^94 NOVITATES ZOOLOOICAE XXV. 1918. 



(5) Dicrurus levcophaevs nigrescens. 



Dicrurus nigrescens Gates, in Hume's Nests and Eggs, 2ncl Ed. i. p. 208. 1S89 (Deser. of eggs) ; 

 id. Fatm. Brit. Ind., B. 1. p. 315 (1889— Descr. of plumage). 



Type Locality : Rangoon. 



Gates has not designated a type for this name, but the birds so named 

 and marked in liis hand\vi'iting are now in the British Museum and these are 

 from Rangoon. 



This name is given by Gates to the very dark form which occurs over the 

 whole of central Burma, and which he undoubtedly considered to be quite a 

 different species to the pale. I have, however, shown that they are one and 

 the same, and his name having priority will therefore have to be retained. In 

 the Avifauna of British India (vol. i. p. 315) Gates gives the range of his bird as 

 from Rangoon and Pegu to the extreme south of Tennasserim, but as a matter 

 of fact the Rangoon bird is identical with the Central Burmese birds and not 

 with the South Tennasserim birds. Again, Gates' key, which infers that the 

 southern bird is a " deep indigo " wliilst northern birds are bluish grey, is quite 

 incorrect, for, on the whole, it is the reverse to this which is actually the case. 



Habitat. The area occupied by D. I. nigrescens may be said to be from about 

 the latitude of Bangkok as far north as S. Yunnan, Central Cliin Hills, and 

 Shan States, where it grades into the next and bigger form. 



Wing average, 132 mm. ; tail average, 138 mm. 



(6) Dicrurus leucophaeus hopivoodi subsp. nov. 



Type: No. 86. 3. 1.2012. British Museum. 



Type Locality : Dacca. 



A bigger bird, considerably, than nigrescens, with a very long tail and in 

 colour distinctly darker on an average. 



This is the biggest of all the forms of Grey Drongo, distinguishable at a 

 glance, from all others east of the Brahmapootra and decidedly bigger than even 

 the biggest on the west of that river, from wliich they also differ in being paler 

 on an average. 



The birds from the Chin Hills seem to be intermediate between nigrescens 

 and hopivoodi, those from the south belonging to the former, those from the 

 north to the latter ; unfortunately in most cases exact locaUties from these hills 

 have not been given, and it is difficult therefore to determine the connecting line 

 with any certainty. 



Habitat. Assam and Bengal east of the Brahmapootra, Manipur, Looshai, 

 Chittagong Hill Tracts, extreme northern Clun Hills, Northern Kachin Hills, 

 and Shan States into Yinman. 



Gmitting doubtful specimens from the Cliin Hills which cannot with certainty 

 be located either in the north or south, the measurements are : 



Wing average, 145'7 mm. ; tail average, ISO'O mm. 



Including the above doubtful birds : 



Wing average, 144'2 mm. ; tail average, 148'7 mm. 



I name this bird after Mr. Cyiil Hopwood, who has done much useful nrnithn- 

 logical work in the area it inhabits. 



