298 NOVITATES ZOOLOCrCAE XXV. 1918. 



it appears therefore better to keep them separate, especiallj' when it is .seen that 

 geographically the\' are divided l)y an area inhabited by a race well differentiated 

 from either {albiriclus). 



Habitat. This bird inhabits the whole of India south of the foothills and 

 adjacent plains of the Himalayas to tlie extreme south of Travancore. whence 

 there are some specimens eq\ial in size to the largest of Central Indian birds. 



Wing average, 1W4 ; tail average, ISIVG ; bill about 22'5 mm. 



(2) Dicruriis ater albirictus. 



Buchanga albiriclus Hodgs., Ind. Rev. i. p. 326 (1S37) Nepal. 



Edoliua fingah Blyth, J.A.S.B. xv. p. 80(». 



Dirriiriis hitnntai/evsis Tytler, /'/;',<;, 1S6S. p. 200. Simla to Mussoori (nom. niirl.). 



Type locality : Nepal. 



The largest of all the races of this Drongo with a very long tail and a heavy 

 bill. Birds from the west appear to have longer tails than those in the east, 

 but as a very few short-tailed birds suffice to reduce the average and «e have 

 but 13 birds to deal with, it is not possible to separate them on this charac- 

 teristic, even accompanied as it is by a somewhat smaller biU. 



Habitat. Tliis race is found from the west of the Himalayas, through 

 Garhwal, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, the hills north and south of the Brahmapootra 

 into Manipur and the Northern China Hills. Birds from Chittagong and Eastern 

 Bengal also belong to this form, but not those from Calcutta and Behar, which 

 belong to the last. 



Wing average, 1491 (140-155); tail average, 159-5 (140-184); bill about 

 23-5 mm. 



(3) Dicrurus ater minor. 



Dirrurvs minor Layard, Ann. d- 3lag. Naf. Hist. 2. xiii. p. 129 (1854). 



Type Locality : Ceylon. 



A very smaU bird but with a very long tail, hke all the western forms. The 

 Ceylon bird has a decidedly smaller bill than the northern forms nearest to it. 



Habitat. Ceylon. 



Wing average, 133-0 mm. (125-143); tail average, 153-3 mm. (135-165); 

 bill about 20 mm. 



(4) Dicrurus ater calhoecv.s. 



Dirriiriis calhoecJis Swinhoe, P.Z.S. 1.871. p. ^11. 



Type Locality : China. 



Tliis form is very close to the Central Indian one, typical ater, but it is a 

 rather larger bird with a decidedly shorter tail and must be kept separate. I 

 cannot, however, divide the birds from Bm-ma, China, and Hainan from one 

 another. It has been alleged that the Cliinese birds can be distinguished by 

 their larger bills and shorter wings, but with fine series of both Chinese and 

 Burmese birds and over a dozen from Hainan available for comparison I cannot 

 find that the supposed differences hold good. 



As regards Siam birds the relationship is not so definite, and it would appear 

 that birds from the extreme south (Siam in Malay Peninsula and ? north 



