—— 
172 DICRURUS AFER 
Dicrurus aldabranus. 
Buchanga aldabrana, Ridgway, Pr. U. 8. Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 597 (1894) 
Aldabra Isl. 
Dicrurus aldabranus, Shelley, Ibis, 1901, p. 590. 
Adult male. Similar in colouring to that of D. waldeni. Total length 
11-25, wing 5:3, tail 5-55 (depth of fork 1:35), tarsus 0-92. Aldabra Island, 
8. 10. 92. 
Female. More nearly resembles D. leuwcopygialis from Ceylon, but is a 
paler and greyer bird. Upper parts dusky grey with paler margins to the 
feathers of the upper half of head, the ramp and upper tail-coverts, which 
margins incline to white on the forehead and next to the tail; wings, with 
some imperfect white margins most strongly marked on the median and 
greater-coverts and the secondaries; under wing-coverts white; under- 
surface of quills uniform dusky grey of the same shade as the entire tail ; 
underparts white, mottled with deep grey and inclining to uniform dusky 
grey on the flanks. “Iris reddish brown” (Ridgway) ; bill and feet black. 
Total length 9:3 inches, culmen 1:0, wing 4°65, tail 4-8 (depth of fork 1-1), 
tarsus 0-9. Aldabra Island, 9, 14. 3. 06 (M. J. Nicoll). 
The Aldabra Drongo is confined to the island of that name. 
Regarding the types, Dr. Ridgway writes: “Differ from 
Buchanga atra in the larger and more strongly hooked bill, 
much longer nasal plumes (reaching half-way from nostrils to 
tip of bill), much narrower rectrices, and in the very pale 
colouring of the female.’ The only other specimen yet 
recorded is the female I have above described, which is now 
in the British Museum. 
Dicrurus afer. 
Corvus afer, Licht. Cat. Rer. nat. Hamb. p. 10 (1790) S. Africa. 
Dicrurus afer, Shelley, B. Afr. i. No. 646 (1896); Reichen. Vég. Afr. ii. 
p- 646 (1903) ; Whitehead, Ibis, 1903, p. 230 Orange R.; Alexander, 
t.c. p. 359 Fernando Po ; Shortridge, Ibis, 1904, p. 189 Pondoland ; 
Clarke, t.c. p. 525 Bloemfontein; Kemp, Ibis 1905, p. 247 Szerra 
Leone ; Butler, Ibis, 1905, p. 326 Sudan ; Erlanger, J. f. O. 1905, 
p. 703 N.E. Africa ; Butler, Ibis, 1908 p. 224, 1909, p. 80 Bahrel 
Ghazal; O.-Grant Trans. Zool. Soc. xix. p. 267 (1910) Ruwenzori. 
Corvus adsimilis, Bechst. Kurze Uebers. 117 (1811). 
Buchanga assimilis, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 247 (1877); Tweeddale, 
Ibis, 1878, p. 74; O.-Grant, Ibis, 1904, p. 255 Bogra; 1904, p. 201 
Uganda ; Bannerman, Ibis, 1910, p. 294 N. Somaliland. 
