vii AMPELIDAE 529 



than in companies ; their flight is strong and rapid, but undulating 

 and not sustained, while they are often seen perched on bushes or 

 exposed branches, and occasionally hover like a Kestrel. The song 

 or whistle is ringing and melodious, varied by harsh chattering or 

 creaking sounds ; the food consists of insects of all kinds, which 

 are captured on the ground, on leaves or flowers, on the backs of 

 cattle, or at times upon the wing, individuals often returning to 

 their perches like Flycatchers. Drongos are good mimics, fight 

 viciously, and are very courageous, mastering even Hawks and 

 Crows. The nest is a shallow cup of twigs, roots, leaves, fine 

 grass, lichens, hair, and cobwebs, often so slight that the contents 

 can be seen from below : it is usually woven into a horizontal 

 fork like that of an Oriole, but may be fixed among bamboos, 

 and often overhangs water. The eggs, rarely more than three or 

 four in number, are sometimes plain white, but usually pink, buff, 

 or white, with red, brown, claret, purplish, or grey spots and 

 blotches. Not uncommonly a second set is found in a nest whence 

 the first has been taken. A curious instance of " unconscious 

 mimicry " is that of Buchanga atra and the Indian Cuckoo Surni- 

 culus dicruro'ides, the plumage being exactly the same, though the 

 feet distinguish them at once. 



Fam. XIV. Ampelidae. In this group most forms have a 

 short, depressed bill, though it is longer with bristly gape in 

 Phaenoptila, and stouter in Dulus; they have abbreviated metatarsi, 

 not scutellated in Phaenoptila ; the wings are long and pointed in 

 Ampelis, shorter and roundish elsewhere ; the tails vary from short 

 and even in Ampelis to long and rounded in Phaenopepla, or 

 cuneate with elongated median feathers in Ptilogenys caudatus. 



Both sexes of our irregular winter-visitor the Waxwing 

 (Ampelis garrulus) are silky greyish-brown, with blackish wings, 

 and tail relieved by yellow and white ; a black forehead, eye-stripe, 

 and throat ; chestnut under tail-coverts and basal margin of- the 

 erectile crest ; and, in the adults, flattened wax-like tips to the 

 shafts of the secondaries or even the rectrices. The young are 

 streaked below. Breeding near the Arctic Circle, and changing 

 its quarters erratically, it occurs in the New as well as in the 

 Old World, while in winter it migrates southwards to at least 

 lat. 43 N. The flight is easy, graceful, and often high ; the notes 

 are of a trilling or of a chirping nature ; the food consists of insects, 

 berries, and other fruit. The nest of twigs and fibrous lichens, or 

 VOL. ix 2 M 



