THE GREAT DICRURUS. 271 



in higher regions, this beautiful species in its aerial flights displays its greatest beauty, while 

 soaring above in a variety of easy positions, with its white-tipped tail widely spread. 



" It was very numerous in the town of Perth until about the middle of April, when I 

 missed it suddenly, nor did I observe it again until near the end of May, when I saw it in 

 countless numbers flying, in company with the common swallows and martins, over a lake 

 about ten miles north of the town ; so numerous, ia fact, were they, that they darkened the 

 water as they flew over it. Its voice greatly resembles that of the common swallow in char- 

 acter, but is much louder." 



This Wood Swallow is remarkable for a habit which is perhaps unique among birds, and 

 hitherto has only been observed in certain insects. A large flock of these birds will settle 

 upon the branches of a tree, and gather together in a large cluster, precisely like bees when 

 they swarm. Four or Ave birds suspend themselves to the under side of the bough, others 

 come and cling to them, and in a short time the whole flock is hanging to the bough like a 

 large swarm of bees. Mr. Gilbert, who first noticed this curious habit, states that he has seen 

 the swarms as large as an ordinary bushel measure. 



The nest of the Wood Swallow is cup-shaped and rather shallow, and is made of very 

 slender twigs bound and lined with delicate fibrous roots. The locality in which the nest is 

 placed is extremely variable, the bird seeming to be wonderfully capricious in its choice of a 

 fit spot whereon to fix its residence. Sometimes it is placed in a low forked branch, at another 

 time it will be buried in thick mossy foliage, while it is sometimes found fixed against the 

 trunk of a tree, resting on some protuberance of the bark, or lodged within some suitable 

 cavity. The eggs are about four in number, and are grayish-white, speckled and mottled very 

 variably with gray and white. 



The color of this species is very simple, the general tint being black, the abdomen white, 

 and the tail-feathers, excepting the two central, which retain their jetty hue throughout, tipped 

 with the same color. 



The largest of the Australian species, the Cinereous Wood Swallow {A'rtamus cine- 

 reus), is found both at Timor and the eastern and western coasts of Australia, thus having a 

 very large range. This bird, although not at all uncommon, seems to be rather local, prefer- 

 ring certain spots for its residence, and keeping itself within some peculiar boundary of its 

 own choosing. 



It inhabits the banks of the Swan River and parts of the interior, and varies in its habits 

 with the locality in which it happens to reside. Wherever the grass-tree (XanthorJiaxt) grows, 

 there may be found the Cinereous Wood Swallow, feeding with the greatest avidity upon the 

 seeds, and absolutely crowding each other upon the upright seed-stalks while engaged in dig- 

 ging out their food. It does not, however, depend upon the grass-tree for its subsistence, as it 

 feeds largely upon insects, chasing them in the air with nearly as much activity as the ordinary 

 swallow, or pursuing the quick-limbed beetles on the ground, digging out the hidden larvae 

 from beneath bark or under the soil, and picking them from the leaves on which they feed. 

 The nest of this species is deeper than that of the common wood swallow, and the mottlings of 

 the eggs have more of a ruddy hue. The position of the nest is generally in a thick low bush, 

 or among the foliage of the grass-tree. 



A very beautiful and singular bird is the Great Dicrurus of the East Indies, with its 

 racket-tail feathers. 



In its general outline tliis beautiful bird bears some analogy to the Leona nightjar, which 

 has been figured on a previous page of the present work, having two long feathery appendages, 

 naked throughout the greater portion of their length and webbed only at their extremity. 

 There is, however, this great difference, that in the Leona nightjar they proceed from the 

 wings, whereas in the Great Dicrurus they are merely prolongations of the external tail- 

 feathers. The color of this bird is deep blue-black, like that of the raven, and its weird-like 

 aspect is further strengthened by a large and well-developed crest that starts from (he top of 



