510 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



which consists of ten rectrices only. In some forms the exterior pair of tail-feathers 

 is curiously recurved and twisted. In Dicranostreptus meyarhynchus, from Xew Ire- 

 land, the outer tail-feathers are extraordinarily produced, being nearly double the 

 length of the bird's body, and in the genera Bhrinya and Dissemurus, from India 

 and Malayana, they are ending in a racket or spatule, many of the species having 

 curious frontal crests. We quote from Jerdon : " They are birds capable of strong, 

 rapid, and vigorous, but not of sustained, flight ; and they feed almost exclusively on 

 insects, which they capture on the wing, or on the ground, or occasionally on leaves 

 or flowers. They are a most characteristic feature of Indian ornithology; for, go 

 where you will in India, you are sure to see one or more of the genus." In some 



Fji. 250. Ampelis yarmluK, Bohemian wax-wing. 



respects their habits resemble those of the tyrant shrikes, and the Europeans in India 

 also call them ' king-crows,' a name analogous to that of our ' king-bird,' for their 

 boldness. The following account of the habits of Buchanga atra is again from Jer- 

 don : " The king-crow obtains his familiar name in this country from its habits of 

 pursuing crows, and also hawks and kites, which it does habitually ; and at the breed- 

 ing season, especially when the female is incubating, with increased vigilance and 

 vigor. If a crow or kite approach the tree in which their nest is placed, the bold lit- 

 tle drongo flies at them with great speed and determination, and drives them off to a 

 great distance ; but although it makes a great show of striking them, I must say that 

 I have very rarely seen it do so ; and certainly I have never seen it fix on the back of 

 a hawk with claws and beak for some seconds, as Mr. Philipps asserts that he has 



