32 COEVID.E. 



The young resemble the adult very closely. 



Distribution. Southern India, chiefly along the western coast. 

 The southernmost point from which I have seen a specimen is 

 Mynall in Travancore, and the most northern, the Wynaad ; but 

 McMaster (J. A.S. B. 1871, pt. ii, p. 214) states that he procured 

 a specimen in May at Chikalda in the Gawilgurh hills. He is 

 hardly likely to have made a mistake about so well-marked a 

 form as this, but the occurrence of this bird so far north is extra- 

 ordinary. 



Habits, $c. According to Davison this Tree-pie is found only in 

 evergreen forest below about 5000 feet. On the Assambu hills it is 

 found from 1500 to 3000 feet. Bourdillou, in the latter locality, 

 found two nests, composed of twigs roughly put together, and 

 built in a bush or sapling. One nest was found in March with 

 eggs, and one in April with young birds. The only egg preserved 

 measured 1*13 by *86. 



18. Dendrocitta himalayensis. The Himalayan Tree-pie. 



Dendrocitta sinensis (Lath.} apud Blyth, Cat. p. 92 ; Horsf.tyM. 



Cat. ii, p. 568 ; Jerd. B. 1. ii, p. 316. 

 Dendrocitta himalayensis, Blyth, Ibis, 1805, p. 45 ; Hume, N. $ E. 



p. 423; Sharpe, 'Cat. B. M. iii, p. 79; Hume $ Dai). 8. F. vi, 



p. 386 ; Hume, Cat. no. 676 j Scully, S. F. viii, p. 329 ; Oates, B. 



B. i, p. 403 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 259 ; Oates in Humes N. Sf E. 



2nd ed. i, p. 23. 

 Dendrocitta assimilis, Hume, 8. F. v, p. 117 ; id. 8f Dav. S. F. vi, 



p. 386 ; id. S. F. vii, p. 519 ; id. Cat. 676 bis. 



The Himalayan Magpie, Jerd. ; Kokia-Kak, at Mussoorie ; Karrio-pho, 

 Lepch. ; Earnak-ban, Bhut. ; Kvk-lony-ah, Assam. 



Coloration. Forehead, lores and feathers above the eye black ; 

 sides of the head, chin and throat dark sooty brown, fading and 

 overspreading the sides of the neck and breast ; crown of the head, 

 nape, and upper back ashy: back and scapulars clear brownish 

 buff; rump and upper tail-coverts ashy; wings and their coverts 

 black, all the primaries but the first two with a patch of white at 

 their base, forming a conspicuous spot; central pair of tail-feathers 

 ashy for two thirds of their length, then black ; the others all 

 black, except the extreme bases, which are ashy ; abdomen and 

 flanks cinereous ; thighs brown ; vent and under tail-coverts 

 chestnut. 



The young do not differ much from the adult ; the colours are 

 paler, the feathers of the upper plumage are tipped with buff, and 

 the under tail-coverts and vent are reddish brown. 



Bill black ; irides reddish brown ; feet brownish black, in young 

 birds leaden black ; claws dusky (Scully}. 



Length 16; tail 9 ; wing 5'5 ; tarsus 1*1; bill from gape 1*3. 



Tenasseriin birds have the cheeks, ear-coverts, and throat paler, 

 and the sides of the neck and the upper back tinged with brown 

 They are, however, hardly separable from some Himalayan birds. 



