THE GREAT D ICR UR US. 
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, in 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 five birds suspend themselves to the under side of the bough, others 
come and cling to them, and m 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 ( Xanthorhcea ) 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 larvrn 
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 this 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 the top of 
