20() Birds in and abjut the Suit ion. 



through the eye; lower plumage bright cinnamon chestnut in 

 the male and pale chestnut in the female. The young are of 

 duller plumage throughout. Length about i'> inches. 



DronOO!-! : We only get the Black Drongo {Dicni nis 

 ater). It arrives in the spring to breed and goes down in 

 the autumn, a very common but charming bird. They are 

 not kept much by natives as their relations are infinitely 

 superior. The Kesraj, the Hair-crested Drongo (Chihia hot- 

 tentotta) and the Bhimraj, the Larger Racquet-tailed Drongo 

 (Dissemurus paradiseus), especially the latter, are great fav- 

 ourites with the down -country native, as being good mimics 

 and songsters. D. ater has some very nice notes and makes 

 a,n excellent pet. 



Two young were once brought in to me, and I passed 

 them on to a bird-loving lady in the Station. They had 

 been reared on shredded raw meat (probably goat). The 

 native always dips the meat in water to do away, with the 

 stickiness. They were shut up at night, but enjoyed full 

 liberty during the day. They lived for about three rnontlis, 

 their world enjoying and by their world enjoyed, when they 

 met their fate through ' trying to bathe in a tub meant for 

 humans. 



We generally have three or four nests in the compound 

 every year. They seem with us invariably to build on the 

 horizontal fork of a fir tree some way out from the trunk, 

 fairly conspicuous when one knows where to look. They have 

 little to fear from feathered foes, well earning their .'Vnglo 

 Indian name of King-crow. I have sometimes almost pitied 

 an unfortunate Crow or Vulture, or Kite being harried from 

 one Drongo's beat to another. It has been very much written 

 about and with good reason. When present it is very much 

 in evidence, taking up a commanding position on some bare 

 branch or other prominent point from which it gives a fine 

 display of the art of flying, swooping on its insect prey 

 (generally taken on the ground), or apparently more often for 

 the love of the art or mischief. Its pleasing metallic notes, 

 energy, and boldness make it a welcome visitor. 



The whole plumage is deep black glossed with steel 

 blue. The eye is red. The young are brownish with feathers 

 of the lower plumage tipped with white. Gates states that 



