148 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



this, they have another call, " churr, e, e," indicative 

 of anger or alarm, which may often be heard when 

 crows or other suspicious visitors invade the neighbour- 

 hood of their nests. In uttering it they raise their 

 crests to the utmost, elevate their heads, and nod 

 violently with every symptom of extreme indignation. 

 When about to call in the common way, they usually 

 take up a position on an exposed branch, and then 

 depress their heads until the tip of the beak almost 

 touches the breast, the crest at the same time being 

 laid flat down. When the young birds first leave the 

 nest, it is pretty to see them trotting about after 

 their anxious parents, making inefficient attempts at 

 digging on their own account, but always ready to 

 run up and have supplies thrust far down their throats 

 by the long, curved beaks of their guardians. 



Fellow-feeling for their animosity to crows is 

 enough to inspire friendship to drongos ! The notes 

 of the common king- crows, Dicrurus ater (Plate IX.), 1 

 as they sit dressing their plumage, and filling all the 

 air in the intervals left between the multitudinous 

 notes of other birds with ceaseless cries of " cheyk, 

 chechi cheyk, cheyk chechi chey cheyk," are among 

 the most familiar sounds that greet the ear of any 

 one who goes out soon after dawn ; and until far on 

 into the dusk of evening they may be seen pursuing 

 their wonderful aerial evolutions after flying insects. 



1 They are somewhat larger than a missel-thrush, but the tail contributes 

 greatly to their length. 



