126 



DICED RIE^. 



and upper tail-coverts yellow ; the tail yellow, the basal half of the 

 feathers black ; wings dusky, or black, the greater coverts tipped with 

 yellow ; wing spot yellow ; forehead and lores yellowish white ; 

 chin, cheeks and feathers below the eye whitish ; under surface of 

 body yellow washed with orange on the breast; bill and legs 

 black j irides dark brown. 



Length. — 7'5 to 8 inches, wing 3"45j tail 4, tarsus 0'55. 



Hah. — The Himalayas, Cashmere, Bhootan, Shillong, Caohar, Assam, 

 Chittagong, Arracan, Upper Burmah, Punjab, Bengal, Oudh, Eajputana 

 and Central India, N. W- Provinces, visiting the Deccan, Concan, 

 Kutch, Kattiawar and Sind during the summei^ months. 



Family, DICETJEID^, — Deo]si©o-Sheikes. 



Bill stout, large, wide at base, more or less curved, and keeled at 

 the culmen, tip notched j nostrils more or less covered with bristles, 

 generally completely so; tail forked, often feathers. 



Gen. Buchanga. 



A crest of frontal plumes, not elongated into an erect tuft ; tarsus 

 scaled in front. 



Buchanga atra, Uerm. Obs. Zool. p. 208. Dicrurus macrocercus, 

 Viell. N. Diet. ix. p. 588 ; Jerd. Mad. Journ. xiii. pt. 2, p. 121 ; id. B. 

 of Ind. i. p. 427, No. 278; Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 286; Str. F. 

 iv. 278; vi. 213; vii. 272; Murray, Edbk, Zool, Sfc, Bind, p. 137. 

 Buchanga albirictus, Hodgs. Ind. Rev. p. 326; Hume, Str. F. 1873, p. 

 1 78 ; Ball. Str. F. 1 874, p. 402. Dicrurus balioassius, Syltes, P. Z. 8. 

 1832, p. 86 {nee. I.) Sharpe, Gat. Passerif. B. Br. Mus. p. 246.— The 

 Common Deongo-Shrikb or King Ceow. 



Head, hind neck, back, upper tail-coverts, lesser and median wing- 

 coverts ^ glossy blue-black, a white spot at the gape ; chin, throat, 

 lores, sides of the face, and under surface of the body black, less 

 glossy than the upper surface, and with a greenish cast; greater and 

 primary coverts black, glossed greenish, also the secondaries and 

 tertiaries ; primaries and tail duller black ; the inner webs of the 

 primaries and under surface of the tail dusky. Young with whitish 

 lunules on the under surface of the body. Bill and legs black; 

 irides red. 



Length. — 12 inches, wing 5'75, tail 6-25 to tip of outer feather, 

 tarsus 0'9. 



Eab. — The whole of India and Ceylon to Nepaul. Occurs also in 

 Upper Pegu, Chaman (South Afghanistan) and at Quetta in Beloo- 

 chistan. Except at Quetta and Chaman, the King Crow is a resident 

 wherever it occurs, breeding during the rains. The nest is made of 

 twigs, cotton, rags, &c., loosely put together, with a shallow saucer- 

 like recess for the eggs, which are of a white and sometimes a 

 pinkish colour, spotted all over with brick red. Often nests have 

 boon found to contain besides a few typical coloured eggs, one or two 

 pure white ones. The usual number found in each nest is four. 



