UROCISSA CERULEA, Gould. 



Formosan Blue Pie> 



Urocissa ccerulea, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1862, p. 282— Swinh. in Ibis, 1863, p. 384. 



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It will be seen by tbe number of species of Blue Pies figured in the present work, that this genus of birds 

 forms a very conspicuous feature in Asian ornithology. The Urocissa erythrorhyncha of Nepaul and the 

 U sinensis of China are the oldest-known members of this lovely form, to which modern research has added 

 the U magnirostris from Siam, the U.flanrostris from Sikim, the U. cucullatus from Kulu, and the U cwrulea 

 from the Island of Formosa. The last-mentioned new and beautiful species is nearly equal in size to the U. 

 magnirostris, but differs from that and all the other members of its genus in its remarkably intense blue colouring. 

 The following is Mr. Swinhoe's account of the U ccerulea, as given by him in the volume of the ' Ibis ' for 

 1863, above referred to : — 



" Soon after my arrival at Tamsuy, some hunters I had sent into the interior returned with the two long 

 tail-feathers of a bird which they said they had shot, but were obliged to eat, as, owing to the heat of the 

 weather, it was getting tainted. They called it the Tung-bay swannium, or Long-tailed Mountain Nymph. 

 I saw, from the peculiar form of the feathers, that the bird from which they had been taken must have been 

 a Urocissa, and, from their bright-blue tint and large white tips, I felt sure they belonged to a fine new spe. 

 cies. I was much excited, and offered large sums for specimens, and consequently soon received an ample 

 supply, an examination of which satisfied me that I had obtained a new and beautiful addition to this lovely 

 group of birds. 



" The Mountain Nymph is by no means uncommon in the large camphor-forests of the mountain-range. 

 It is there to be met with in small parties of six or more, flying from tree to tree, brandishing about their 

 handsome tail-appendages, and displaying their brightly contrasted black, azure, and white plumage, and 

 their red bill and legs, among the deep-tinted foliage of the woods. They are shy birds, soon taking alarm 

 at the approach of a stranger, giving warning to each other in loud notes, and then gliding away one after 

 another, with a straight flight, into an adjoining tree, the flight being executed with short, quick flaps of the 

 wings, while the body and tail are held nearly horizontal. They feed on wild figs, mountain berries, and insects, 

 chiefly Melolonthine Coleoptera. I had no opportunities of observing the nesting of this bird, nor the plu- 

 mage of the young, which in the U sinensis differs considerably from that of the adult. 



" In the large size and bulkiness of its bill, this species is more nearly allied to the U. magnirostris of 

 Tennasserim than to the U. sinensis of China ; but its tail is shorter than that of either of those birds, and 

 its plumage is entirely different to the similarly distributed tints of the other described species. 



"The male has a larger bill, and somewhat longer wings and tail, than the female; but both sexes varv 

 a good deal in proportion inter se. In the older specimens, the tomice of the upper mandible are often 

 worn into a serrated appearance. 



" The head, hinder part of the neck, throat, and breast black ; body, both above and below, dusky-purplish 

 azure ; wings brownish black ; the outer webs of the primaries and secondaries, and the greater part of the 

 tertiaries, of the same colour as the back, with a large white spot at the tip of each quill, becoming smaller 

 and obscure on the last primaries ; under surface of the wings marked with rufous ; upper tail-coverts 

 broadly margined with black, preceded by a whitish shade, and in some cases tipped with white ; two 

 central tail-feathers somewhat spatulate at the tip, with turned-up sides, the spatula white, the remainder 

 purplish azure, with black shafts ; the second tail-feather with a much smaller white tip, preceded by a 

 broad black band, the black increasing in extent, and the white of the tips slightly decreasing on the other 

 lateral feathers ; bill bright red-lead, paler at the tip ; legs and feet also bright red-lead, the sole-pads light 

 and dingy ; claws light reddish brown ; inside of the mouth flesh-colour ; iris clear light king's yellow, 

 somewhat pearly in appearance ; eyelid blackish brown, with a narrow outer rim of orange-red colour." 

 The Plate represents this bird, nearly of the size of life. 





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