Dendrocitta sinensis (_Lath._) _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 316.
Dendrocitta himalayensis, _Bl., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 676.
Common as is the Himalayan Tree-pie throughout the lower ranges of
those mountains from which it derives its name, I personally 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 my 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, composed entirely of fine
stems, 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 intermixed 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 18th_.--Nest, 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;
eggs yellowish, white, blotched with pale olive chiefly at the larger
end; young just born.
"_Jaha Powah, 6th June_.--Female and nest in forest on a largish tree
placed on the fork of a branch; a mere bunch of sticks like a
Crow's nest; three eggs, short and thick, fawny white blotched with
fawn-brown chiefly at the thick end."
Dr. Jerdon says:--"I have had the nest and eggs brought me at
Darjeeling frequently. The nest is made of sticks and roots, and
the eggs, three or four in number, are of a pale dull greenish-fawn
colour, with a few pale reddish-brown spots and blotches, sometimes
very indistinct."
Captain Hutton tells us that this species "occurs abundantly at
Mussoorie, at about 5000 feet elevation, during summer, and more
sparingly at greater elevations. In the winter it leaves the mountains
for the Dhoon.
"It breeds in May, on the 27th of which month I took a nest with three
eggs and another with three young ones. The nest is like that of
_Urocissa occipitalis_, being composed externally of twigs and lined
with finer materials, according to the situation; one nest, taken in
a deep glen by the side of a stream, was lined with the long fibrous
leaves of the Mare's tail (_Equisetum_) which grew abundantly by the
water's edge; another, taken much higher on the hillside and away from
the water, was lined with tendrils and fine roots. The nest is placed
rather low, generally about 8 or 10 feet from the ground, sometimes at
the extremity of a horizontal branch, sometimes in the forks of young
bushy oaks. The eggs somewhat resemble those of _U. occipitalis_, but
are paler and less spotted, being of a dull greenish ash with brown
blotches and spots, somewhat thickly clustered at the larger end."
Mr. J.R. Cripps says:--"On the 15th June, 1880, I found a nest [in the
Dibrugarh District] with three fresh eggs. It was fixed in the middle
branches of a sapling, about ten feet off the ground, in dense
forest, and was built of twigs, presenting a fragile appearance; the
egg-cavity was 4½ inches [in diameter] and 1 inch deep, and lined with
fine twigs and grass-roots."
Captain Wardlaw Ramsay writes:--"I obtained two eggs of this species
at an elevation of 4200 feet in the Karen hills east of Toungngoo on
the 16th April, 1875."
Taking the eggs as a body they are rather regular, somewhat elongated
ovals, but broader and again more pointed varieties occur. The
ground-colour varies a great deal: in a few it is nearly pure white,
generally it has a dull greenish or yellowish-brown tinge, in some
it is creamy, in some it has a decided pinky tinge. The markings are
large irregular blotches and streaks, almost always most dense at the
large end, where they are often more or less confluent, forming an
irregular mottled cap, and not unfrequently very thinly set over the
rest of the surface of the egg. In one egg, however, the zone is about
the thick end, and there are scarcely any markings elsewhere. As a
rule the markings are of an olive-brown of one shade or another; but
when the ground is at all pinkish then the markings are more or less
of a reddish brown. Besides these primary markings, all the eggs
exhibit a greater or smaller number of faint lilac or purple spots or
blotches, which chiefly occur where the other markings are most dense.
In length they vary from 1·06 to 1·22, and in breadth from 0·8 to 1·0,
but the average of 34 eggs is 1·14 by 0·85.