This species is very common at Bhamó in the villages outside the stockade.
I t arrived at the village of Ponsee about the end of March and established a colony
in some high trees near our camp. I t is the common Crow in the Sanda valley,
confining itself, however, as a rule, to the outskirts of the villages and towns. I t is
less numerous at Momien, where Magpies (Pica rustica) and Mynas (Sturnopastor
nigricollis) abound. In fact, one of the characteristic features of the valleys
beyond the Kakhyen hills is the prevalence of these three species of birds.
Genus P i c a , Brisson.
4 2 . P ic a r t j s t ic a , Scop.
La Pie, Briss. Orn., t. ii, p. 85, 1760; Month, PI. Enl., t. in, pi. 488, 1778.
Corvuspica, Linn., Syst. Nat., t. i, p. 157, 1766; Wils., Am. Om., vol. iv, p. 75, pi. xxxv, fig. 2,
1811'; Temm., Man. dJOm., t. i, p. 118, 1820; Naum., Yog. Deutschl., Bd. ii, taf. 56, fig. 2,
1822; Werner, Atlas, Omnivores, pi. vii, 1827; Audub., Om. Biogr., t. iv, p. 408, pi. ccclvii,
1881; Nordm. Demid. Voy. Buss. Merid., t. iii, p. 116, 1844; Scbieg. u. Susemihl, Vog.
Eur., Bd. ii, taf. 4, fig. 2, 1889; Scbieg., Yog. Nederl., pi. 141, 1854.
Corvus rusticus, Scop., Ann., t. i, p. 38, 1769.
Pica melanoleuca, Vieill., N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., t. xxvi, p. 121, 1818; Wagl., Syst. Av. Pica,
sp. 1, 1829; Audub., B. Amer., roy. 8vo., vol. iv, p. 99, pi. ccxxvii, 1842; Macgill, Br. B.,
vol. i, p. 562, 1887.
Corvus hudsonius, Sabine, App. Narr. Frankl. Jown., p. 671, 1823.
Pica albiventris, Vieill., Faun. Franc., p. 119, 1828.
Pica europcea, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 551; Sundev., Sv. Fogl., pi. xix, fig. 3, 1860.
Pica germánica, Brehm, Vog. Deutscbl., p. 177, 1881.
Pica septentrionalis, Brehm, I. c., p. 178.
Pica hiemalis, Brehm, I. c., p. 178.
Garrulus picus, Temm., Man. d’Om., t. iii, p. 63, 1885; Drummond, Ann. Nat. Hist., vol. xii,
p . 414, 1842.
Pica ludsonica, Bonap., Comp. List B. Eur. andN. Amer., p. 27,1838; Gray, Gen. B., vol. ii, p. 814,
1845; Bonap. Consp., t. i, p. 383, 1850; Baird, B. N. Amer., p. 576, pi. xxv, 1858; Dali &
Bann., Tr. Chic. Acad., vol. i, p. 286, 1869; Gray, Handl. B., vol. ii, p. 10, 1870.
Picacaudata, Keys. u. Bias. Wirb. Eur., p. 45, 1840; Gould, B. Eur., vol. iii, pi. 216, 1840; Yarr.,
Br. B., vol. ii, p. 107, 1843; Gray, Gen. B., vol. ii, p. 314, 1845; Blyth, Joum. As. Soc.,
Bengal, vol. xv, p, 26, 1846; id., Cat. B. Mus., As. Soc., Bengal, p. 9, 1849; Hutton, Journ.
As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xvi, p. 778,1847; Bonap. Consp., t. i, p. 382, 1850; Midd., Sibir. Reise
Zool., p. 158, 1851; Jaub. et Barth., Lapomm. Rich. Om., p. 101, 1858; Fritsch, Vog.
Eur., taf. 27, fig. 6, 1858; Schrenck, Reise Amurl. Vog., p. 822, 1859; Linderm., Vog.
Griechenl., p. 69, 1860; Filippi, Viagg. Pers., p. 350, 1865; Radde, Reise Sibir. Vog., p. 206,
1862; Gould, B. Gt. Br., vol. iii, pi. 216, 1863; Bettoni, Ucc. Lomb., pi. 101, 1869;
Doderl., Avif. Sicil., p. 66, 1869; Gray, Handl. B., vol. ii, p. 10, 1870; Salvad., Faun. Ital.
Ucc., p. 175, 1871; Shelley, B. Egypt, p. 160, 1872.
Pica bottanensis, Deless., Rev. Zool., t. ii, p. 100, 1840; Gray, Gen. B., vol. ii, p. 814, 1845;
Blyth, Cat. B. Mus., As. Soc., Bengal, p. 91, 1849; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E.
Ind. Co., vol. ii, p. 551,1856-58; Jerdon, B. Ind., vol. ii, p. 305, 1863; Gould, B. Asia, pt. xv,
1862; Gray, Handl. B., vol. ii, p. 10, 1870.
Pica megalopiera, Blyth, Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xi, p. 198, 1840.
Pica media, Blyth, Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xiii,. p. 898, 1842; id., Cat. B. Mus., As.
Soc., Bengal, p. 91, App. p. 19, 1849; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. Ind. Co., vol. ii,
p. 554, 1856-58; Gray, Handl., vol. ii, p. 10, 1870; David, N. Arch. Mus., t. vii, Bull.,
p. 9, 187 Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1871, p. 882; David, Journ. de Voy. en Chine, t. ii,
1875, p. 40.
Pica varia, Schleg., Rev. Crit., p. 54, 1844; id., Dier. Nederl., pi. xiii, figs. 7, 7a, 1861: id., Mus.
P.-B. Coraces, p. 89, 1867; Kjarb., Om. Dan., pi. xii, fig. 2, 1852,
Pica sericea, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1845, p. 2 ; Gray, Gen. B., vol. ii, p. 314, 1845; Bonap.
Consp., t. i, p. 888, 1*850.
Cleptes hudsonicus, Gambel, Joum. Acad. N. Sir. Philad., 1847, p. 47.
Pica tibetana, Hodgs., Ann. Nat. Hist., vol. iii, p. 208, 1849.
Pica varia japonica, Schleg., Faun. Jap. Aves, p. 81, 1850.
Pica japonica, Bonap. Consp., vol. i, p. 883, 1850; Gray, Handl. B., vol. ii, p. 10, 1870.
Pica butanensis, Bonap. Consp., t. i, p. 388, 1850.
Cleptes pica, Cab., Mus. Hein., th. i, p. 229, 1850.
Pica vulgaris, Brehm, Joum. f. Om., 1858, p. 173.
Pica leucoptera, Gould, B. Asia, pt. xiv, 1862; Gray, Handl. B., vol. ii, p. 10, 1870.
Pica rustica, Dresser, B. Eur., pt. xxii, 1878; Irby, B. Gibr., p. 129, 1875; Dresser, Ibis, 1875,
p. 238; Blanf., E. Persia, p. 264, 1876.
Pica melmoleuca, var. hudsonica, Cones, Key N. Amer. B., p. 164, 1872.
Pica caudata, var. bactriana, Severtz. Turkest. Jevotn., p. 64, 1873.
Pica caudata, var. hudsonica, Baird, Brewer & Ridgw., N. Amer. B., p. 266, 1874.
Pica pica, Sharpe, Cat. B. B. M., vol. iii, p. 62, 1877.
a. e. i & $ Bhamd, 20th January 1875.
f. g. $ $ Ponsee, 5th May 1868.
As a rule, the European birds have brighter coloured central tail-feathers than
the Asiatic ones, but I have a Bham6 specimen with a tail almost as bright as in
any European bird. The extent of the white on the wing varies very slightly. My
first specimens were procured at Bhamd, where it is not very common. When the
Kakhyen hills were reached it became more numerous, but not to the great extent
which characterised it in the country to the east, where it may be said to take
the place of Crows, near villages. I t is so prevalent that one of the first observations
a traveller makes on entering the country is that it is a land of Magpies.
The Yunnan birds have all the habits of those described by Swinhoe of roosting
in company and sallying out for food and returning at night, cackling and curveting
with sundry antics. The Magpies appeared at our camp at Ponsee about the
beginning of April and were breeding in a high tree, close to a small rookery of
Corvus levdillcmti. Swinhoe mentions that he has skins of P . rustica from
Amoy, in which the white band on the rump is scarcely visible, which is a character
of the rump-band of the so-called P. botta/nensis, Desh.
Genus D e n d r o c i t t a , Gould.
43. D e n d r o c i t t a r t j f a , Scopoli.
La Pie rousse de la Chine, Sonn. Voy. Ind., t. ii, p. 186, pi. 106, 1782.
Rufous Crow, Lath., Gen. Syn. Suppl., p. 84, 1790.
Greg-tailed Roller, Lath., Gen. Syn. Suppl., p. 86, 1787.
Lanins rufus, Scop., Del. Faun, et Flor. Insubr., t. ii, p. 86, 1786.