154 cassell's book of birds. 



distinguish the one from the other by the ear alone. The Prince von Wied describes their cry as 

 resembling the sound produced by the rebound of a ball from a stone or other hard body, followed 

 by a deep bass note. In some few instances the call is perfectly monotonous. The Bush Shrikes 

 subsist almost exclusively upon insects, but they also destroy small reptiles and young birds. The 

 nest, which is carelessly formed of blades of grass and moss, lined with feathers, is concealed so 

 cunningly as to render its discovery difficult, even by the sharp-eyed natives. The eggs are laid about 

 December ; they are of a dirty yellow colour, marked with a wreath of olive-brown spots at the 

 broad end. 



The DRONGO SHRIKES {Edo/ii) constitute a family of birds found extensively throughout 

 Africa, Southern Asia, and New Holland ; they appear to form the connecting link between the 

 Shrikes and the Fly-catchers. All the various members of this family have slender bodies, long 

 wings and tails, broad beaks, and short feet. The fourth and fifth wing-quills exceed the rest in 

 length ; the tail is composed of ten feathers, and is more or less deeply forked at its extremity. The 

 large thick beak is surrounded with bristles at its broad base ; the slightly-curved upper mandible is 

 incised at its edges and terminates in a hook ; the tarsi are short, the feet small but muscular, and 

 armed with strong claws. The plumage is dark-coloured, thick, harsh, and possesses a very peculiar 

 gloss. Most species are black, others blue, and some few light or deep blue upon the back and 

 whitish beneath ; the eye is always bright red, and the beak and feet black. All the members of this 

 family are very similar in their habits and mode of life. 



THE KING CROW, OR FINGA. 



The King Crow, or Finga of Bengal (Dicrourus macrocenus), is one of the most remarkable 

 and most numerous of the many species inhabiting India. Its length is about twelve and its 

 breadth sixteen inches ; the wing measures five inches and three-quarters, and the tail about six 

 inches. In this bird the entire body is of a resplendent black, deepest in shade upon the wings 

 and tail ; the under portions are brownish black ; the region of the nape is decorated with a white 

 spot. The sexes are alike in colour, and the young are readily distinguished from their parents by 

 white crescent-shaped spots 'upon the feathers that cover the under surface. The nest is composed of 

 grass, twigs, and roots carefully put together, and contains from three to five eggs of a white colour, 

 with pale brown or purplish spots. 



The Finga is found throughout the whole of India, Assam, and Burmah, as far as China, 

 occupying almost every locality except the densest parts of the jungle. An almost identical but 

 larger bird is met with in Ceylon. We are also acquainted with four other Indian varieties, and 

 several very similar species inhabit Africa and Australia. 



The DRONGOS {Chaptia) are recognisable from the last-mentioned group by their more 

 delicate feet and less decidedly pointed tails. 



THE SINGING DRONGO. 



The Singing Drongo (Chaptia musica) is nine inches long; its wing and tail both measure 

 four inches and a half. The plumage is of a blueish black, enlivened by a most brilliant gloss ; the 

 wing and tail-feathers are black ; the belly and lower wing-covers dark grey, approaching to black. 



Le Vaillant discovered this bird in South-eastern Africa, and more recent travellers have seen 

 it in the northern parts of that continent. India possesses a very similar species, which, however, 

 unlike the rest of the group, frequently inhabits dense thickets. 



