C68 ARTAMUS FUSCTJS. 



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great inland tanks. From the Eastern Province it ranges into Uva and Haputale, in both of which parts it 

 has been observed on patnas and bare hills up to 5000 feet ; but in the Kaudy district it is not so common. 

 It is found in the northern islands, as well as in the Erinativoe group. Mr. Holdsworth found that it quitted 

 the Manaar district in the south-west monsoon; it is, however, resident close to Colombo all the year round. 



Jerdon writes that this Swallow-Shrike is spread throughout the whole of India, but locally distributed; 

 " for you may pass," he says, " over large tracts of country, apparently well suited for them, and not see one." 

 He found it most abundant in the Carnatic, the Malabar coast, the northern circars, and Bengal, very rare in 

 the Deccan and Central India; he also met with it on the sides of the hills at Darjiling. Captain Beavan 

 observed it at Barrackpore in the month of January, and likewise at Darjiling, at an elevation of about 

 5000 feet. The Rev. Dr. Fairbank procured it also at 4500 feet on the Palani hills, but he does not record it 

 from the Deccan. Mr. Ball met with large flocks of it at Singhbhum, and records it from the Godavcri 

 valley, Sambalpur, and other places northwards to the Rajmehal hills. From Bengal it extends into Burmah 

 and as far as Assam in a northerly direction. Dr. Armstrong remarks that he found it very abundant 

 throughout the entire Irrawaddy delta from China Ba-keer to Rangoon, and that it was especially numerous 

 near villages. Southwards it seems to diminish, as it is only noticed by Mr. Hume as a rare straggler in 

 Tenasserim proper. It seems to avoid the western side of the peninsula altogether, as I do not find it recorded 

 by any observers from Sindh or any of the surrounding districts; and, in the sub- Himalayan region, Nynee Tal 

 seems to be its most westerly point. 



Habits. — The favourite localities with this bird in Ceylon are open hill-sides or clearings in the low 

 country studded with dead trees, the paddy-fields surrounding the brackish lagoons in the Western Province, 

 open tracts bordering estuaries on the east coast, palmyra-groves and the borders of plains in the north, while 

 in some districts in the Western Province it frequents open places in the midst of heavy forest ; in the Kandyan 

 Province it affects bare hill-sides and patnas dotted with trees. It is exceedingly fond of scattered groves of 

 palmyras close to the sea-shore, resting on the fronds of these trees when not hawking for insects, and roosting 

 on them at night. It associates in small flocks, perching together in closely packed rows, and sallying out in 

 twos and threes after its food, which it catches on the wing, circling round, and sometimes mounting, with a 

 buoyant flight, high in the air, where it will occasionally soar for a considerable time with outstretched wings. 

 It is always of a most sociable nature ; and when a flock is scattered by the shooting of one of their number, 

 they speedily reunite on a neighbouring tree. It is partial to the vicinity of water, as in hawking above the 

 surface of tanks and lakes it finds an abundance of food. In its mode of feeding it resembles the Drongo- 

 Slnikes, beating its prey (which consists largely of beetles) to death on its perch before it swallows it. Its 

 ordinary note resembles somewhat that of the Red-breasted Swallow, and is mostly uttered while the bird is 

 on the wing ; Jerdon likens it to the cry of the Shlkru, but more subdued of course. He writes of it, " At 

 times I have seen an immense flock in the air, all together, hunting for insects, and remaining on the wing 

 for a much longer period. A small party may occasionally be seen skimming over the surface of a tank, 

 picking up an insect now and then, and returning to a high bough of a tree overhanging the water." 



I may mention here that one species in Australia (Artamus sordidus) has the singular habit of clustering 

 in numbers like bees to the dead branches of trees. 



Nidification. — The breeding-season of the Wood-Swallow is in February and March, both in the north 

 and central districts. It builds in the former region, to a great extent, in the palmyra-palm, placing its nest 

 between the bases of the fronds. A nest which 1 found so situated in Erinativoe Island was composed of grass 

 and roots, massive in exterior and rather slovenly put together ; the interior was a shallow cup about 2^ inches 

 m diameter, and contained three nestlings. Mr. Bligh informs me that he has found the nest in the hole of a 



a 



five situated in a coffee-plantation. 



Layard writes that they " build a cup-nest, composed of fibres and grasses, in the heads of cocoanut-trces, 



on the base of the large fronds When the nestlings have left their cradle," he says, "they may be seen 



fitting sick; by side on a branch, whilst the old birds fly off for insects and return to feed their offspring by turns. 

 Even after the young birds can shift for themselves they keep up their gregarious habits, and return to their 

 bough after each hunting-excursion." 



