240 
ORNITHOLOGY, 
8 to 8*5_, wings when closed reach to witliin two inclies of end 
of tail. Bill, legs and feet, black,, irides brown. \_A. O. H.^ 
668 {bis). Pica bactriana,* Bonap. 
The Afghan or Wbite-rumped Himalayan Magpie was 
first met with at Dras, soon after crossing the Zoji-la Pass^ 
into Ladak. All through this latter province, it was com- 
mon about every village until the Pan gong lake was neared. 
A similar Magpie, believed to be the same, but of which un- 
fortunately no specimens were procured, was observed at 
* Pica hactriana. Bonap. 
Dimensions of males (obtained by the Expedition). — Length 19-75 to 
21 ; tail from vent, 12 to 13-25 ; expanse 24-75 to 25-5 ; wing 8-3 to 
8*75 ; foot, greatest length 2-5, greatest width 1-75 ; tarsus 1-9 ; bill at 
front, straight from forehead to point, 1'4 ; wings when closed fall short 
of end of tail by from 7*5 to 8-75. 
Desceiption. — Bill, legs, and feet black. Head, neck, back, breast, 
upper and lower tail coverts, winglets, and axillaries, velvety black slightly 
glossed with green on the back and blue on the breast. Shafts of the 
feathers of the throat, spiny and albescent, giving a finely streaked 
appearance to the throat. Lesser coverts, except at the carpal joint, 
scapulars, rump, abdomen, sides, vent, and the whole of the inner webs of 
the primaries (except the extreme tips, and a narrow margin on the inner 
edge towards the tips), pure white. I may mention that in the perfect 
fully developed wing in this species the fifth quill is generally longest. 
In the male the fourth is 0-1 shorter, the third is 0*45, the second 1-6, 
and the first (which is attenuated and falciform) is 1*4 shorter than the 
fifth, the sixth is a trifle shorter than the fourth. In the first and second 
the white of the inner web extends quite to the tip ; in the third, fourth, 
and fifth to within from 0-23 to 0-3 of the tip ; in the sixth, seventh, and 
eighth to within from 0-35 to 0-45 ; and in the ninth and tenth to within 
0-25. This white is only visible on the eighth and ninth quills when the 
wing is closed, and then only as a narrow line, and not even this in some 
specimens. The longest tail-feathers exceed the others by 7, 6, 5, 4, and 
2-5 inches respectively, in a fine perfect tail. The inner webs of all the 
lateral tail feathers, except towards the tips, are glossless black. The 
outer webs of the laterals and both webs of the central feathers, except 
the terminal 1-5 to 2 inches, are brilliant metallic green, somewhat darker 
but scarcely less resplendent than the speculum of the male Mallard 
{Anas hoscJias). To this succeeds a cuneiform band (the apex pointing 
towards the rump), which beginning in golden green shades into bright 
purple and then into deep blue, beyond which the rest of the tip is a 
bluish green with, like the rest of the tail, the richest metallic lustre. 
Some of the lesser coverts at the carpal joint are black, glossed with 
green. The median and greater primary coverts, and the outer webs and 
