3t8 
PERCHING BIRDS. 
rump are purplish blue; the wings are brown; the first primaries are edged with 
blue ; the tail is blue broadly tipped with white ; the lower plumage white tinged 
with purple. 
The genus Dendrocitta contains a group of Indian species 
Indian Tree-Pies. generally res embling the pies of the Old World, but distinguished 
by short curved bills and the constant possession of a chestnut coloration varied 
with black. One species inhabits the island of Formosa; another is peculiar to the 
Andaman Islands; and 
a third is found in the 
Himalaya and Assam. 
The most generally dis¬ 
tributed is the common 
Indian magpie ( Den¬ 
drocitta nifa), which 
is very common in well- 
wooded districts, especi¬ 
ally in the plains; and 
in travelling further 
north is to be seen in 
pairs and small parties 
in every grove and 
garden, and about every 
village. It builds a 
large nest of sticks 
usually in some lofty 
tree, and lays three or 
four eggs of a light 
greenish - fawn colour, 
usually indistinctly 
blotched with brown. 
It preys upon insects, 
small birds, and even bats; but at times feeds 
principally upon fruits. The adult has the upper- 
parts orange-brown, shading off into a brighter 
orange-buff on the lower back and rump; the 
wings are black, the tail-feathers grey, with black 
tips, the lores and throat blackish, and the rest of 
the under-parts orange-buff. 
Under the general title of jays 
may be included a group of several 
genera of closely allied members of the present 
family, in all of which the wings are relatively 
short, the tail being always more than three- 
fourths the length of the wing. In the typical 
genus the short and compressed beak is shorter 
than the head; the nostrils are placed at the 
The Jays. 
< \ 
indiax tbee-pie (4 nat. size). 
