UROCISSA CASRULEA, Gould.
Formosan Blue Pie.

Urocissa cerulea, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1862, p. 282.—Swinh. in Ibis, 1863, p. 384.

 

Ir will be seen by the number of species of Blue Pies figured in the present work, that this genus of birds
forms a very conspicuous feature in Asian ornithology. The Urocissa erythrorhyncha of Nepaul and the
U. sinensis of China are the oldest-known members of this lovely form, to which modern research has added
the U. magnirostris from Siam, the U. Jlavirostris from Sikim, the UW. cucullatus from Kulu, and the UY. cerulea
from the Island of Formosa. The last-mentioned new and beautiful species is nearly equal in size to the U.
magnirostris, but differs from that and all the other members of its genus in its remarkably intense blue colouring.

The following is Mr. Swinhoe’s account of the U. ceérulea, as given by him in the volume of the ‘Ibis’ for
1863, above referred to :—

‘Soon after my arrival at Tamsuy, some hunters I had sent into the interior returned with the two long
tail-feathers of a bird which they said they had shot, but were obliged to eat, as, owing to the heat of the
weather, it was getting tainted. They called it the Ting-bay swannium, or Long-tailed Mountain Nymph.
I saw, from the peculiar form of the feathers, that the bird from which they had been taken must have been
a Urocissa, and, from their bright-blue tint and large white tips, I felt sure they belonged to a fine new spe.
cies. I was much excited, and offered large sums for specimens, and consequently soon received an ample
supply, an examination of which satisfied me that I had obtained a new and beautiful addition to this lovely
group of birds.

“The Mountain Nymph is by no means uncommon in the large camphor-forests of the mountain-range.
It is there to be met with in small parties of six or more, flying from tree to tree, brandishing about their
handsome tail-appendages, and displaying their brightly contrasted black, azure, and white plumage, and
their red bill and legs, among the deep-tinted foliage of the woods. They are shy birds, soon taking alarm
at the approach of a stranger, giving warning to each other in loud notes, and then gliding away one after
another, with a straight flight, into an adjoining tree, the flight being executed with short, quick flaps of the
wings, while the body and tail are held nearly horizontal. They feed on wild figs, mountain berries, and insects,
chiefly Melolonthine Coleoptera. I had no opportunities of observing the nesting of this bird, nor the plu-
mage of the young, which in the U. sinensis differs considerably from that of the adult.

“In the large size and bulkiness of its bill, this species is more nearly allied to the U. magnirostris of
Tennasserim than to the UW. sinensis of China; but its tail is shorter than that of either of those birds, and
its plumage is entirely different to the similarly distributed tints of the other described species.

“The male has a larger bill, and somewhat longer wings and tail, than the female; but both sexes vary
a good deal in proportion z¢er se. In the older specimens, the tomie of the upper mandible are often
worn into a serrated appearance.

‘The head, hinder part of the neck, throat, and breast black ; body, both above and below. dusky-purplish
azure ; wings brownish black ; the outer webs of the primaries and secondaries, and the greater part of the
tertiaries, of the same colour as the back, with a large white spot at the tip of each quill, becoming smaller
and obscure on the last primaries; under surface of the wings marked with rufous; upper tail-coverts
broadly margined with black, preceded by a whitish shade, and in some cases tipped with white; two
central tail-feathers somewhat spatulate at the tip, with turned-up sides, the spatule white, the remainder
purplish azure, with black shafts; the second tail-feather with a much smaller white tip, preceded by a
broad black band, the black increasing in extent, and the white of the tips slightly decreasing on the other
lateral feathers ; bill bright red-lead, paler at the tip; legs and feet also bright red-lead, the sole-pads light
and dingy; claws light reddish brown; inside of the mouth flesh-colour ; nis ee light king’s yellow,
somewhat pearly in appearance ;_ eyelid blackish brown, with a narrow outer rim of orange-red colour.”

The Plate represents this bird, nearly of the size of life.