The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma/Birds/Order Passeres/Family Corvidæ/Genus Garrulus

by Edward Charles Stuart Baker

Genus GARRULUS Briss., 1760.

The genus Garrulus contains the True Jays, of which there are numerous species in Europe and Asia, three species and several subspecies being found within the limits of the Indian Empire. These Indian Jays are resident species but may be partially migratory to the extent of moving up and down the slopes of the mountains according to season.

The Jays are birds of bright plumage, the wing especially being marked with vivid blue. They are not exactly gregarious but often three or four are found together.

In the Jays the bill is strong, about three-quarters the length of the head and the commissure is straight. The nasal bristles are short and numerous, completely covering the nostrils. The tail is of medium length and slightly graduated.

G. lanceolatus has been separated generically under the name Laletris on account of its crested crown and more stiffened feathers of the throat. These characters are, however, only questions of degree and I see no reason to accept them as generic in the Jays when we discard far greater differences as of no value specifically in other birds.

Key to Species.

A.

Tail blue barred with black ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

G. lanceolatus, p. 60.

B. Tail all black.

a.

Forehead white, crown black or black and white. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

G. leucotis, p. 61.

b.

Forehead and crown vinaceous like the back. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

G. bispecularis, p. 62.

(39) Garrulus lanceolatus.

The Black-throated Jay.

Garrulus lanceolatus Vigors, P. Z. S., 1830, p. 7 (Himalayas); Blanf. & Oates, i, p.38.

Vernacular names. Ban sarrah (of the Simla hillmen).

Description. Forehead, crown, nape, crest and sides of the head black; remainder of upper plumage vinous grey, brighter on the rump and upper tail-coverts; tail blue, barred with black, tipped with white and with a broad subterminal band of black; primaries and secondaries black, barred with blue on the outer web; the primaries narrowly, the outer secondaries broadly tipped white; the inner secondaries grey, with a subterminal black band and a white tip; lesser coverts vinous, the median and greater black; primary coverts almost entirely white; winglet barred with blue and tipped with white.

Chin, throat and foreneck black with white shaft-streaks, the black terminating in a patch of iron grey on the upper breast; remainder of the lower plumage and sides of the neck vinous grey, brighter than the back.

Colours of soft parts. Legs and feet livid flesh or slaty pink; claws more horny; bill slaty pink at base, yellowish at tip; iris red-brown, red or deep red-lake. The colour of the iris probably changes with age.

Measurements. Length about 225 to 235 mm.; wing 150 to 155 mm.; tail about 160 to 175 mm,; tarsus 32 to 34 mm.; culmen about 27 mm.

Distribution. The Himalayas from Chitral and Hazara to Nepal and the whole of Garhwal and Kashmir up to some 8,000 feet.

Nidification. Breeds from the middle of April to early June at heights between 4,000 and 8,000 feet, making a shallow cup-shaped nest of twigs and roots, more rarely of grass, lined with moss, fern rachides, or fine roots. It is generally placed in a small oak or other tree, 10 to 30 feet from the ground in thin forest. The eggs vary from three to six, generally four or five. In colour they vary from pale yellowish stone to pale greenish, finely stippled everywhere with olive-brown and, more seldom, with a few hair-lines of black. They measure about 28·6 × 22·6 mm.

Habits. The Black-throated Jay is a bird of forests but of the thinner more open parts, venturing often into comparatively unwooded tracts. Like the European Jay its voice is loud, harsh and penetrating, and it is a noisy bird, more especially in the mornings and evenings in the breeding season. It is omnivorous, eating fruit and insects, small mammals, birds and reptiles and other birds' eggs. Its flight is like that of its European cousin and it indulges in the same flappings and contortions when on the wing.

 

Garrulus leucotis.

Key to Subspecies.

A. Crown all black	G. l. leucotis, p. 61.
B. Crown white, narrowly streaked with black	G. l. outesi, p. 62.

 

(40) Garrulus leucotis leucotis.

The Burmese Jay.

Garrulus leucotis Hume, P. A. S. B., 1874, p. 106 (Kaukaryit); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 39.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Forehead and front of crown white, with brown shaft-streaks; anterior crown and crest black; lores, feathers under the eyes, ear-coverts, chin, throat and front of neck white; a broad moustachial streak black; back, rump and scapulars vinous brown, paler on the rump; breast the same as the back; abdomen and flanks paler vinous brown; upper and under tail-coverts and vent white; tail black, barred with ashy towards the base; lesser and median wing-coverts like the back; winglet, primary-coverts, the outer greater coverts and the outer webs of most of the secondaries on their basal halves, bright blue banded with black; remainder of greater coverts and quills black, the primaries with some portions of the outer web grey; the inner-most secondary partially chestnut.

Colours of soft parts. Iris hazel-brown to dark brown or wood-brown; bill almost black with pale or whitish tip; legs horny white to dull flesh-colour, claws a little darker.

Measurements. Total length about 300 to 325 mm.; wing 165 to 177 mm.; tail about 130 mm.; tarsus about 45 mm.; culmen about 26 mm.

Distribution. The hills of Burma from the Kachin Hills in the north-east, through the Shan States, Karen Hills to Tenasserim.

Nidification. This bird breeds in great numbers all round about Maymyo, and its nests and eggs have been taken by many collectors. The nests are wide, untidy cups of twigs, grass and roots, and the eggs are like those of G. lanceolatus but very much larger, averaging about 33·0 × 23·0 mm. It appears to nest in communities. The breeding season commences in the end of March and lasts up to the end of May. Three to five eggs are laid, generally four.

Fig. 15. — Head of G. l. leucotis.

Habits. Found principally between 4,000 and 7,000 feet, and keeping much to pine and dry deciduous rather than to evergreen forest; there is little otherwise in the habits of this Jay which calls for remark. Harington found it very common in the oak forests near Maymyo, and obtained six or seven nests close to one another in quite small patches of forest.

(41) Garrulus leucotis oatesi.

Sharpe's Jay.

Garrulus oatesi Sharpe, Bull. B. O. C, v, p. 44, 1896 (Chin Hills).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Like the Burmese Jay but has the anterior crown and crest white, broadly streaked with black instead of wholly black.

Colours of soft parts and Measurements as in G. l. leucotis.

Distribution. Upper and lower Chin Hills right up to the borders of Manipur and Looshai and probably inside these countries also, though the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers may prove to be its west and eastern boundaries.

Nidification. This Jay breeds in the Chin Hills in April and probably May between 3,500 and 5,000 feet. Mr. J. M. D. Mackenzie describes a nest as "a shallow cup in a low tree in scrub jungle on a steep hillside. It was placed about 10 feet up and made entirely of roots with a few scraps of moss outside. It measured externally 6" × 23/4", inside 41/2" × 2"."

The eggs are like those of the Burmese Jay but the few I have seen average smaller, being about 29·5 × 23·1 mm.

The hen sits very close and has literally to be driven from the nest.

Habits. Messrs. Hopwood and Mackenzie found this Jay fairly common in the Chin Hills, keeping to hillsides with oak and scrub forest. Voice, flight and habits generally are in no way distinguishable from other species of the same genus. They report this Jay as moving about fairly widely in the spring and autumn, visiting comparatively low valleys in the winter but always breeding at over 4,000 feet.

 

Garrulus bispecularis

Key to Subspecies.

A. The palest of all the forms. Throat vinaceous like head	G. b. bispecularis, p. 63.
B. Darker and browner and less vinaceous; throat and lower breast about the same colour	G. b. interstinctus, p. 64.
C. Still darker and browner; lyhroat and breast concolorous	G. b. persaturatus, p. 65.
D. Above very rich red-vinaceous; throat and sides of head much paler; forehead faintly streaked	G. b. haringtoni, p. 65.
E. Above rich red-vinaceous; throat almost pure white and sides of head paler; forehead faintly streaked	G. b. rufescens, p. 65.

It is very doubtful whether the whole of the Garruli should not be treated as subspecies of the same species in so far as leucotis and bispecularis are concerned. Haringtoni in many ways links up the white-eared forms with the dark-eared ones but the breeding areas still require to be carefully worked out and, until this is done, it seems desirable to keep them apart.

The above key is a far from satisfactory one but may suffice to enable students who know whence their specimens come to identify them.

 

(42) Garrulus bispecularis bispecularis.

The Himalayan Jay.

Garrulus bispecularis Vigors, P. Z. S., 1831, p, 7 (Himalayas); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 39.

I restrict the type-locality to Murree, Punjab. Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. A broad black moustachial band; lower part of rump, upper and lower tail-coverts, vent and thighs white; with these exceptions the whole plumage of the head, neck and body is a rich vinaceous fawn-colour; tail black, with some interrupted ashy bars near the base of the central pair of feathers: wings as in leucotis.

Colours of soft parts. Bill dusky; margins of eyelids dull brick-red; iris reddish brown; tarsi and toes pale pinkish fleshy; claws livid. (Scully.)

Measurements. Length about 300 mm.; wing 160 to 178 mm.: tail about 180 mm.; tarsus about 32 mm.; culmen about 26 mm.

Distribution. Western Himalayas from Cashmere to Nepal and Garhwal.

Nidification. Breeds in April, May and June, making a nest of twigs and roots, lined either with grass or with finer roots and sometimes having a little moss on the exterior. In shape it varies from a shallow to a deep cup some 6" to 8" in diameter and it is placed in a fork of some small tree, near the top. Chestnuts and oaks seem to be specially favoured. It breeds up to 7,000 feet or higher and sometimes as low as 3,000 feet.

The eggs number four or five and are like those of lanceolatus but more boldly speckled and often more reddish in the ground-colour and markings. They measure 27·5 x 21·4 mm.

Habits. The Himalayan Jay is a resident bird throughout the range between 3,000 and 7,000 feet, perhaps moving up and down a little in summer and winter. It haunts forest of all kinds, both evergreen and deciduous, and in general habits it closely resembles the Black-throated Jay.

 

(43) Garrulus bispecularis interstinctus.

The Sikkim Jay.

Garrulus bispecularis interstinctus Hartert, Nov. Zoologicæ, xxv, p. 430 (1918) (Darjeeling).

Vernacular names. Lho-Karrio-pho (Lepcha).

Description. Similar to the Himalayan Jay with the upper parts darker and more reddish brown. The throat is concolorous with the lower breast and upper abdomen.

Measurements. Wing 150 to 170 mm. (Hartert).

Distribution. Sikkim and probably all the hills north of the Brahmahputra as far as the Mishmi and Dafla Hills, where Dr. J. Falkiner obtained it.

Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded.

 

(44) Garrulus bispecularis persaturatus.
The Khasia Hills Jay.

Garrulus bispecularis persaturatus Hartert, Nov. Zoologicæ, xxv, p. 430 (1918) (Shillong).

Vernacular names. Dao-flampu (Cachari).

Description. The darkest and brownest of all the races.

Measurements. Wing 162 to 176 mm.

Distribution. Hills south of the Brahmaputra, but the limits still undefined. South of Manipur it is not found in the Chin Hills and east of the Naga Hills the country is still utterly unknown.

Nidification. Breeds in the Khasia Hills in May, during which month two nests were brought in to me with the parent birds. They were made of twigs, roots and tendrils and lined with finer roots and fern rachides; in shape broad cups about 10″ × 4 1/2″. Both nests were placed in rhododendron trees 15 to 20 feet from the ground in mixed oak and rhododendron forest at about 6,000 feet.

The eggs are like those of the Himalayan Jay and average about 29·0 × 22·5 mm.

Habits. I found this bird more than once in N. Cachar in stunted oak forest at 5,000 to 6,000 feet but it was very rare; in the Khasia Hills it was generally to be found either in the pine-forests or in the patches of oak-forest just above the pines. In habits and manner it was very like the common European Jay, but much more shy and not so noisy.

 

(45) Garrulus bispecularis haringtoni.
Rippon's Jay.

Garrulus haringtoni Rippon, Bull. B. O. C., xv, p. 97 (1905) (Mt. Victoria, S. Chin Hills).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Similar to the Sikkim Jay, but throat whitish and sides of head and ear-coverts much paler. The crown is also distinctly, sometimes strongly, streaked with blackish.

Measurements. This is a large bird, the wing-measurements being 170 to 178 mm., so that in size as well as in colour it approaches the Burmese Jay.

Distribution. South Chin Hills and South Kachin Hills, where they seem to overlap with the Burmese Jay. A Jay which is found in the N. Shan States may be this or leucotis.

Nidification. The nest and eggs of this Jay were taken on Mt. Victoria but no details recorded.

Habits. Similar to those of the other Jays. It is said to keep much to pine-forests and to grass-covered hills with scattered oaks.^[1]

1. G. b. rufescens, the Yunnan Jay, is almost sure to occur within the Shan States and may be distinguished by the characters given in the key.