DENDROCITTINiE, 315 



consider it of the Shrike genus. Mr. Smith says, " he has known 

 this bird enter a covered verandah of a house, and nip off half a 

 dozen young geraniums, visit a cage of small birds, begin by 

 stealing the grain, and end by killing and eating the birds, and 

 repeating these visits daily till destroyed." Mr. Buckland informs 

 me that he has known it enter a verandah and catch bats. It has 

 a variety of notes ; the usual harsh cry of the Magpie ; a clear 

 whistling, somewhat metallic call, which Sundevall syllabizes into 

 Kohlee-oh-koor, or Kolilee-oh ; the Bengalees into l Kotree ' ; and it has 

 also a feeble indistinct note at the pairing season, which the male 

 utters, and the female responds to in a sort of chuckle. When 

 several pairs are together, they have a curious guttural call, which 

 the Revd. Mr. Philipps, as quoted by Horsfield, says, ' sounds 

 like kahak or Iceke-kak, repeated several times. ' It builds a large 

 nest of sticks, generally on lofty trees, and lays three or four eggs 

 of a light greenish fawn colour, sometimes with a few indistinct 

 pale brown blotches. 



Buch. Hamilton says : — " The Bengalese women imagine when* 

 ever they hear this bird calling, that it forebodes the approach of 

 religious mendicants, who, by partaking of the fare prepared for 

 the family, will clean the pots used in cooking ; from which 

 circumstance, its native name is derived" (Pan-scraper) ; hence 

 he called it Corvus mendicantium, or the Beggar's Crow. 



675. Dendrocitta pallida, Blyth. 



J. A. S. XV. 30— Blyth, Cat. p. 336— Horsf., Cat. 849. 



The Pale Magpie. 



Descr. — Plumage as in D. rufa, but altogether much paler ; the 

 back and scapularies isabelline, with a shade of dusky, but devoid 

 of any decided rufous tinge ; rump paler ; the belly, and lower tail- 

 coverts pure isabelline, or buffy cream colour. " The hue of the 

 lower parts," says Blyth, " approaches that of the young of D. rufa, 

 but the much firmer structure of the plumage, indicative of 

 maturity, at once distinguishes it from that species." 



Length 15 inches ; wing 5^ ; tail 8| ; bill at front 1 ; tarsus 1£. 



This species, if really distinct from the last, has only been 

 found in the extreme North-west Himalayas, bordering on 



