120 Dr. T. C. Jerdon's Supjilementary Notes 



which the name balicassius was applied, and it will therefore 

 retain Hodgson^s name of Buchanga annectans. 



280. DiCRURUS LONGICAUDATUS. 



It has been asserted that the Himalayan bird generally re- 

 ferred to under this name is distinct from the bird of Southern 

 India ; and the late Mr. Beavan named it D. waldeni, with which 

 the D. himalayanus of Tytler is stated to be identical*. I have 

 recently compared specimens from the Himalayas with others 

 from Southern India, and have been unable to detect any ap- 

 preciable difference. Hodgson^s name o{ pyrrhops is given as a 

 synonym of this bird by Gray and Blyth; and I followed them. 

 This so far appears to be correct, that one drawing of this 

 species in Hodgson's collection is named by him D. pyrrhops ; 

 but there is another, decidedly distinct bird figured by Hodgson 

 under the same name, which will therefore stand as 



280 his. Buchanga pyrrhops, Hodgson. The Grey Long- 

 tailed Drongo. 



Vicount Walden first discriminated this species. It somewhat 

 resembles in coloration D. cineraceus, Horsfield, being of a mode- 

 rately dark shade of grey, with a distinct metallic shine; and the 

 tail-feathers always show the ashy grey tinge in a marked 

 manner when compared with specimens of D. longicccudatus. The 

 dimensions of one killed at Dacca were as follows : — Length 

 11 inches, wing 5^, extent 16^, tail 5|. 



I am not certain now whether I ever procured this at Darjeeling 

 (having confounded it with D.Iongicaudatus) ; but the specimen I 

 got at Dacca I looked upon as a pale individual of that 

 species, and it was not till Lord Walden had pointed out its 

 distinctions and showed me a similar specimen from the Hima- 

 layas that I fully recognized its claim to specific separation. I 

 found it by no means rare in Dacca, in groves and at the edges 

 of jungle, with a strong and rapid flight, quite similar to that 

 of D. longicaudatm, capturing insects in the air at a considerable 

 distance from its perch. I have little doubt that it will be 



* Ibis, 1868, p. 200. Those who consider it distinct may adopt Tytler's 

 name; for Beavan's appellation had been forestalled by Schlegel for 

 a Madagascar Dierurus. 



