IN JERDON OR STRAY FEATHERS. 407 



Adult Male — Similar to the female. Total length, 18 in- 

 ches; culmen, 2*35; wing, 12*2 ; tail, 7'5; tarsus, 2'25. 



Young — Similar to the adult, but the colour rather more 

 dingy, and the drab somewhat shaded with a purplish lustre ; 

 hind neck decidedly more dusky than in the adult ; upper tail- 

 coverts dull blackish, without any perceptible grey margiu ; 

 head also dull black, without lustre ; the lanceolate plumes on 

 the foreneck not developed. — Sharpens Catalogue, III. 



668 bis.— Pica rustica, Scop. 



I am myself disposed to agree in uniting the Afghan, Cash- 

 mere and Ladak Magpies, separated by Bouaparte as bactriana, 

 with the European rustica. The descriptions however, which 

 I subjoin, were taken from Ladak specimens. 



Males.— Length, 19-75 to 21 ; tail from vent, 12 to 13-25 ; 

 expanse, 24*75 to 25*5 ; wing, 8*3 to 8*75 ; foot, greatest 

 length, 2*5 ; greatest width, 1*75 ; tarsus, 1-9 ; bill at front, 

 straight from forehead to point, 1 '4 ; wings when closed fall 

 short of end of tail, by from 7'5 to 8'75. 



Bill, legs, and feet black ; head, neck, back, breast, upper 

 and lower tail-coverts, winglets, and axillaries velvety black, 

 slightly glossed with green on the back and blue on the breast ; 

 shafts of the feathers of the throat spiny and albescent, giving 

 a finely streaked appearance to the throat ; lesser coverts, 

 except at the carpal joint, scapulars, rump, abdomen, sides, 

 vent, and the whole of the inner webs of the primaries (except 

 the extreme tips and a narrow margin on the inner edge 

 towards the tips), pure white. I may mention that in the 

 perfect, fully developed, wing in this species the fifth quill is 

 generally longest. In the male, the fourth is 0*1 shorter, the 

 third is 0*45 ; the second, 1*6 ; and the first (which is atte- 

 nuated and falciform) is 1'4 shorter than the fifth ; the sixth is 

 a trifle shorter than the fourth ; in the first and second the 

 white of the inner web extends quite to the tip ; in the third, 

 fourth, and fifth to within from 0*23 to 0*3 of the tip ; in the 

 sixth, seventh, and eighth to within from 0*35 to 0"45 ; and in 

 the ninth and tenth to within 0-25. This white is only visible 

 on the eighth and ninth quills when the wing is closed, and then 

 only as a narrow line, and not even this in some specimens. 

 In a fine perfect tail the longest tail-feathers exceed the others 

 by 7, 6, 5, 4, and 2*5 inches, respectively. The inner webs 

 of all the lateral tail-feathers, except towards the tips, are gloss- 

 less black ; the outer webs of the laterals and both webs of 



