by others of the genus, " thos-e preferred being 

 low swampy grounds in the neighbourhood of the s-ea and 

 woods bordering rivers. Like the other .-,pecies of the 

 genus, it sii. : >s:.-ts on insects and gnibs of reunions kinds. 

 to which pulpy seeds and berries are Ereqiuenftly addeil: 



"IB 18 very active on the ground, passing over the 

 snr a -e with great rapidity. 



" It breeds in the low trees, construct ing a lar_re and 



nest very similar to that of the European C 

 and lays three eg^s, of a pale vinous brown, marked all 

 over with lar_>v in. ; ;,-lies of fcxrawn, one inch 



and five-eighths long by one inch and a quarter broad. 



"I have seen tins bird iii a state of capt.ivi.ty. and it 

 appeared to bear ciinfiiic'iment remarkaibly A\ . 



The Zoological Society of Lo,nl<m purchased a speci- 

 men- in April. 1870. Rusa says that it has seldom 

 arrived alive in Europe. 



MOORISH MAGPIE (Pica inauritanica). 



Glossy black, the black glossed with green, the rump 

 and uipper tadl-covente with green or purple; scapulars 

 pure white ; tail metallic green, glossed with purple 

 towards the tip ; wing-coverts metallic greem edged 

 with blue; primaries blai-kish, the inner webs hn . 

 white ; se metallic purplish blue; a bare 



cobalt j baie patch behind eye ; leaver aibdonien pure 

 white ; bill and feet black ; irides dark brown. Female 

 slightly smaller than the male. Hab., Algeria and 

 Sharps.) 



J. I. S. Whitaker ("Birds of Tunisia," Vol. II., 

 pp. 12, 13) says : " On the plains between Feriana and 

 Gafsa. in Central Tunisia, 1 have often nie-t with the 

 Moorish Miagpie in small jiarties. frequenting paitche.- 

 of cultivated land dotted over with thorn bushes, and 

 (further s^uth I have fuund it near Ras-el-Aioun. 

 among the tamarisk bushes bordering the Oued Seldja. 



''Like Urey Shi-ikes. Bush-Babblers, and other wary 

 birds, this Magpie is fond of open country, where the 

 monotony of the level plain is only broken by isolated 

 clumps of bushes. These afford sufficient s.helver to 

 the 'birds, and at the same time afford admirable points 

 .ullage from which to spy the surrounding eount.rv. 



" /'. mauritanica closely resembles our Em 

 .Magpie in its general life and habits; its note, also, is 

 .not dissimilar. 



" The Arab name for the Magpie, Agaz or Agag, 

 like many Analb names for birds, is taken from its harsh 

 cry, and no doubt the name of Agas-*-c. used in some 

 parts of France, has a similar derivation. Like the 

 common Magpie, the Moorish 'bird will feed on almost 

 anything, and in the arid senni -desert wastes of Tunisia 

 its diet consists largely of locusts and coleoptera, which 

 abound in those region-. 



" In South Tunisia it is an early breeder, and I have 

 found nests containing nearly Hedged young birds as 

 early as the first week in April. Further north it no 

 doubt breeds later. 



"The nest is nearly always placed in the middle of 

 a thick and almost impenetrable thorn-bush, and at a 

 height of from six to ten feet from the ground ; it is 

 of the usual domed shape, composed of sticks and twigs, 

 and lined with a little wool and hair. The eggs, which 

 are generally six in number, although occasionally as 

 many as seven, or even eight, may be found, resemble 

 those of our European bird, bein^- of a greenish colour, 

 finely spotted a'l over with brown. They measure from 

 SI to 35 mm. in length, by 23 to 25 mm. in breadth." 



The London Zoological Gardens first received this 

 species in July, 1870. and, according to Russ, this is 

 the only instance in which it has been imported. 



The Himalayan Magp:c (/'. 1it>fftiti<'ii-*'ix) is. accordnng 

 to Sharpe and Dresser, only a E the European 



species. The London Gardens acquired it in 1875. 



CHINESE BLUE MAGPIE (ri/rtin>/;,Jhif rynnus.) 



Pale ash-grey, more or less nl<>ss\ above, especially 

 on the upper tail-coverts : wings, excepting the least- 

 coverts, pale sky blue; primaries black, edged with blue 

 towards the base, and with white towards the tip: tail 

 pale sky blue; two central feathers with broad white 

 tip. others very minutely white-tipped : bead and nape 

 black ; cheeks and throat white : centre of body below 

 whitish : wings below pale greyish-brown, flights white 

 at base of inner webs; bill and feet black; irides red. 

 Female with a much shorter and less pointed bill. 

 Hab., Eastern Siberia, Japan, and North China. 



Seebohm observes (" Birds of the Japanese Empire." 

 p. 99) : "The Eastern Blue Magpie is a resident in 

 Southern Japan." He further points out that the 



