308 DICRTTRTDJE. 



Ceylon. The limit to the west appears to be approximately a 

 line drawn from Bombay to Kumaun through Gwalior. This species 

 inhabits the Himalayas from Kumaun to Dibrugarh, being found up 

 to 5000 feet or higher. From Assam it ranges to the extreme south 

 of Tenasserim, extending to the east at least as far as Karennee, 

 where Wardlaw Ramsay obtained it. 



It is found in the Malay peninsula and down to Java. 



Habits, <Sfc. Frequents well-wooded localities and forests alike in 

 the hills and plains. Breeds from February to May and even to 

 June, according to locality, constructing a small pad of a nest, 

 composed of feathers, moss, and hair, in a tiny hole in a tree. 

 The eggs are generally four in number, white, spotted with red, 

 chiefly towards the large end, and measure about 7 by -56. This 

 bird, contrary to the usual habits of Nuthatches, does not employ 

 any mud to line the entrance to its nest. 



Family DICRURID^E. 



The intrinsic muscles of the syrinx fixed to the ends of the 

 bronchial semirings ; the edges of both mandibles smooth, with a 

 single notch in the upper one ; hinder aspect of tarsus smooth, 

 bilaminated ; wing with ten primaries ; tongue non-tubular ; nos- 

 trils clear of the line of the forehead ; the lower edge of the 

 nostril nearer to the commissure than the upper edge is to the 

 culmen; plumage of the nestling like that of the adult bird, 

 but paler ; nostrils overhung by hairs or plumelets ; rictal bristles 

 present ; rectrices ten ; sexes absolutely alike ; an autumn moult 

 only. 



The Dicruridse, or Drongos, form one of the best-defined families 

 of the Passeres, their generally black plumage and forked tail of ten 

 feathers sufficing to distinguish them readily. 



In the Drongos the plumage of the nestling is a dark brown, 

 which soon gives place to the glossy black of the adult. In many 

 species, however, the young birds, previously to adopting the adult 

 plumage, acquire feathers on the abdomen, under wing-coverts, 

 and axillaries which are tipped or fringed with white, and traces 

 of these white marks remain in one or two species up to a very 

 advanced age, and probably in some specimens are never lost 

 at all. 



