BY K. BLYTH. 
T.-LEUCOCERCA. 
Plate XCII. 
Tiie nest of Rhipidura albicapa , Gould, is figured by that natu- 
ralist in his “ Birds of Australia.” We now represent the nest 
and eggs of the affined Leucocerca fuscoventris (Franklin), the com- 
mon species of Lower Bengal, but replaced in most other parts 
of India and in Ceylon by L . albofrontata (Franklin),* and in the 
Nilgiris by L. pectoralis , Jerdon. Another near affine inhabits 
the Malayan peninsula and archipelago, the L. javanica (Sparr- 
man). These birds differ in several respects from true Rhipidura , 
of which also however, we find an Indian representative in Rh. 
hypoxantha , Blyth, inhabiting the south-eastern Sub-IIimalayan 
regions. L. albofrontata is figured in the second plate of Mr. 
Jordon’s “ Illustrations of Indian Ornithology.” 
The Leucocercce arc not Flycatchers in the common acceptation 
of that term among ornithologists, for they do not watch for their 
insect prey, and then dart after it and seize it on the wing, return- 
ing to their perch to watch again ; but they are restless little birds, 
constantly in motion among the foliage in groves, bamboo jungle 
and the like, hopping from twig to twig, with broadly expanded 
wings and tail, and quick jerking movements, every aspect of view 
in turn presented to the spectator, and they are seen generally 
it not always in pairs — the male frequently delivering a scries of 
sweet soft ringing notes — “a tinkling sort of song” — as we have 
elsewhere described it. The nest of L. fuscoventris is affixed 
sometimes to a small stem of bamboo, as represented by our figure 
in the back ground, and sometimes placed as represented in our 
principal figure. It is constructed of and lined with fine grass 
stems, bound round on the outside with some flat leaves of grass, 
which are more or less completely covered over with spider’s web ; 
and there is always a quantity of material hanging from the bot- 
tom, so as to produce the appearance of a funnel. This peculiarity 
* L. compressirostru, Blyth, from C'cylon, differs only in having the beak much 
more compressed, but it remains to ascertain if this be a permanent distinction. 
'JO 
