Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 129 



137. DiCRURUS MACROCERCUS, Vieill. 



I cannot help thinking that Dr. Kelaart has wrongly identified 

 this species in his ^ Prodromus Faunse Zeylanicse/ for he writes — 

 " E. Malabaricus, or king crow, is seen in all parts, generally in 

 pairs, in the open fields ; they perch on the backs of cattle.^' 



Surely he refers to Dicrurus macrocercus, which is the Colombo 

 species, and much addicted to perching on cattle : this is also 

 a habit of D. longicaudatuSf one of the Jaffna species, and 

 my old note upon it, which I copy verbatim, is curiously like 

 Dr. Kelaart^s own observation. I do not, however, think he ever 

 saw D. longicaudatuSj not having visited the Jaffna peninsula, to 

 which it is confined, and not including it in his list ; D. macro- 

 cercus therefore is probably the bird to which he alludes. Even 

 this latter name is likely to be changed, for Mr. Blyth writes, after 

 comparing a number of Ceylonese specimens with some of the 

 Indian race, " The Cingalese small race is so constant in its 

 characters, that it may bear the distinctive name of D. minor. 

 The Javanese race is perfectly similar to that of India." 



D. minor is common about Colombo, frequenting the natives' 

 gardens ; it feeds on insects, upon which it darts from a spray, 

 to which it returns after each short excursion. They sing not 

 unpleasingly, and often pour out a note of joy as they follow 

 each other in rapid coursings through the trees. 



138. DiCRURUS EDOLIFORMIS, Blyth. 

 Not uncommon. I procured a few specimens during a short 

 sojourn I made at Ambegamoa; their habits were not different 

 from those of the other Dicruri ; they seem to keep entirely to 

 the jungle. The species was first discovered by Dr. Templeton 

 in 1847, and described by Mr. Blyth in J. A. S. xv. 297. v' 



139. Dicrurus longicaudatus, A. Hay. Erattoo valan coo- 

 roovi, Mai. ; lit. Double-tailed Bird. 



Common in the Jaffna peninsula, and extending as far as 

 Anarajahpoora; it frequents open lands and perches on the 

 backs of cattle to seek for ticks, on which it feeds largely. It 

 usually goes in pairs and is fond of sitting on the " matties,'' of 

 which the fences in the open country are generally composed. 

 From these it sallies forth in quest of insects, which it captures 

 either on the wing or in the grass, and I have often seen it on 

 the ground itself seeking its food, a habit I never saw displayed 

 by any of our other Dicruri. It has a hoarse unmusical note. 



140. Dicrurus CyERULEscENs, Linn. 

 I procured one or two specimens of this species at Pt. Pedro, 

 but it probably is only an accidental visitor. 



Ann. ^f Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xiii. 9 



