The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma/Birds/Order Passeres/Family Corvidæ/Genus Urocissa

by Edward Charles Stuart Baker

 

Genus UROCISSA Cabanis, 1850.

The genus Urocissa contains a few brightly plumaged Magpies which are found in India and China. They differ from the true

Fig. 10.—Head of U. m. occipitalis.

Magpies in having the nostrils, which are covered by rather soft plumes, not by stiff bristles, situated near the base of the bill; in having a longer tail and a bill which is red or yellow but never black.

Key to Species.

A.

Bill red. Nuchal white patch large, reaching to the end of the black on the hind neck ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U. melanocephala, p. 40.

B.

Bill yellow. Nuchal patch small, not reaching to the end of the black ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U. flavirostris, p. 43.

Urocissa melanocephala.

Key to Subspecies.

A.

Patch on the head pale blue ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U. m. melanocephala, p. 41.

B.

Patch on the head pure white.

a.

Bill smaller, under 33 mm. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U. m. occipitalis, p. 41.

b.

Bill larger, over 33 mm. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U. m. magnirostris, p. 42

(19) ^[1] Urocissa melanocephala melanocephala.

The Chinese Red-billed Magpie.

Coracias melanocephalus Lath., Ind. Orn., i, p. 170 (1790) (China).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Head, neck and breast black; a large patch on the nape, continued down the back lavender- or pale blue-grey, and feathers of the fore crown tipped with the same colour; lower plumage greyish white with a bluish sheen; under tail-coverts the same, but bluer and with a black band at the tips of the feathers with a greyish-white subterminal band; tail azure-blue, broadly tipped with white and all but the central pair of feathers with a broad subterminal band of black; wings dull blue-brown, the primaries edged with brighter blue and brown on the inner webs; the inner secondaries blue on both webs.

Colours of soft parts. Iris brown or red-brown; bill and feet coral-red to crimson, claws horny.

Measurements. Total length about 550 mm,; wing 180 to 200 mm.; tail 375 to 425 mm.; tarsus about 45 mm.; culmen about 32 to 33 mm.

Distribution. China and Yunnan. A bird from the South Shan States, perhaps from the extreme East, seems referable to this subspecies.

Nidification. In Chihli, La Touche took its nests and eggs in May. He describes them as having a clayey-brown ground-colour, very heavily marked. Two clutches sent to me are green eggs, very small, about 29 x 24 mm., and just like Koels' eggs. There may possibly be some mistake about them. The breeding season seems to be May.

Habits. These appear to be similar to those of our Indian birds.

 

(20) Urocissa melanocephala occipitalis.

The Red-billed Blue Magpie.

Psilorhinus occipitalis Blyth, J.A.S.B., xv, p. 27 (1846) (N.W. Himalayas).

Urocissa occipitalis. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 26.

Vernacular names. Nilkhaut (at Mussoorie); Digg-Dal (Simla).

Description. Similar to U. m. melanocephala, but can be distinguished at a glance by its white nape-patch. The back is more purple, with a blue sheen rather than lavender-brown.

Colours of soft parts and Measurements much the same as in the preceding bird.

Distribution. N.W. Himalayas through Nepal and Sikkim to Tibet.

Nidification. This bird breeds commonly over a great portion of the Himalayas in the north-west at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. The nest is a roughly made cup of twigs and coarse roots lined with finer roots and fern rachides, and generally placed some 10 to 20 feet from the ground in a small tree in evergreen forest. The eggs, which number three to six, vary very much in colour. The ground ranges from a very pale yellowish stone-colour to a darkish, rather reddish stone-colour; rarely there is a faint green tinge but this is quite exceptional. The markings consist of small specks and blotches, or all small irregular blotches, of various shades of brown, sienna or reddish brown, with a few underlying ones of pale sienna and purple. As a rule they are richly marked handsome eggs but are not, as they have often been described, like those of Magpies except in general character. They measure about 33·9 x 23·9 mm.

Habits. This Blue Magpie is found in small parties, probably consisting of the parent birds and their last brood. They keep much to evergreen forest at elevations between 5,000 and 12,000 feet, descending lower in the winter but never to the plains as does the next bird. Their flight is slow and undulating and they are rather noisy birds, especially during the breeding season. According to Col. Rattray, they are much given to feeding on the ground. Like all Magpies they are said to be addicted to stealing eggs and young of other birds.

(21) Urocissa melanocephala magnirostris.

The Burmese Red-billed Blue Magpie.

Psilorhinus magnirostris Blyth, J.A.S.B., xv, p. 27 (1846) (Ya Ma Ding Mt.).

Urocissa occipitalis. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 26.

Vernacular name. Hnet-daw-pya (Burmese).

Description. Differs from occipitalis in having a darker back,more suffused with purple-blue, and it also differs both from that bird and from melanocephala in having no white tips to the primaries.

Colours of soft parts as in melanocephala.

Measurements. This is a slightly larger bird than occipitalis, with a wing of about 200 to 210 mm. and a much larger bill, 36 to 37 mm.

Distribution. Hills south of the Brahmaputra, Manipur and Burma to Siam. It is very rare in the Khasia, N. Cachar and Manipur Hills, but more common in the Naga Hills and comparatively common in the Chin and Kachin Hills, West Shan States and North Siam.

Nidification. Similar to that of occipitalis, but the eggs are quite different. The ground-colour seems always to be a very pale salmon or pink stone-colour and the marks consist of light reddish blotches and freckles over the whole surface, with numerous others underlying them of pale neutral tint. Eggs taken by Col. Bingham and by Messrs. Hopwood, Mackenzie and Harington were all of this description and I have seen none of occipitalis anything like them. The full clutch numbers three to six.

The breeding season is March to April in Lower Burma, April and May in Upper Burma.

Habits. This bird is said to come right down into the plains in winter and even to breed at very low elevations. In Assam and Northern Burma it keeps to the higher ranges and is seldom found below 5,000 feet.

They are said to keep much to the deciduous forests in Burma, but in Assam haunt rhododendron, oak and mixed evergreen forests.

Urocissa flavirostris.

Key to Subspecies.

A.

Under parts a rather dark lilac ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U. f. flavirostris, p. 43.

B.

Under parts almost pure white ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U. f. cucullata, p. 44.

(22) Urocissa flavirostris flavirostris.

The Yellow-billed Magpie.

Psilorhinus flavirostris Blyth, J.A.S.B., xv, p. 28 (1846) (Darjeeling).

Urocissa Flavirostris. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 27.

Vernacular names. Tying-jongring (Lepcha); Pianging-jabring (Bhutea).

Description. Head, neck and breast black, the nape white and the feathers of the crown tipped white; back, scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts purplish ashy, the last tipped black and with a narrow pale band in front of the black; wing-coverts, the outer webs of the primaries and outer secondaries and the whole of the inner secondaries purplish blue; all the quills tipped white, the earlier primaries whitish on the terminal half of the outer web; tail blue with a broad white tip and all but the central pair of feathers with a subterminal black band; lower plumage from the breast downwards lilac tinged with purple.

Colours of soft parts. Iris bright yellow; bill pale wax-yellow to a strong wax-yellow; legs and feet bright orange-yellow.

Measurements. Length about 630 to 650 mm.; wing from 178 to 190 mm.; tail up to 470 mm.; culmen about 65 mm.

The female is similar to the male but generally smaller, wing 170 to 180 mm. and the iris is a dull blue-brown.

Distribution. Bhutan, Sikkim and hills N. of the Brahmaputra, probably Eastern Nepal. Chin Hills.

Nidification. I have one egg of this race from Chambi, north of Sikkim, taken from the usual twig nest at an elevation of some 9,000 or 10,000 feet. The egg is erythristic and almost certainly abnormal. The ground-colour is a very pale cream and the markings are bright reddish brown with others underlying of pale neutral tint. It measures 32·0 x 22·9 mm. and was taken on the 7th May.

Habits. These probably do not differ from those of the better known Western form but it may be a bird of higher elevations, as my collectors assured me they met with it in Chambi in Tibet at about 11,000 feet. It is found at 6,000 to 8,000 feet round about Darjeeling and keeps much to the evergreen forests.

A form of this Magpie extends well into Burma, but the only skin I have seen thence differed in many respects from the normal type, and further material may prove it to be a new subspecies.

 

(23) Urocissa flavirostris cucullata.

The Western Yellow-billed Magpie.

Urocissa cucullata Gould, B. of A., v, pl. 51 (1861) (Kulu Valley).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Similar to the last but altogether a paler bird, and more especially so in the lower parts, which are almost pure white with scarce a tinge of lilac.

Distribution. N.W. Himalayas and W. Nepal.

Nidification. This Magpie breeds wherever found above 5,000 feet. It is common at Simla and again in the galis in the Murree Hills, where Rattray, Buchanan and others have taken many nests. The breeding season appears to be May but Major Lindsay Smith took one nest as late as the 15th July. It lays three or four eggs and both these and the nests are much like those of the Red-billed Magpie. As a whole, however, the eggs are duller and not so boldly marked. They measure 33·8 x 23·1 mm. (60 eggs) and do not differ in shape or texture from those of occipitalis.

Habits. This Magpie, like the red-billed bird, haunts principally evergreen forests and heavy jungle. It is equally omnivorous and equally an enemy to small mammals, unfledged young of other birds, and to insects of all kinds. It eats fruit greedily in captivity and probably also in a wild state. It is a shy and rather retiring bird and is never found in the vicinity of villages and cultivation. The call is very harsh and penetrating, and during the breeding season is freely indulged in.

1. Corvus erythrorhynchus Gmel., Syst. Nat., i, p. 372 (1788) is preoccupied by Boddaert, Tabl. Pl. Enlum., p. 38, 1783.