3i» 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



rump are purplish blue ; the wings are brown ; the first primaries are edged with 

 blue ; the tail is blue broadly tipped with white ; the lower plumage white tinged 



with purple. 



The genus Dendrocitta contains a group of Indian species, 

 Indian Tree-Pies. generally resembling the pies of the Old World, but distinguished 

 by short curved bills and the constant possession of a chestnut coloration varied 

 with black. One species inhabits the island of Formosa ; another is peculiar to the 

 Andaman Islands ; and 

 a third is found in the 

 Himalaya and Assam. 

 The most generally dis- 

 tributed is the common 

 Indian magpie (Den- 

 drocitta Tufa), which 

 is very common in well- 

 wooded districts, especi- 

 ally in the plains; and 

 in travelling further 

 north is to be seen in 

 pairs and small parties 

 in every grove and 

 garden, and about every 

 village. It builds a 

 large nest of sticks 

 usually in some lofty 

 tree, and lays three or 

 four eggs of a light 

 greenish - fawn colour, 

 usually indistinctly 

 blotched with brown. 

 It preys upon insects, 



small birds, and even bats; but at times feeds 

 principally upon fruits. The adult has the upper - 

 parts orange-brown, shading off into a brighter 

 orange-buff on the lower back and rump ; the 

 wings are black, the tail-feathers grey, with black 

 tips, the lores and throat blackish, and the rest of 

 the under-parts orange-buff. 



Under the general title of jays 

 may be included a group of several 

 genera of closely allied members of the present 

 family, in all of which the wings are relatively 

 short, the tail being always more than three- 

 fourths the length of the wing. In the typical 

 genus the short and compressed beak is shorter 

 than the head; the nostrils are placed at the 



The Jays. 



