MALAYAN ORNITHOLOGY. 7 



long tail-feathers caught in the branches and were pulled out ; but 

 at last, on the outskirts of Kampong Sayong, I came on one in the 

 open, and brought it down as, with a peculiar jerky flight, it made 

 for the jungle. 



Later on I found out a piece of ground near Kuala Kangsa, 

 covered by scrub, and surrounded with high jungle, where several 

 of these birds were to be seen almost every evening, particularly 

 after rain, hawking in mid-air for insects. 



The above-mentioned specimen, shot on 8th April, 1879, measur- 

 ed 19 inches in length ; but the outer tail-feathers on each side pro- 

 jected 7 inches beyond the others, was entirely without web, except 

 on its terminal two inches, where the web is mostly on the inner 

 side and has a peculiar twist ; the bird, when flying, looked as if 

 it had behind it two long pliant wires with a black bob at the end 

 of each. 



The length of the outer tail-feathers varies in different speci- 

 mens ; in one of mine they project 9 inches beyond the rest of the 

 tail, in another only 6 inches. 



They breed throughout "Western Malaya. A young bird which 

 I shot on Bukit Timah, Singapore, on 19th July, had the feathers 

 of the under surface of the wings, also the under tail-coverts, white- 

 tipped ; and the long outer tail-feathers were only just beginning 

 to sprout ; beak from gape 1J inch, tarsus f ; irides red-brown. 



With reference to its breeding in Perak my notes are : — 



" Kuala Kangsa, 18th June, 1877. This evening, while stalking 

 pig in the jungle near Kota Lama, I disturbed two young Drongos, 

 D. platurus. They could scarcely fly ; and I very nearly caught 

 them, much to the annoyance of the old birds, which flew close 

 round me, screaming loudly, in a state of the greatest excitement. 

 The young were fully fledged, but wanted the long tail-feathers." 



Mtjscieeta affinis (Hay.). The Burmese Paradise Fly-catcher. 



Eare ; at least I found it so, though there were generally a few 

 in the Malacca collections. 



Early in June, 1877, in the neighbourhood of Kuala Kangsa, I 

 came on one of these Fly-catchers, and followed it for a long dis- 

 tance without being able to get a shot. It was most provoking, 

 not flying far at each flight, but, as soon as I got within eighty or 



