26 CORVJD--E. 



having a longer tail and a bill which is either red or yellow, 

 never black. 



The Blue Magpies frequent forest districts, and are not found 

 so often near villages and cultivation as the common Magpie. 

 They feed a great deal on the ground, chiefly on large insects. 

 They differ remarkably from the species of Pica in not constructing a 

 dome over their nests ; otherwise their nesting-habits appear to be 

 much the same. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Bill red ; nuchal white patch large, reaching 



to the end of the black on the hind neck. ... U. occipitalis, p. 26. 



b. Bill yellow ; nuchal white patch small, not 



reaching to the margin of the black on the 



hind neck U. flavirostris, p. 27. 



12. Urocissa occipitalis. The Red-billed Blue Magpie. 



Psilorhinus occipitalis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 27 (1846) ; id. Cat. 



p. 93. 

 Psilorhinus magnirostris, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 27 (1846) ; id. Cat. 



p. 93. 

 Urocissa sinensis (Linn.), apud Horsf. 8f M. Cat. ii, p. 577 ; Jerd. 



B. I. ii, p. 309. 

 Urocissa occipitalis (BL), Jerd. B. I. App. p. 873 ; Hume, N. fy E. 



p. 419; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii, p. 70 ; Hume, Cat. no. 671 ; Scully, 



S. F. viii,p. 327 ; Oates, B. B. i, p. 400 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 258 ; 



Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. (2) v, p. 618 ; Gates in Hume's N. 



$E. 2nded. i, p. 14. 

 Urocissa magnirostris (Bl.), Hume, S. F. iii, p. 144 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. 



M. iii, p. 71 ; Hume # Dav. S. F. vi, p. 385 ; Anders. Yunnan 



Exped., Aves, p. 592 j Hume, Cat. no. 671 bis ; Binyham, S. F. ix, 



p. 191. 

 Nil-Khant, at Mussoorie ; Diyg-dall, at Simla. 



Coloration. Head, neck, and breast black ; a large patch on the 

 nape, continued down the back of the neck, white ; some of the 

 feathers of the crown also tipped with white ; lower plumage 

 white tinged .with purple ; tail blue, broadly tipped with white, 

 and all but the central pair of feathers with a band of black next 

 the white tips : wings brown ; the first two primaries edged with 

 blue, the next five edged with blue above the margination and with 

 bluish white below ; the other primaries and secondaries almost 

 entirely blue on the outer web ; the tertiaries blue on both webs ; 

 the whole of the quills tipped with white, at first on the outer 

 web only and gradually extending to both webs ; back, scapulars, 

 and rump purplish blue, the wing-coverts brighter ; upper tail- 

 coverts blue tipped with black, and with a band of bluish white 

 next the black tips. 



Iris brown, probably turning to red in very old birds ; bill and 

 legs varying from red to crimson ; eyelids greyish white ; claws 

 horn-colour ; mouth flesh-colour. 



