62 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



Family Dicrurid^. 

 Drongos: 



The Drongos, or King Crows, with their black plumage 

 and forked tails, form one of the best defined families of the 

 order. The nostrils are clear of the line of the forehead. 

 The beak is stout and covered at the base by thick-set hairs, 

 or plumelets, which partially conceal the nostrils ; the upper 

 mandible is keeled, the tip is more or less hooked and provided 

 with a single notch. The rictal bristles are well developed. 

 There are ten primary quills. The tail of ten feathers is 

 deeply forked. Members of the family are found in Africa 

 and South-eastern Asia. Of the six species which occur in 

 Cej'lon, four are referable to the genus Dicrurus, which has 

 no crest and a normally forked tail. Two larger crested 

 species are placed each in a separate genus. In Dissemurvlus 

 the tail feathers are proportionately longer than in Dicrurus, 

 but the inner webs, though curling upwards at the end, are 

 normally webbed. In Dissemurus the outermost tail feathers, 

 in adults, are greatly elongated and racket-shaped, the central 

 portion of the shaft being practically webless. In some 

 localities our local species appear to undergo a certain amount 

 of seasonal movement. 



Key to Ceylon Dicruridoe. 



I. — Length under 12 inches ; no distinct crest. Genus 

 Dicrurus. 



{a) Lower tail coverts not white throughout. 



(1) Lower plumage black. 

 Dicrurus ater vninor (Black Drongo). 



(2) Lower plumage dark gray. 



D. hucophgeus longicaudatus (Indian Ashy 

 Drongo). 



(b) Lower tail coverts unmixed white. 



(1) Throat and breast gray. 



D. cosrulescens (White-bellied Drongo). 



(2) Throat and breast dark brown. 



D. leucopygialis (White-vented Drongo), 



