DICRURUS ATRIPENNIS 181 
Dicrurus atripennis. 
Dicrurus atripennis, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. p. 256 (1837) Sierra Leone ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 232 (1877) ; Tweeddale, Ibis, 1878, p. 72; 
Reichen. Vég. Afr. ii. p. 651 (1903); Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 91 
Camaroon; O. Grant, Trans. Zool. Soc. xix. p. 267 (1910) Lturi 
forest. 
Dicrurus sharpei, Oust. N. Arch. Mus. Paris, 1879, p. 97 Gaboon ; 
Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 652 (1903). 
Adult. Similar to D. ludwigi, but differs in having the ends of the tail- 
feathers broader, more rounded, and with less angular tips. Iris red; bill 
and feet black. Total length 8 inches, culmen 0:75, wing 4:5, tail 4:0, 
tarsus 0:65. Fantee (‘‘ Higgins ” Brit. Mus.). 
Immature. Duller, with a bluish bronze gloss almost entirely confined 
to the upper parts. Total length 7-3 and 8:0 inches, wing 4°1 and 4:0, tail 
3°5. Gambia (Brit. Mus.) and Shonga, ? , (Forbes). 
The Western Bush-Drongo ranges from Senegambia into 
Gaboon and eastward to Songa near the source of the Ituri 
branch of the Congo. 
The three typical specimens of D. atripennis were 
received by Swainson from Sierra Leone. Mr. Budgett 
records the species as abundant on the Gambia and it has 
been obtained on Bulama Island by Barahona, but Dr. 
Biittikofer did not consider it to be plentiful in Liberia. 
Drs. Reichenow and Liihder found these Drongos at Abouri, 
in the wooded highlands of Aquapim, in families of three 
young with their parents, and frequently heard their loud 
notes, but never met with them on the more open Accra 
plains. Mr. Boyd Alexander remarks that, in the specimens 
he obtained at Fumsu and Krachi, the crown, back and 
upper tail-coverts were glossy greenish black. 
From Togoland Dr. Biittner procured specimens at Bis- 
marckburg, among which Dr. Reichenow recognized both 
the typical form and D. sharpei, Oust. In Nigeria speci- 
mens have been obtained at Shonga (Forbes) and at 
Lokoja (Hartert); in Camaroon, at Victoria (Preuss), Bongo 
June, 1912 13 
