248 DiCRURiDjj;. 



Le Drongear, Levaill. Ois cVAfr. p. 167 ; Sundev. Crit. om Levaill. 



p. 42. 

 Dicrurus musicus, Vieill. N. Diet. cFHist. Nat. xi. p. 586 ; Gray, Gen. 



B. i. p. 287; Bp. Consp. i. p. 352; Cah. Mus. Hein. i. p. Ill; 



Hartl. Om. W.-Afr. p. 100; id. J. f. O. 1861, p. 170; Grill, ZdoI. 



Anteck. p. 33 ; Lnyard, B. S. Afr. p. 154 ; Grai/, Hand-l. B. i. 



p. 283 : Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 47 ; Gurnei/, in Anderss. B. Dam. 



L. p. 125 ; Shelley, Ibis, 1875, p. 75. 

 Mu^cicapa emarg-inata, Licht. Verz. Douhlett. p. 52. 

 Muscicapa divaricata, Licht. t. c. p. 52. 

 Edolius lup;'ubris, Heinpr. Hf Ehrenh. Symh. Phys. Ares, fol. s. pi. viii. 



fig. 3 ; Riipp. N. Wirh. p. 109. 

 Dicrurus canipennis, Swains. B. TV. Afr. i. p. 254 ; Bp. Consp. i. 



p. 352. 

 Dicrurus lugubris, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 287 ; Riipp. Syst. Uebers. p. 61 ; 



Bp. Consp. i. p. 352 ; Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 110 ; Heugl. Syst. Uebers. 



p. 32; Brehm, Reise Habesch. pp. 215, 319; Gray, Hand-l. B. i. 



p. 288. 

 Dicrurus divar'icatus, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 287 ; Cab. Mus. Hein. i. 



p. Ill ; Strickl. P. Z. S.^ 1850, p. 217 ; Horsf. ^ Moore, Cat. B. 



Mus. E.I. Co. i. p. 155 ; Hartl. Om. W.-Afr. p. 100 ; Gray, 



Hand-l. B. i. p. 286 ; Finsch, Tr. Z. S. vii. pi 249 ; Blanf. Geol. 



6f Zool. Abyss, p. 344 ; Finsch Sr Hartl. Vdg. Ostafr. p. 323 ; Sharpe, 



Cat. Afr. B. p. 47 ; Heugl. Om. N. O.-Afr. pp". 422, cxii ; Antin. 



6f Salvud. Viagg. Bogos, p. 77. 

 Dicrurus eraarginatus, Bp. Consp. i. p. 352. 

 Dicrurus aculeatus, Cass. Pr. Philad. Acad. 1851, p. 348. 

 Edolius erytlirophthalmus, Pr. Wiirt. ; Heugl. J. f. O. 1867, p. 294. 

 Dicrurus fugax, Peters, J. f. O. 1868, p. 132 ; Cab. in Von der 



Decken's Reise, iii. p. 29. 

 Dicrurus ludwigii, Bianc. Spec. Zool. Mosamb. fasc. xviii. {nee Smith) ; 



Fiyisch 8f Hartl. Vdg. Ostafr. p. 156. 

 Dicrurus adsimilis, IValden, Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 181. 

 Musicus divaricatus, Bouvier, Cat. Ois. Marche, SfC. p. 18. 



Adult. General colour glossy black, with a steel-blue .shade, more 

 distinct on the secondaries and tail-feathers; quills brown, contrast- 

 ing with the black of the body, especially underneath, the outer 

 edges only glossed with greenish black ; tail black, glossed with 

 steel-green ; under surface of body exactly like the upper, but not 

 so glossy on the abdomen and under tail- coverts ; no crest on the 

 head, but the frontal feathers full ; ear-coverts rather lighter than 

 the head under certain lights, and somewhat of a deep oily greenish 

 black ; bill and feet black ; iris red. Total length 9-5 inches, cul- 

 men 0-95, wing 5"55, tail 5*1, tarsus 0-9. 



Obs. The difference between the large South-African Drongo and 

 the smaller one of North-eastern Africa, B. divaricata, is simply 

 one of size, and no other difference exists excepting a rather lighter 

 under surface to the q\iiUs in the southern bird. This latter cha- 

 racter is often approached in northern examples. For measure- 

 ments of a large series, see Finsch and Hartlaub's ' "V ogel Ostafrika's ' 

 (I. c), in which work also Lord Tweeddale expresses his opinion that 

 B. adsimilis is not to be specifically separated from B. divaricata. 

 A comparison of a large series of specimens shows that the Indian 

 B. atra is nothing but a larger race of the African Drongo. 



