Waxwings 7 1 9 



deep indigo above, gray on throat and breast, and white below; none of these 

 has the head crested nor the outer tail-feathers greatly lengthened. Closely 

 related is the Bronze Drongo (Chaptia csnea) with the whole plumage black 

 glossed with metallic bronze or lilac. The curious Hair-crested Drongo (Chibia 

 hottentotta) is exceedingly well marked by the presence of a bunch of some half a 

 dozen "hairs" on the front part of the crown, and hackled feathers on the neck 

 and breast; the plumage is excessively brilliant with metallic blue and bronze 

 reflections over black. Coming now to those forms which have the outer pair 

 of tail-feathers extravagantly lengthened, there is the Lesser Racket-tailed 

 Drongo (Bhringa remifcr), which ranges from the Himalayas to Sumatra and 

 Java, and the Larger Racket-tail (Dissemurus paradiseus] of western India and 

 the -Malay Peninsula. The first has the racket-like expansion of the outer 

 feathers flat and equal on both sides of the shaft, while in the other it is curled 

 and has most of the web on the outside. The Lesser Racket-tail is about eleven 

 inches in length to the end of the middle tail-feathers, while the outer feathers 

 are twenty or twenty-one inches long, of which the terminal four inches is taken 

 up by the expanded portion, which is preceded by twelve inches of bare shaft. 



THE WAXWINGS 



(Family Ampelidcz or Bombycillida) 



As here restricted the present family comprises only a single genus and three 

 well-marked species, the presence of certain horny, bright red, wax-like drops on 

 the tips of the feathers of the wings in two species having won for them the ap- 

 propriate name of Waxwings. They are small arboreal birds, some six or eight 

 inches in length, with long, pointed wings in which the outer or tenth primary 

 is so much reduced as to be almost imperceptible, a short, even or slightly 

 rounded tail, and legs of moderate length, while the bill is small, slightly hooked 

 and notched at the tip, the gape broad and the linear nostrils nearly concealed 

 by the dense, soft, velvety loral feathers. The head is provided with a long, 

 pointed crest of soft, blended feathers. The wax-like appendages are present 

 on the tips of the secondaries and occasionally appear also on certain of the tail- 

 feathers; their presence is not peculiar to either age or sex, though the full- 

 plumaged males are more likely to have them in a greater degree of perfection. 

 Their function, if they have any other than that of ornamentation, is unknown. 

 The whole plumage is very soft, the feathers of the head, neck, and body per- 

 fectly blended, the prevailing color being a soft fawn-color or vinaceous grayish 

 brown, changing to ashy on the rump and upper tail-coverts, while the wings 

 are slate, and the lores, a streak through the eye, and the chin are velvety black. 

 Although not possessed of bright colors or a sprightly song they are perhaps 

 the most songless of all the so-called " singing birds " the Waxwings are never- 

 theless among the most chastely beautiful birds of the Northern Hemisphere, to 

 which they are exclusively confined. They are very gentle, usually tame and 

 unsuspicious birds, going about in small or sometimes in large flocks, their only 



