DRONGOS. 



53 



of a banian tree in cantonment. It was situated between 

 the forks of a branch, made of fine roots and grass, with 

 some hair and a feather or two internally, and suspended 

 by a long roll of cloth about fin. wide, which it must 

 have pilfered from the neighbouring verandah, where 

 the tailor worked. This strip was wound round each 

 fork, then passed round the nest beneath, fixed to the 

 other fork and again brought round the nest, to the 

 opposite side ; there were four or five of these supports 

 on each side. It was, indeed, a most curious nest, and 

 so securely fixed that it could not have been removed till 

 the supporting bands had been cut or rotted away. The 

 ggs were, as before described, white, with a few dark 

 claret-coloured spots. Burgess describes a nest made of 

 grass, spiders' web, hemp, and pieces of paper, placed in 

 the fork of a tree, and two of the branches were bound 

 together with the hemp. Theobald also found the nest, 

 a neat cup of woven grass, attached by its side to the 

 bough of a tree, and he describes the egp-s as white, with 

 black spots."" Birds of India," Vol. II., p. 108. 



Dr. Russ says that this Oriole was received at the 

 London Zoological Gardens in 1878, and has been only 

 once imported since that date, by G. Bosz, of Cologne. 

 In this, however, he is mistaken, because a specimen 

 was purchased by our Zoological Society in August, 1892 

 (seven years before the publication of his statement). 

 It is quite likely that other examples may have come to 

 band more recently. 



DRONGOS (Dicruridcv). 



According to Horsfield and Jerdon, these birds are 

 related to the Shrikes. They seem to be purely 

 insectivorous ; they are splendid songsters and clever 

 mimics , some of their notes are marvellously rich and 

 organ-like. 



LARGE RACKET-TAILED DRONGO (Dissemurus paradiseus}. 



Black, glossed with steel-blue; feathers of crown 

 slightly hackled, those of nape strongly so, those of 

 breast* slightly : frontal crest falling backwaids over 

 nape ; outer tail-feathers 18in. to 19>n. long, the shaft 

 having the terminal end, for about 3in., barbed exter- 

 nally, but towards the tip only on the inner side, and 

 turning inwards, so that the underside becomes upper- 

 most. Jerdon. " This very showy and curious bird 

 is found in the dense forests of India, from the 

 Himalayas to the Eastern Ghats as far south as N.L. 

 15 degrees. I have seen them, from Nellore Ghats, 

 GoomsoDr, the foiests of Central India, and they are 

 found in Lower Bengal, the Sunderbuns, and the 

 Himalayas. Out of our province it is found in Assam, 

 Sylhet, Burmah. and Tenasserim. Near Darjeeling they 

 do not range higher than 1,500ft. or 2,000ft. of elevation. 



" This large Racket-tailed Drongo is found singly or 

 in pairs, now and then in small parties, and appears to 

 wander a good deal in search of food, flying from tree to 

 tree, generally at no great elevation, making an occa- 

 sional swoop at an insect on the wing, or sometimes 

 whipping one off a I ranch. 



" Frequently, however, it hunts for some time from a 

 fixed station, returning to the same tree. Its food is 

 bees, wasps, beetles, dragonflies, locusts, and mantides. 

 It has a very peculiar c.ill, beginning with a harsh 

 chuckle, and ending in a peculiar metallic creaking cry. 

 Mr. Elliot expresses it by Tse-rung, Tse-rung. It has, 

 however, a great variety of notes. It follows birds of 

 prey now and then, especially at the breeding time, 

 just as our common King-crow does. I have had its 

 nest brought me several times at Darjeeling ; rather a 

 large structure of twigs and roots, and the eggs, usually 



three in number, pinkish white, with claret-coloured or 

 purple spots ; but they vary a great deal in size, form, 

 and colouring. They breed in April and May. 



" The Bhimraj is often caught and tamed, and may 

 generally be had at Calcutta o>r at Monghyr, where the 

 hill-men bring Shamas, Hill Mynas, Bhimrajs, and 

 various other hill-birds for sale. It is a very amusing 

 bird in confinement ; will imitate all sorts of sounds, as 

 of dogs, cats, sheep and goats, poultry, and the notes of 

 many birds ; hence it used to be called by some Hazar- 

 dastan, or the bird with a thousand tales. Blyth had 

 one that imitated the fine song of the Shama to per- 

 fection. In other respects, it is a very fearless amusing 

 bird in captivity, and is sometimes even suffered to 

 have its liberty, coming readily to the call of its owner. 

 It will eat raw meat, lizards, and almost any kind of 

 animal food that is offered to it." Jerdon, " Birds of 

 India," Vol. I., pp. 436-437. 



In Hume's " Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds," 2nd 

 edition, Vol. I., pp. 216-217, are many additional notes 

 on the nidification of this species ; but beyond the fact 

 that one of the nests was situated 20ft. from the ground, 

 it seems to me unnecessary to quote them. 



Dr. Russ says that this Racket-tailed Drongo reached 

 them in Germany in 1870, and in 1872 Alfred Brehm 

 was able to confirm the accounts of the mimicking 

 powers of the bird by observation of a specimen in the 

 Berlin Aquarium. After this he says that for a long 

 time it was rare in the market, only a few examples 

 being received. Then Peter Franck, of Liverpool, 

 obtained a specimen in 1884, and published an account 

 of it in 1885. In 1892 an example reached the Berlin 

 Zoological Gardens, and in 1894 Herr Fockelmann 

 exhibited one at the exhibition of the " ^Egintha " 

 Society, which imitated the Shama's song. Latterly 

 Russ says that it has become commoner in the market, 

 and certainly I have myself seen it exhibit d at the 

 Crystal Palace ; yet in the 9th edition of the List of 

 Animals exhibited by our Zoological Society it does 

 not appear. 



INDIAN OR HAIR-CRESTED DRONGO (Chibla hotlentotta). 



Black, glossed with purple and blue on the nape 

 and breast, wings and tail shining bronze-green ; bill 

 and feet black ; irides red-brown. Hab., India, both 

 North and South, Pegu, Tenasserim. 



Jerdon observes: "I found it in March on the silk- 

 cotton trees (Bombax malabaricttin), several together, 

 apparently feeding on insects harbouring in the fine 

 flowers of that tree, for which its long tenuirostral bill 

 must be well adapted. I again saw it hopping and 

 flying among the branches of a lofty tree in Wynaad, 

 apparently picking insects now and then off the twigs 

 or leaves. Tickell, who procured it in the jungles of 

 Chota Nagpore, says that it frequents large timber- 

 trees on the banks of nullahs, tanks, etc., and mentions 

 that the cotton-tree in blossom was a great resort. It 

 frolics about, says he, in small parties ; its voice is 

 changeable, and in constant exertion, from a beautiful 

 song, to whistling, chattering, and creaking like a rusty 

 wheel, at times resembling the higher strains of the 

 organ, both striking and plaintive. 



" Mr. Hodgson states that it feeds on wasps, bees, 

 green beetles, etc., very rarely vetches ; that it lives 

 part of the year in pairs, or singly, and the rest in 

 families ; that it descends from its lofty perch to seize 

 an insect on the wing, and occasionally seizes on the 

 ground. I imagine that the vetches, stated by Hodgson 

 to vary its food occasionally, must have been taken in 

 its mouth with some insect which it seized off the 

 plant. 



