the Birds of Chinkiang. 433 



5. CORVUS NEGLECTUS Sclll. 



Styan, Ibis, 1891, p. 358. 

 Muck less common than the preceding species. A few 

 individuals are generally to be observed among the flocks of 

 C. dauricus, and I have seen small companies wholly com- 

 posed of these birds. Both species mingle with the Rooks in 

 the fields. I have noticed this Jackdaw until late in March. 

 The stomachs of all the examples of this and the preceding 

 species examined by me at Chinkiang contained chiefly paddy 

 or wheat, ^occasionally seeds. 



6. Pica caudata L. 

 Styan, Ibis, 1891, p. 358. 



The Magpie is, with the Sparrow, perhaps the most 

 abundant of our residents. An almost uninterrupted stream 

 of these birds may be seen in the late afternoon flying over 

 Chinkiang on their way from their feeding-grounds to their 

 roosting-places. They begin to build early in the year, but 

 fresh eggs are to be found throughout April. The nests at 

 Chinkiang are not always domed, as I have three eggs 

 taken from a nest which the finders assured me was open, 

 while a fourth was taken in my presence from an apparentlv 

 perfectly open nest. 



7. Cyaxopolius cyanus (Pall.). 

 Styan, Ibis, 1891, p. 359. 



The Blue-winged Magpie is very common in the plains, 

 while in winter parties frequent copses and gardens about the 

 villages and are also to be met with along the willow-bordered 

 creeks and ponds. It breeds in colonies on high trees around 

 the villages of the plain. The nest is generally difficult of 

 access, being nearly always placed high up in a tree, and as 

 a rule in a thin fork some distance from the trunk. I have 

 not had an opportunity of watching the building of the nest, 

 but it is generally completed about May 20. A number of 

 nests examined on May 29 were either empty or contained 

 one egg, but on the same day I obtained from a native a 

 clutch of four eggs. The nests are built of sticks outwardly ; 

 and within there is a thick lining, or, more properly, an inner 



SER. VIII. VOL. VI. 2 F 



