176 " CORVID-^. 



Corvus Splendens, Vidl. N. Diet, d' Hist. Nat. viii. p, 44 ; Tern. 

 PI. Col. ii. pL425; Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 315 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 298; 

 Hume, Str. F. vol. viii. ; Murray, Hdbk., Zool., Sfc, Sind, p. 1 73. Corvus 

 impudicus, Gray, Handlist B. ii. p. 14 ; Hume, Str. F. i. p. 206 ; Str. F. 

 fi. pp. 418, 493.— The Common Indian Ceow. 



Nasal bristles, crown of head, lores, sides of face, chin, throat, back, 

 wings and tail glossy black with purplish or steel blue reflections ; lower 

 abdomen, flanks, vent, under tail and thigh-coverts dull black ; nape, 

 hind neck, sides of the neck, and part of the upper back a greyish 

 drab ; breast and upper part of the abdomen dark ashy ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries dull black ; bill and legs black ; irides deep 

 brown. 



Length.— 'i6 to 17 inches, wing 11 to 11-25, tail 7, bill at front 1-12. 



jjah. — Throughout India to the foot of the Himalayas and Ceylon. 



Sub-Family, GARRULIN^,— Jits. 

 Bill short and conic, about as high as broad at nostrils ; nares 

 usually tufted J wings moderate or long; 5th quill longest. 



Garrulus-— 5ws. 



Bill short, thick, compressed, conic, slightly deflected, and bent at 

 tip; nostrils covered with incumbent bristles. 



Garrulus atricapillus, Geoffr. St. Hilaire, Etud. Zool. fasc. i. ; 

 Dresser, B. Eur. part xx. Garrulus melanocephalus. Gene. Mem, Acad. 

 Torino, xxxvii. p. 298; Bree. B. Europe; Blf. Eastern Persia, vol. ii. 

 p. 265; Hume, Str. F. i. p. 206; Murray, Zool., 8fc., Sind, p. 178; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. iii. p. 97.— The Black-headed Jay. 



Adult Female. — General colour above clear vinaceous, washed with 

 grey; the rump and upper tail-coverts white (wings and tail much as 

 in G. cervicalis) ; wing-coverts grey, the least coverts barred with 

 chestnut, the median series broadly chestnut at tip ; the greater series 

 velvety black, the outermost barred with blue and black ; the bastard 

 wing and primary coverts cobalt blue, narrowly barred with black ; 

 quills brownish black, externally greyish white ; the secondaries white 

 for two-thirds of the outer web, with slight indications of blue bars, the 

 innermost black, inclining to chestnut on all but the tip of the last 

 secondary; tail brownish black, bluish grey at base, and barred with the 

 same colour for more than half the length of the centre feathers ; nasal 

 bristles white, washed with vinaceous at the tip ; forehead, feathers round 

 the eye, a broad eyebrow and the sides of the face and neck, as well as 

 the throat, white ; a broad malar bar of black ; rest of under surface 

 pale vinaceous, deeper on the sides of the body and under wing- 

 coverts, and inclining to buffy white on the centre of the abdomen, 

 thighs and under tail-coverts. 



Length. — 12'7 inches, culmen 1-2, wing 6'7, tail 6. 



Adult Male. — Similar to the female; showing less grey on the back 

 and rather more on the chest ; the face and throat sometimes washed 

 with a vinous tinge. 



