THE DRONGOS. 33 



the best of things which has given him such a wide range, 

 for he is found all through Africa south of the Saha^ra 

 and east of India and Burma he goes to Southern China : 

 He is not a songster, but some of his notes are very 

 pleasant ; he begins them at daybreak before most birds, 

 although he is at the same time very late in going to 

 roost. 



The hens of the species are remarkable for laying eggs 

 of two quite different types, either pale salmon-colour 

 with brownish-red spots or pure white without any spots 

 at all. I presume the white spotting, which certainly 

 distinguishes the young birds, must appear after they 

 leave the nest, for I never saw a nestling with it. 



Although it would be cruel and absurd to cage so active 

 and common a bird as this, especially as his habits render 

 him an undesirable companion for other species, yet a 

 hand-reared nestling King-Crow would probably make a 

 very nice pet to fly about at large, and would protect 

 the young poultry by driving off the crows and kites. 



The Bhtmraj or Racket-tailed Drongo (Dissemurus 

 2xmi(Useus).~T:hk is the only one member of the Drongo 

 family which is at all commonly kept in confinement and 

 it is certainly a most interesting pet. It is about twice 

 as large as the King-Crow, with a strong crow-like bill, 

 a crest of narrow feathers rising from the forehead and 

 gracefully curving back, a ruff of hackles round the neck, 

 and each outer tail-feather of a remarkable length, up to 

 more than a foot and a half. Most of this is bare shaft, 

 there being only about a couple of inches of webbing at 

 the tip, like a tassel. The rest of the tail is of quite 

 F, GAB 3 



