DICRURUS LUDWIGII. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. 
Inches. 
Lines. 
Length from the point of the bill to 
Length of the tarsus 
0 
7i 
the tip of the tail 
7 2 
of the middle toe 
0 
Length of the bill from the oapc. 
0 I0| 
of the outer toe 
0 
4 
of the tail 
3 6 
o 
Q 1 
of the wings when folded 
4 0 
of the hinder toe 
0 
°4 
% 
Nothing is known of the female. 
A few specimens of this bird were 
seen in 1832 in the forests adjoining Port Natal, but 
only 
one was procured. They were very shy, and the least ground of alarm caused them either to 
fly from their usual haunts or to retire into the dense foliage whither we could not follow them. 
The most retired situations appeared to form their favourite habitats, and in those they were 
either seen perched upon some dead tree, or else performing rapid evolutions in the air in search 
of food. They appeared from their perches to watch the approach of the insects upon which 
they fed, and the instant they perceived them they were upon the wing, and actively engaged 
in pursuing them. In the course of these movements they performed considerable circuits over 
the adjoining thickets, but generally at last returned to the spots from whence they set out, and 
there waited the appearances which courted further exertions. On one occasion two individuals 
were observed in the same locality; in the others only one. 
This, and Le Drongear , Le Vaillant, Ois d’Afrique, pi. 1 67, (Dicrurus musicus, Vieill.) are the 
only species of the genus which I have been able to find in South Africa, though the author just 
mentioned assigns two others to that country, viz. Le Drongo, pi. 166, ( Dicrurus cristatus, Vieill.) 
and Le Drongo a moustaches, pi. 169, ( Dicrurus mystaceus, Vieill.) Considering the general 
accuracy of Le Vaillant, one feels disinclined to question his correctness on the present occasion, 
yet at the same time I must give it as my opinion that the last named, if they were killed in 
the localities our traveller mentions, are now no longer to be found in them, or else that they 
are only occasionally there as immigrants from some other country. 
