DESTDUOCITTA. 23

18. Deiidrocitta Mmalayensis, Bl. The Himalayan Tree-pie.

Dendrocitta sinensis (Latk.\ Jerd. B. 2nd. ii, p. 316.

Deiidrocitta hinuilayensis, Bl^ Hume, Rough Draft N. fy JE. no. 676.

Common as is the Himalayan Tree-pie throughout the lower
ranges of those mountains from which it derives its name, I per-
sonally have never taken a nest.

It breeds, I know, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet,
during the latter half of May, June, July, and probably the first
half of August.

A nest in ray museum taken by Mr. Gammie in Sikhim, at an
elevation of about 2500 feet, out of a small tree, on the 30th of
July, contained two fresh eggs. It was a very shallow cup, com-
posed entirely of fine steins, apparently of some kind of creeper,
strongly but not at all compactly interwoven ; in fact, though the
nest holds together firmly, you can see through it everywhere. It
is about 6 inches in external diameter, and has an egg-cavity of
about 4 inches wide and 1*5 deep. It has no pretence for lining
of any kind.

Of another nest which he took Mr. Gammie says:—" I found a
nest containing three fresh eggs in a bush, at a height of about 10
feet from the ground. The nest was a very loose, shallow, saucer-
like affair, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and an inch or so in
thickness, composed entirely of the dry stems and tendrils of
creepers. This was at Labdah, in Sikhim, at an elevation of
about 3000 feet, and the date the 14th May, 1873." Later he
writes:—

" This Magpie breeds in the Darjeeling District in May, June,
and July, most commonly at elevations between 2000 and 4000
feet. It affects clear cultivated tracts interspersed with a few
standing shrubs and bamboos, in which it builds. The nest is
generally placed from 6 to 12 feet from the ground in the inner
part of the shrubs, and is made of pieces of creeper stems inter-
mixed with a few small twigs loosely put together without any
lining. There is scarcely any cup, merely a depression towards the
centre for the eggs to rest in. Internally it measures about 4*8 in
breadth by 1-5 in depth. The eggs are three or four in number.

" This is a very common and abundant bird between 2000 and
4000 feet, but is rarely found far from cultivated fields. It seems
to be exceedingly fond of chestnuts, and, in autumn, when they
are ripe, lives almost entirely on them; but at other times is a
great pest in the grain-fields, devouring large quantities of the
grain and being held in detestation by the natives in consequence.
Jerdon says ' it usually feeds on trees,' but I have seen it quite as
frequently feeding on the ground as on trees."

Mr. Hodgson has two notes on the nidification of this species in

' Nepal:—" May I8t7i.—ISTest, two eggs and two young ; nest on the

fork of a small tree, saucer-shaped, made of slender twigs twisted

circularly and without lining; cavity 3-5 in diameter by 0-5 deep;