10 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



commit it, they cannot get through the same amount of 

 mischief, while they are singularly ornamental. 



THE COMMON INDIAN MAGPIE OR WANDERING TREEPIE 

 (Dendrocitta rufa) is well known as Handichancha or 

 Kotree to the natives of Bengal. This pretty bird is a 

 familiar garden visitor, and his short wings and long tail 

 make him conspicuous in his easy dipping flight. His 

 colour is also unmistakeable, being buff or cinnamon with 

 a sooty head and grey, black-tipped wings and tail. He 

 is an omnivorous feeder, and has been accused of des- 

 tructiveness to garden produce, but as he certainly 

 devours large numbers of insects, and also acts as a check 

 on the undue increase of small birds, he probably does 

 more good than harm. His notes are often very pretty, 

 and when taken young, he can be taught to speak, a 

 common accomplishment in the Crow family. 



Hardly ever you will see him n the ground, and when 

 there he can only hop, not walking like the pied Magpie 

 at home. 



The nest is built high up in a tree, and is open or cup- 

 shaped, as usual in this family ; the eggs, which are spot- 

 ted, vary from pinkish to greenish in ground colour. 



This bird is one of our commonest Indian species, being 

 found throughout India and Burma in the plains, and 

 ascending the hills up to 7,000 feet. The hill climate ap- 

 pears to agree with it, as hill birds are the largest in size 



The bird ordinarily measures about a foot and a half, 

 of which a foot is taken up by the tail. 



THE RED-BILLED BLUE MAGPIE (Urocissa occipitalis] 

 is a splendid creature possessing a tail half-a-yard long, 



