CRYPSIRHINA CUCULLATA, Jerd. 



Hooded Crypsirhina. 



Crypsirhina (Temia) cucullata, Jerd. in Ibis, vol. iv. p. 20. 



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No one of Mr. Jerdon's discoveries has interested me more than the bird figured in the accompanying Plate, 

 inasmuch as it is new to science, and of a very curious form. Every ornithologist is well acquainted with 

 the old Crypsirhina varians, and not less so with the members of the genus Dendrocitta ; to both these forms 

 the present bird is very nearly allied, but particularly to the latter, so much so that it is a question whether 

 it should not be placed in that genus. In structure it is, in fact, directly intermediate between the two, the 

 form of the bill being precisely similar to that of Dendrocitta, while in the number of its tail-feathers and the 

 silky character of its plumage it assimilates with the type of the genus Crypsirwa—C. varians. 



'The tail," remarks Mr. Jerdon, "is much graduated, and, as in its congener Crypsirhina {Temia) varians, 

 consists of ten feathers. Compared with that bird, the tail-feathers, judging from a drawing I have, are 

 much narrower, and the broad termination more marked. The bill also appears to be comparatively shorter. 



" I found this neatly plumaged little Magpie not rare at Thayetmyo, in Upper Burmah. It was generally 

 seen singly, now and then in pairs, wanders about a good deal in low jungle, and feeds on grasshoppers' 

 locusts, Mantides, and the like. I have seen it catching white ants as they issued from their nest in the 

 winged state, with considerable dexterity, returning usually to the same perch. It breeds early, I imagine ; 

 for I killed young birds in June. They differ from the old ones in having the hood dusky ashy instead of 

 black. A native Shikaree assured me that it occasionally perched on the backs of cattle, to devour the 

 insects that often infest them." 



Lores, a broad band at the base of the upper mandible, and a narrow line at the base of the lower one 

 deep velvety black ; remainder of the head and upper half of the neck glossy greenish black ; immediately 

 behind this dark colour is a broad band of greyish white, which blends posteriorly into the ashy grey of the 

 upper and under surface ; wing-coverts and tertiaries, spurious wing, primaries, and secondaries deep dull 

 black, a few of the latter margined with white, forming with the pale edges of the wing-coverts a light stripe 

 along the wing ; four outer tail-feathers ashy grey, becoming gradually paler until they are nearly white at 

 the tip ; two centre tail-feathers dull black ; iris very dark glaucous blue ; bill black, except at the basal 

 portion of the edge of the upper mandible and the base of the lower one, where it is pale yellow ; legs 

 brownish black. 



The Plate represents the bird in two positions, on the Thibaudia pulcherrima. 





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