26 Lieut. R. E. Vaugliau and StafF-Surg. K. H. Jones 



Young birds have been found very early in February, so 

 that at times this Crow lays at the end of December, 

 but the majority of clutches are produced late iu February 

 or in March. It is possiljle that this species is sometimes 

 double-brooded, and it is certain that it possesses a very 

 stroDg affection for certain nesting-sites. 



The eggs * vary in length from 1*95 to 1'50, and in breadth 

 from 127 to I'OS, and average l'66x 1"15. 



Pica pica. 



Magpies are exceedingly common, both on the coast and 

 up the rivers. They are less shy than at home, but do not 

 return to a plundered uest very readily. They nest usually 

 in a tall tree, but their great douie of sticks has been seen 

 on the top of literary posts (which are erected in honour of 

 scholars), once on the top of a pagoda, and three times in 

 bamboos. One uest was seen which was only seven feet 

 from the ground ; this is most unusual in Ciiina. 



The nest has the same sort of dome as iu Europe, but, as 

 thorns are less abundant, the usual prickly zareba does not 

 occur to such a painful extent in Far Cathay as in the 

 West. The nest of this bird seen in Europe is, as a rule, 

 lined with roots inside of a mud coat, but in China, grass, 

 hair, feathers, paper, wool, and, indeed, any suitable rubbish 

 is em})loyed. 



In the autumu these birds form quite large flocks, and as 

 many as sixty have been seen going to roost in a i)ine-wood 

 at Samshui, and on one occasion forty-seven were put up 

 out of a sweet-potato field. 



At the end of December the flocks break up, and some 

 pairs of birds begin to prepare for nesting before the new 

 year ; but, although they commence breaking off twigs early 

 iu January, they do not, as a rule, complete their nests until 

 well on in February. 



In some years, as late as the middle of March, about 

 seventy-five per cent, of the nests examined contain no eggs, 

 whereas in others the end of February sees most of them 



•* All ineasuremeut.'^ ofcjjigs ;irc <.nveii in inches. 



