THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 209 



A male measured :— Length, 8-25 ; expanse, 11*3 ; wing-, 3*55 j 

 tail, from vent, 3'25 ; but in other finer males the wings were 

 longer, extending in some few cases to 3'75. 



A female" measured :— Length, 7'75 ; expanse, 11 ; wing, 3*5 ; 

 tail, from vent, 375. 



Elegans from Assam and Upper Burmah is very much the 

 same size as anclamanensis, but is characterized (thou oh possibly 

 not in every single specimen) by having only the inner web of 

 the central tail feathers black, and it differs from anclamanensis 

 in the red of the back of the male and yellow on that of the 

 female, going quite as far up as in speciosus, and in the yellow 

 of the lower surface of the female being paler, purer, and less 

 orange. 



In this species and in speciosus the red wing patch extends on 

 to the outer web of the third primary, in andamanensis it only 

 extends to the fourth, while inflammeus it only reaches to the fifth. 



This is a permanent resident ; we have specimens obtained in 

 every month from December to September. 



276.— Pericrocotus peregrinus, Lin. (33.) 



The Andaman race of this species is nearer to the Southern 

 Indian than to the Northern form. ■ It is not quite so dark on 

 the upper surface as some of the former, but it is not near so 

 pale as the latter. I have already fully discussed the varia- 

 tions of this species; Stray Feathers, 1873, p. 177; and 

 I have only to add to what I then said that though I have 

 since received numerous specimens from Southern India I have 

 none quite so dark as the one figured in Gould's " Birds of 

 Asia." 



Davison tells us that : — " This species, like the last, is not 

 uncommon about Port Blair. I have seen it in gardens, man- 

 grove swamps, forest, and in isolated bushes and trees ; they 

 always keep in small parties of ten or a dozen, keeping close 

 to each other ; at night they roost high up in some large forest 

 tree. I have watched a party of about a dozen of these birds, for 

 several evenings, winding their way to a large tree at Aberdeen, 

 just above Phoenix Bay." 



This also is apparently a permanent resident as we have 

 specimens killed from December to September. It does not, so 

 far as we yet know, extend to the Nicobars. 



279— Dicrurus balicassius, Lin. (0.) 



Mr. Blyth did not discriminate the Himalayan crow-billed 

 drongo, D. annectans, Hodgs., from this the Malayan one, but 



