312 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



feathers ; rictus slightly bristled ; wings rounded ; tail lengthened, 

 cuneate ; feet strongish, moderate ; lateral toes unequal, inner toe 

 much shorter, outer much joined to middle one; claws strong, well 

 curved ; hind toe and claw large. 



673. Cissa Sinensis, Beisson. 



Galgulus, apud Brisson — PL Enl. 620 — Horsf., Cat, 859— 

 Kitta venatoria, Gray, 111. Ind. Zool. 1, pi. 2 — Cissa venatoria, 

 Blyth, Cat. 468 — Corvus speciosus, Shaw — Sirganp, TSeng. — Chap- 

 ling-pho, Lepch — Rabling-chapu, Bhot. 



The Green Jay. 



Descr. — General color beautiful pale chrysophrase green, fading 

 to bluish or bluish green, yellowish on the head, the feathers of 

 which are lengthened, forming a crest ; a black streak from the 

 lores through the eyes to the nape, meeting the opposite one, 

 and forming the lower part of the crest ; wing-coverts and quills 

 fine dark red, fading to rufous brown, or greenish brown in old 

 specimens ; the secondaries tipped pale blue-green, broadly edged 

 above with black ; tail with the central feathers tipped white, the 

 outer ones tipped black and white. 



Bill and legs coral red ; irides dark red brown ; orbits vermilion. 

 Length 15^ inches; expanse, 8 inches; wing 6; tail 8^; bill at 

 front If ; tarsus 1|. 



This lovely bird is found in the South-eastern Himalayas ; also 

 in the hill ranges of Assam, Sylhet, Arracan, and Tenasserim. 

 It is not rare in Sikhim from 1,200 feet to 5,000 feet or nearly so. 

 It wanders about from tree to tree, and picks various insects, 

 grasshoppers, locusts, mantides, &c, off the leaves and branches. 

 It has a rather loud, not unpleasant call, besides the usual harsh 

 cry of the Jays and Magpies. They are frequently tamed and 

 caged, and become, says Blyth, " very tame and fearless, are very 

 amusing and imitative ; sing lustily a loud and screeching strain 

 of their own, with much gesticulation, and are highly carnivorous 

 in their appetite. The Shrike-like habit, in confinement, of placino- 

 a bit of food ' between the bars of their prison, is in no species, 

 more strongly exemplified than in this." 



