. Birds .. . eretalien in April and March near Port Blair. Habits. Davison obtained this bird near Port Blair and morecommonly at Mount Harriet and Aberdeen. He observes that itis a forest bird and never ventures avi^ay fiom the cover of largetrees; also that it never descends to the ground. Gates did notobtain it either on the Great Cocos or on Table Island. Genus CRYPSIRHINA Yieill, ISltJ. With this genus we come to the end of the true Magpies orLong-tailed Crows. The members of the present genus are smalland are characterized by a tail of peculiar structure, the centralpair of feathers bein
. Birds .. . eretalien in April and March near Port Blair. Habits. Davison obtained this bird near Port Blair and morecommonly at Mount Harriet and Aberdeen. He observes that itis a forest bird and never ventures avi^ay fiom the cover of largetrees; also that it never descends to the ground. Gates did notobtain it either on the Great Cocos or on Table Island. Genus CRYPSIRHINA Yieill, ISltJ. With this genus we come to the end of the true Magpies orLong-tailed Crows. The members of the present genus are smalland are characterized by a tail of peculiar structure, the centralpair of feathers being siatulate at the ends. The bill is small andthe nostrils are concealed by a mass of fine velvety plumes, whichalso surround the base of the bill. The Racket-tailed Magpies are quite arboreal and in the courseof many years observatiou Oates never saw one of them on theground. Hey to Species. A. All tail-feathers black C. varians, p. 56. B. Central tail-feathers black, outer feathers grey. , p. Fig. 13.—Head of C. varians. (36) Crypsirhina varians. The BiiiCK Racket-tailed Magpie. Coi-vus varians Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl., xxvi, (1801) (Java) ; Oates, i, p. 35. Vernacular names. Ami-whine (Burmese). Description. The whole plumage metallic bronze-green, tingedwith bluish on the head; wings brown, the outer webs of theprimaries greenish, the other quills more or less entirely tingedwith greenish ; tail black, with the same tinge but v»ith moresheen ; forehead, round the eye and about the gape dull black,the feathers of a velvety texture. Colours of soft parts. Iris blue ; bill black, mouth flesh-colour ;legs and claws black. Measurements. Length about 310 to 330 mm.; wing about 110to 116 mm.; tail from about 175 to 200 mm.; tarsus about 30 mm. •culmen about 23 mm. CEYPSIEHINA. 57 Distribution. This fine little Magpie has its headquarters inPegu, extending up the valleys of the Irrawaddy and Sittaung tosome north of Thayetmyo and Toungoo. To the west
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1922
