THE WANDERING MAGPIE (Dendrocitta vagabunda).
The Wandering Magpie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) is about sixteen inches in length, ten inches of which are included in the tail; the wing measures six inches. The entire head, nape, and breast are reddish brown or blackish brown, the tints being deeper upon the fore part of the head, chin, and breast, and from thence changing into a greyish shade. The feathers upon the shoulders, back, and tail-covers are deep red; the wing-covers and the exterior web of the secondary quills are light grey, almost white; the rest of the quills are black. The tail is deep grey, and all its feathers tipped with black; the lower part of the breast is red or reddish yellow, the beak black, the feet deep slate colour, and the eyes blood red.
The Kotri is met with throughout the whole of India, and is especially numerous in the wooded plains of Assam, China, and Cashmere. In the more northern parts it is seen in every group of trees and every garden, generally living in the immediate vicinity of villages; it appears to pass the day in flying in large undulating curves from tree to tree, or in roaming over a considerable tract of country, resting where it feels inclined, and never resorting to any particular spot for that purpose. It is but rarely met with in parties, but lives in pairs. Its food consists principally of fruit, or the insects found upon the trees; but it will also eat young birds, destroying them after the manner of the Shrike. Buckland tells us that another species hunts bats.
The BENTEOTS (Crypsirhina) are a group inhabiting Java. These birds are recognisable by the construction of their tail, which is formed of ten feathers, the centre ones being extremely long, whilst those at the sides are graduated. The beak is strong, of medium length; the tarsi moderately long, but weak; the toes are armed with powerful claws.
THE BENTEOT.
The Benteot of Japan, or Tenia of Le Vaillant (Crypsirhina varians), is about the size of a Thrush, though it appears much larger, owing to the extent of the long tail. Its soft plumage is principally of a jet black, and gleams with a green or purple sheen; only the forehead, bridles, and throat are pale black, and entirely without lustre; the quills are black, the four centre tail-feathers green, as are also the outer webs of the exterior feathers; the inner webs are of a dull black, the beak and feet are black. Horsfield tells us that this bird is by no means rare in Java, but frequents such very retired spots as to be but seldom met with; it avoids the inhabited parts of the country, and only appears occasionally upon the borders of its favourite thickets, to which it retreats at the first approach of danger. Its flight is unsteady and awkward, and its gait upon the ground equally clumsy. It lives principally upon insects of every description, and its powerful claws would seem to indicate that it can also plunder the nests of its feathered associates. Fruit has been found in the crop of this species.
A very similar group, TEMNURUS, is distinguished from that just described by the shape of the tail-feathers, the ends of which present the appearance of having been cut off at a right angle. The Saw-tail (Temnurus truncatus), inhabiting Cochin China, is the most perfect representative of this section. Its plumage is of an uniform black, and its length about fourteen inches.