PICA BACTRIANA, Bonap.

Affghan Magpie.

Pica caudata, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xv. p- 26.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta p. 91.—
Hutton, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 778.

bactriana, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 383.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp.,
vol. i. p. 550.

Akha, Cabul, Hutton.

 

 

Ir has often struck me that the more stupendous the mountain-ranges, the larger and more powerful are
the animals frequenting them, whether mammals, birds, or insects ; and I could, were it necessary, adduce
many instances in confirmation of this being the case; but I will here merely mention that, of the numerous
species of true Magpies forming the well-defined genus Pica, those inhabiting the high lands of the Old World,
known as the Himalayan and Thibetan ranges, are much larger and finer than those of other countries. Of
these larger and finer species the present bird is an example. It bears a general resemblance to the
common Pica caudata of Europe and the P. deucoptera of Siberia; but on a careful comparison with those
birds, it is found to present several points of difference : it is larger and more powerful than either of them ;
its correspondingly large tail is even more highly coloured ; its rump is crossed by a very distinct band of
white ; and the white on the primaries is of greater extent than in its European ally, but not so extensive as
in P. leucoptera ; in all other respects the three birds are very similar.

Of the P. bactriana I have numerous specimens now before me from Affghanistan and Thibet, which
countries appear to be the head-quarters of the species, and where it performs the same offices, and exhibits
the same habits, manners, and disposition, that our own bird does in Europe, the Pica media in China, the
P. leucoptera in Siberia, and the P. Hudsonica and P. flavirostris in America.

“The Afghan Magpie,” says Captain Hutton, “is found all the year round, from Quettah to Giriskh, and
is very common. ‘They breed in March, and the young are fledged by the end of April. The nest is like
that of the European bird, and all its manners are precisely the same.”

A very fine series of these birds ‘s contained in the collection at the India Museum, Scotland Yard; and
my thanks are due to the Secretary of State for India and to Mr. Moore for the use of them in furtherance
of the present work.

Crown black, slightly glossed with green ; re
feathers open in texture, and terminating in a bristle ; :
lower part of the back pure white ; upper and under tail-coverts, vent, and thighs black ; lesser wing-coverts
black ; greater coverts, spurious wing, secondaries, and tertiaries glossed with green and blue, and a few of

the secondaries with a stripe of yellowish green along the centre of their outer webs; outer webs of the
the inner

in of the apical portion of the inner webs dark bronzy green ;
reins, pure white; two centre tail-feathers rich
then blue, and lastly bluish green ;

mainder of the head, neck, back, and breast black; the throat-
scapularies, abdomen, flanks, and a band across the

primaries, their tips, and the marg
webs, with the exception of the apical portion of their mz
hen that colour passes into rich purple,
webs and at the tip of their inner webs, the basal
bill, feet, and legs black.

to 82; tail 13; tarsi 2.

bronzy green nearly to the end, w
the lateral feathers are similarly coloured on their outer
portion of the latter being black, glossed with blue ; irides blackish buona

Total length 21 inches ; bill 2; wing of specimens from Ladakh from 7+

The front figure represents the bird of the size of life.

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