Himalayas for a time and tarry in the plains until the
severity of the winter has passed away.

_THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS_

THE CORVIDAE OR CROW FAMILY

This family, which is well represented in the Himalayas, includes
the true crows, with their allies, the choughs, pies, jays, and tits.

The common Indian house-crow (_Corvus splendens_), with which every
Anglo-Indian is only too familiar, loveth not great altitudes, hence
does not occur in any of the higher hill stations. Almora is the one
place in the hills where he appears to be common. There he displays
all the shameless impudence of his brethren in the plains.

The common crow of the Himalayas is the large all-black species which
is known as the Indian corby or jungle crow (_C. macrorhynchus_).
Unlike its grey-necked cousin, this bird is not a public nuisance;
nevertheless it occasionally renders itself objectionable by
carrying off a chicken or a tame pigeon. In May or June it constructs,
high up in a tree, a rough nest, which is usually well concealed by
the thick foliage. The nest is a shallow cup or platform in the midst
of which is a depression, lined with grass and hair. Horse-hair is
used in preference to other kinds of hair; if this be not available
crows will use human hair, or hair plucked from off the backs of cattle.
Those who put out skins to dry are warned that nesting crows are apt
to damage them seriously. Three or four eggs are laid. These are dull
green, speckled with brown. Crows affect great secrecy regarding
their nests. If a pair think that their nursery is being looked at
by a human being, they show their displeasure by swearing as only
crows can, and by tearing pieces of moss off the branch of some tree
and dropping these on the offender's head!

Two species of chough, the red-billed (_Graculus eremita_), which
is identical with the European form, and the yellow-billed chough
(_Pyrrhocorax alpinus_), are found in the Himalayas; but he who would
see them must either ascend nearly to the snow-line or remain on in
the hills during the winter.

Blue-magpies are truly magnificent birds, being in appearance not
unlike small pheasants. Two species grace the Himalayas: the
red-billed (_Urocissa occipitalis_) and the yellow-billed
blue-magpie (_U. flavirostris_). These are distinguishable one from
the other mainly by the colour of the beak. A blue-magpie is a bird
over 2 feet in length, of which the fine tail accounts