26 Favourite Foreign Birds. 



The female of this species is very nearly as good 

 a performer as her decidedly talented husband, than 

 whom she is a little more soberly clad. Drongoes are 

 very quiet and inoffensive birds, and calmly allow 

 themselves to be bullied by all kinds of feathered 

 folk not half their size. They are about as large as a 

 Fieldfare only the long tail and the crest make the 

 Drongoes look the larger of the two. 



These birds are very seldom in the market, and 

 when one does chance to be imported, the fortunate 

 dealer demands a long price for his treasure. I 

 recollect, some years ago, being asked 8 for one 

 that had no tail and very few body feathers a 

 miserable-looking object indeed and I declined to 

 become its purchaser, not being at the time aware 

 of its transcendent merits, which would really make 

 it cheap at twice the money. 



The following account of a Drongo from the pen 

 of its fortunate owner, Mr. R. Phillipps, will no doubt 

 be read with interest, as it enters into details 

 which to me were inaccessible. Mr. Phillipps says : 

 " I obtained ' Puck ' two years ago, just after her 

 arrival in this country. She had no tail then, and 

 the flight feathers were worn away almost to the 

 bone. 



" I soon found that Puck, when in her house, would 

 never go down for food. She came down too 

 frequently for she was perpetually trying to fly 

 and had no choice but to come down. No matter 

 how hungry, however, she would hastily hop up to 

 the highest perch; so I had to place her food on a 

 shelf as high up as possible. When put on the floor 



