534 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIL 



suggest that the " winter " plumage may in certain localities be retained 

 throughout the year. 



CMoropsis aurifrons (247).— The Gold-fronted Chloropsis. Not uncommon 

 in well-wooded parts. 



Mol])astes bengalensis (282). — The Bengal Red-vented Bulbul. 



Common. 



Oiocompsa emeria (288). — The Bengal Red-whiskered Bulbul. 



Common. 



SiTTIDiE. 



Sitta castaneiventris (321). — The chestnut-bellied Nuthatch. 

 Not very common, but well distributed. 



DlCRUKID^. 



Dicrurus annectens (326). — The crow-billed Drongo. 



Fairly common in dense forest. Eggs taken on 10th June 1909, 14th 

 June 1909 and 28th June 1911. In Gates and Blanford the habits of this 

 Drongo are described as similar to those of D. ater. My observations 

 however in Gorakhpur showed little similarity beyond such general family 

 resemblance as would be bound to exist between two such closely allied 

 species. I found D. annectens inhabiting only the densest forest, where it 

 seldom perched on the tops of trees as in the case of D. ccerulescens which 

 occurs in the same forest, but remained amongst the undergrowth or lower 

 portions of the crowns of trees. It was thoroughly at home in dense sal 

 coppice five to fifteen feet in height. Unlike D. ater I found it shy 

 though not in any marked degree. Its notes are peculiarly clear and 

 loud. The nests I found were usually 15 to 30 feet from the ground and 

 placed in a terminal fork of a slender bough generally near the top of 

 some whippy young tree. They were composed of grasses, roots and 

 fibres bound together with cobweb, and in all the nests I found, one of 

 the chief constituents was the dead deciduous branchlets of PhyllantJius 

 emUica. At the time these drop from the tree they have a delicate curve 

 and the points of detachment of the leaves form rough protuberances 

 which are admirably adapted for fixi ng the twig where it is placed in the 

 construction and in keeping the whole strong and flexible. I have also 

 noticed these deciduous branchlets form an important factor in the nest 

 construction of D. ater, D. ccerulescens, D. longicaudatus (in the Garhwal 

 District) and Dissemurus paradiseics. 



One day when watching a pair of these birds building the bird continu- 

 ally dropped the fibrous threads with which it was binding the commence- 

 ment of its nest to a fork, but every time the thread dropped the bird 

 swooped down and caught it in mid air before it reached the ground. 



The irides of this bird are described in Gates and Blanford as brown, 

 but I found them to be a deep lake. 



Dicrurus ater ( 327 ). — The Black Drongo. 



Common. 



Dicrurus carulescens (330). — The White-bellied Drongo. 



Common. Eggs taken on 5th May 1909 and 20th April 1910. These 

 Drongos appear to like rather an open forest best and they are very partial 

 in Gorakhpur to a form of forest in which there is a dense coppice overtop- 

 ped by scattered sal trees. They remain for the most part in the crowns 

 of these trees and select as their special outlooks the tallest amongst them. 

 The nests I found were mostly at a considerable elevation near the top of 

 the crown of some lofty tree ; one nest however was only twelve feet from 

 the ground. 



