THE KIXG CROWS. 27 



of its local names, such as Vogel Billow, Schulz von Billow in Germany, and Kuhankeittdja, as it is 

 usually called by the Finnish peasants, are derived. Besides its clear whistle, it has a peculiar harsh 

 mewing call-note ; and its note of alarm is a harsh chirr. During the pairing season it utters what is 

 apparently a note of affection, resembling the syllable hio, by mimicking which, together with its 

 whistle, it can generally be enticed within range. Mr. Carl Sachse sends me the following note on its 

 habits, as observed by him in Rhenish Prussia, viz : ' With us it inhabits the groves where 

 there are small ravines through which water flows, especially beech and oak groves, and where the 

 undergrowth is dense. It arrives at rather irregular times, according to the season. It arrived earliest 

 in 1863 and 1865, in both of which years it was seen as early as the 18th of April; whereas 

 in 1875 the first was seen on. the 5th of May. About the middle of August, or from then to the 

 early part of September, it leaves us again; and, as may be almost taken for granted, it raises 

 only one brood in the season. It is a wild, restless, quarrelsome bird ; in the pairing season bitter 

 encounters take place, and I have seen four or five together fighting in the air. Long before sun- 

 rise its clear flute-like note may be heard; but during the daytime it whistles less frequently. 

 It ranges over a considerable tract ; and hence its nest is hard to find, except when it breeds in 

 the gardens. It may be enticed, by imitating its note, to within a few yards' distance, but is hard 

 to shoot, for it hops from twig to twig in the dense foliage, uttering its song in a low tone. 

 Usually a male and a female arrive together ; sometimes, however, three or four individuals ; and 

 then they immediately commence quarrelling.' The food of the present species is varied according 

 to the season of the year, but it is chiefly insectivorous when insect food is to be had, and more 

 especially so in the spring, before any fruit is ripe. It devours all sorts of insects that inhabit the 

 woodlands, but is especially fond of the large green caterpillars which are found on the leaves of the 

 trees. It also feeds largely on berries and fruit when in season, but is not more destructive in a 

 garden than many other birds, and amply repays any mischief it may do by the number of noxious 

 insects it kills. It is most partial to cherries of all garden fruits, but will also feed on currants, 

 and especially on mulberries. Mr. Sachse informs me that it often does much damage amongst 

 the cherries ; and when it has once or twice visited a cherry-tree, and finds the fruit to its liking, 

 it may be shot, whilst feeding there, without much difficulty." 



The Golden Oriole is about nine inches in length, and is of a rich golden yellow colour, with 

 black wings and tail ; the primary coverts and the secondaries tipped with yellow, while all the 

 tail-feathers have a broad yellow ending, which increases in extent on the outer feathers ; between 

 the nostril and the eye is a black spot, the bill is dull reddish, the feet leaden grey, and the 

 iris blood red. The female when quite adult is like the male, but not quive so brilliantly yellow, 

 the black being slightly shaded with greenish ; the young birds are whitish beneath, with dusky 

 streaks. 



THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS. 

 THE DRONGOS (Licrurida).* 



Although showing in some of their characters a certain affinity with the Orioles, the King Crows, 

 or Drongos, as they are also called, are not far removed from the Flycatchers (Musciccqndai), which 

 they resemble, especially in having the nostrils entirely hidden by bristles. They differ, however, 

 from all the Shrikes and Flycatchers in having only ten tail-feathers ; and perhaps no better definition of 

 the family could be found than that given by the Marqxiis of Tweeddale.f "The Dicruridse," 

 he says, " constitute a natural, self-contained, sharply-defined family, which has its members ranging 

 throughout the Ethiopian and Indian regions and the Austro-Papuan, including the Moluccas. One, 

 and only one, appears to be migratory, Buchanga leucogenys, which reaches Japan in the summer 

 months. As indicated by the form of the beak, the presence of strong rictal bristles, the short tarsus, 

 short toes, and anchylosed first phalanges of the outer and middle toes, the Dicruri are Muscicapine in 

 their affinities ; and this relationship is unmistakably exhibited in their habits. All the species of 

 which the ways have been recorded have the habit of descending from their perches to catch insects 

 on the wing, and then immediately returning to the same or some adjoining place of rest. Some 

 species such as members of the genera Bhringa, Chaptia, Dissemurus, and several of the genus 



* iU,>uo?, forked ; oifd, a tail. t Ibis, 1878, p. 69. 



