134 CORVID^E. 



Hume, Str. F. iii. p. 144; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. iii. p. jr; Wardlaiti- 

 Ramsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 460; Hume, and Davison, Sir. F, vi. p. 385 ; Anders. 

 Yunan Exped. p. 592 ; Hume, *SYr. F. viii. p. 105. Urocissa sinensis (Lin.), 

 Jtrd. B. Ind. ii. p. 30. The BLUE MAGPIE. 



Above pale purplish brown. Head, throat and foreneck, also the breast 

 black ; a large patch of white on the nape continued down the back of the 

 neck ; some of the feathers of the crown tipped with white ; rest of under 

 surface of the body, also the tinder wing and tail coverts silky white, in some 

 with a purplish tinge ; wings brown, the first two primaries edged with blue, 

 the next five edged with blue above the emargination and with bluish white 

 below and tipped with white, the other primaries and secondaries almost 

 entirely blue on the outer web, the tertiaries blue on both webs ; back, scapulars 

 and rump azure blue ; the wing coverts brighter. Upper tail coverts azure 

 blue, tipped with black and with a subterminal band of bluish white ; flanks 

 and thighs light bluish grey. 



Bill coral red ; legs reddish crimson or orange ;. irides brown. 



Eyelids greyish white ; claws horn colour. 



Length. 20 to 24 inches ; wing 7-5 to 8 ; tarsus 1-9 to 1*95 ; tail 17 to 18-; 

 culmen r6. 



Hab. The Himalayas, extending to Nepaul, Burmah and Siam. Gates ob- 

 tained it in Thayetmyo, Captain Ramsay at Tonghoo, Davison at Pahpoort, 

 Capt. Bingham in the Thoungyeen valley. It has also been found in Arrakan, 

 Sikkim, Nepaul, Kumaon and in the Valley of the Sutlej. 



The Blue Magpie is said to be easily tamed, and to bear confinement well 

 as a cage-bird. Although a forest bird it affects camps and villages. It feeds 

 chiefly on the ground. It breeds during March and April, making a nest 

 constructed of twigs and branches and lined with grass and slender twigs on 

 the topmost branches of trees. Eggs 3 4, white, with streaks and spots of a 

 claret colour. (Oates.) 



U. magniroslris has been made a synonym of Occipitalis, as there does not 

 appear to be any marked difference, either in size, or colour. Taking the bill 

 alone, of the several examples of both species sent to me by Mr. A. O. Hume 

 the difference is scarcely a tenth, while most have it of the same length as 

 oedpitalis. The colour of the irides, too, as given by several ornithologists, 

 also of the legs, cannot be accepted as distinctive characters, being variable in 

 most birds at certain seasons. 



133. Urocissa flavirostris, Biyth. J. A. S. B. \. p. 28; Cat. Mus. 



Hein. Th. i.p. 87; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 310; Hume, Nests and Eggs, Ind. 

 B. p. 419 ; Henderson and Hume, Lahore to Yar~kand, p. 242. Cissa cucullata, 

 Gould. B. Asia, part xiii. The YELLOW-BILLED BLUE-MAGPIE. 



Head, neck, and mantle deep black ; a nuchal patch of white glossed with 

 light blue 5 under surface ashy grey, paler on the abdomen and under tail 



